| 1.1 |
Census@school is an international education project, focussing on data handling, in which learners gather basic information about themselves. In South Africa, the Census@school project was initiated in 2001 by Statistics South Africa, in collaboration with the national Department of Education.
|
| 1.2 |
The 2009 Census@school project will be undertaken nationally at selected schools. The project involves learners from Grades 3 to 12 participating in data gathering, handling and analysis.
|
| 1.3 |
The information gathered will be included in a national database, which will serve as a resource for teachers and learners in the teaching and learning of data handling as applicable to a variety of subjects and learning areas.
|
| 1.4 |
A memorandum of understanding has been signed, outlining the collaboration between Statistics South Africa and the Department of Education in the Census@school project.
|
| 2. |
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project objectives are as follows:
|
| 2.1 |
To raise awareness of how national census data is gathered and of its benefits to society
|
| 2.2 |
To develop learners' statistical- and numerical literacy skills
|
| 2.3 |
To improve learners' data-handling skills
|
| 2.4 |
To provide contextual materials for teachers and learners for use in teaching and learning
|
| 3. |
LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE WESTERN CAPE
|
| 3.1 |
Statistics South Africa has randomly selected 218 schools in the Western Cape to participate in this project (See Annexure A). The distribution across education districts is as follows:
| | EDUCATION DISTRICT | NUMBER OF SCHOOLS |
| 1 | Metro Central | 29 |
| 2 | Metro East | 22 |
| 3 | Metro North | 32 |
| 4 | Metro South | 29 |
| 5 | Eden & Central Karoo | 30 |
| 6 | Overberg | 39 |
| 7 | West Coast | 17 |
| 8 | Cape Winelands | 20 |
| | Total | 218 |
|
| 3.2 |
The regional office of Statistics South Africa has appointed a number of fieldworkers in each district to implement this project among in these 218 schools.
|
| 3.3 |
The fieldworkers will deliver the questionnaires to schools by 23 March 2009.
|
| 3.4 |
These field workers will also liaise with the Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy curriculum advisers so that they can assist schools with this project
|
| 3.5 |
Principals are requested to arrange for a period of approximately 1 hour in the last school week of the 1st school term of 2009, during which time all learners in Grades 3 to 12 will complete a questionnaire. Teachers are welcome to prepare learners by providing them with a worksheet instructing them to collect some of the data on the day before filling in the questionnaire, e.g. the distance from home to school.
|
| 3.6 |
The fieldworkers will collect all completed questionnaires between 2 and 6 April 2009.
|
| 3.7 |
Should schools require any additional information, they are advised to contact Desiree Timmet, the Maths4stats provincial co-ordinator for Statistics South Africa. Her contact details are as follows:
E-mail: desireet@statssa.gov.za
Tel: 021 423 1040
Fax: 086 623 8583
Cell: 083 641 0128
|
SIGNED: SM NAICKER
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2009:03:19
|