Image: Learners from Ekangala School of Specialisation and Pretoria Technical High School made the most of their prize of an all-expenses-paid tour of various science and research facilities. The activities in which they participated and the inspiration they drew from engagement with science professionals and researchers will motivate these young learners to reach for their dreams of future careers in STEMI.

With final school exams done and dusted for the year, it was finally an opportune time for learners from the top two schools, who triumphed in the NRF-SAASTA National Schools Debate Competition 2025, to enjoy their prize! Members of NRF-SAASTA’s Science Education team chaperoned the learners on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of science and research facilities in the Western and Northern Cape (for the winners) and Western Cape (for the runners up).

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Blade Nzimande, had announced Ekangala School of Specialisation as the competition winners, and Pretoria Technical High School as the runners up, during the launch of National Science Week 2025. The excitement of the winning learners to enjoy their Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)-sponsored prize has been building ever since.

They were exposed to the World of Science, participating in stimulating activities and opportunities to engage with scientists and researchers at the South African Astronomical Observatory (NRF-SAAO), Eskom’s Palmiet station, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) Engineering and Space Centres and iThemba Labs.

For some of the learners the opportunity provided their very first time on an airplane – this in and of itself a learning adventure. The winning group experienced the wonders of the night sky at NRF-SAAO in Sutherland and participated in a tour of the South African Large Telescope (SALT), the largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and among the biggest in the world.

The runners-up joined the tour to learn about space at SANSA, receiving a tutorial on building rockets and learning about satellites observing our sun from the SANSA control room.

Speaking before the start of their tour, the all-girls team from Ekangala School of Specialisation rated their level of excitement and anticipation at 100 out of 10! In addition, all the learners agreed that the debate competition was a great confidence boost.

Tshiamo Masome, the youngest of the winners at 14 years old, believes that the competition not only expanded her general knowledge and ability to interpret facts to derive meaning, but also taught her the importance of teamwork and the power of collaboration. These are all skills that researchers need to thrive.

Team Ekangala says the thorough research that they had conducted in the run-up to the debate allowed them to excel in answering the questions posed to them by fellow contestants about the topic: ‘AI – advantage or disadvantage for society’. “We divided the roles in the team so that I did the opening, Tshiamo had our closing argument and the whole team participated to answer questions based on our research,” says 17-year-old Zandile Skosana.

Pretoria Technical High learners felt the fact that their school is already focussed on building the scientists of the future, gave them a small advantage in the competition. “You might be looking at the future CEO of Eskom,” says a confident Lehlogonolo Malatji (16). Fellow teammate, Bokamoso Makgakga (16), says that even as a young child he loved arguing a point and defending an opinion. “I have a passion for debate, and I never get tired of researching,” he adds.

Common personality traits that all the learners believe drives them to succeed are dedication, passion and hard work.

The national debate competition succeeded in stimulating South Africa’s young minds by providing learners with an opportunity to develop their research, critical thinking, and information literacy skills, as well as their ability to work as a team to present logical arguments.