Department of Science and Technology will launch National Science Week in Galeshewe, Northern Cape, on 30 July 2009, with a special focus on youth. The NSW is an annual country-wide event led by the DST supported by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA). It is aimed at highlighting the important role science plays in everyday life and attracting the country’s youth to enter and remain in science related studies and careers.

The focus week will be held on 1-8 August 2009, with approximately 80 organisations including science centres, higher education institutions and national research facilities, hosting various activities around the country as part of motivating youth to take up careers in science and technology.

For the first time in the focus week’s history, 22 schools will be hosting the event, including the 18 Dinaledi Schools adopted by the DST and the four that are part of the Historic Schools Restoration Project.

As 2009 has been declared the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union, astronomy and space activities will feature strongly during the focus week.

An indigenous perspective of astronomy will also be incorporated into the programme. Highlights of the event will be published around 30 June 2009.

As this year marks the last year of the National Science Week’s five-year plan with the theme “Tomorrow’s science and technology is in our youth’s hands”, the Department is in the process of developing another plan to last the next five years.