Science engagement projects: talent development programme report on the 2021 Cohort

The Department of Science and Innovation's (DSI) Talent Development Programme (TDP) aims to enhance youth's access to science by identifying Grade 11 and 12 learners with talent and potential in mathematics and science and providing them with support to nurture their knowledge and skills. The TDP, coordinated by Stellenbosch University Centre for Pedagogy (SUNCEP), remained a fully virtual programme in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The integrated Learner Management System (LMS), an online platform that was developed in 2020 for the TDP, was refined and the provision of the necessary resources (laptops/tablets and data) to learners continued. A further level of support was added through provincial tutor sessions. The Human Sciences Research Council's (HSRC) role is to track the TDP participants, and to report on the outcomes of the programme for the period of 2017 to 2022 (Phase 3). Baseline and follow-up surveys were administered to the Grade 11 and 12 learners who participated in the 2021 TDP, in coordination with SUNCEP via the LMS platform. Provincial coordinators were also asked to complete a survey. This report presents information on both learners' and their tutors' background characteristics as well as their experiences of the TDP from the 2021 cohort.