Sci-bono Discovery Centre Information

Welcome to the Sci-bono Discovery Centre information page. This is not the official website for Sci-bono. The link to the official website is listed at the bottom of the page. I battled to get to the official page and find information about the Science Centre. The standard domain scibono.co.za was not registered and there were many Google links to that domain. I eventually managed to get information from someone who had attended the exhibition.

Full of anticipation, we headed off to Newtown, Johannesburg to go and see this new Discovery Centre. We had already visited the MTN Science Centre in Cape Town and had thoroughly enjoyed that!

One of the first problems was that it wasn't very well sign posted and eventually we saw some graffiti on the wall pointing in the general direction of the centre. I'm sure "they" are working on a proper parking area as we just had to find a place to park the car near the entrance, but we were glad to be there finally.

I was expecting an exhibition centre similar or better than the MTN Science Centre in Cape Town. Boy, was I disappointed. It looks like they have sent all the broken and old exhibits to Johannesburg. About a quarter of the experiments you can use are broken, staff just sit around and talk loudly to each other. There are no refreshments available, but it looks like a shop will open there soon.

Is it worth going? If it isn't a free exhibition, like the German exhibition, then I would say no, don't waste your time and money. If it's a free exhibition, then it might be worth it. The international travelling exhibitions are usually of a high quality and professionally done.

Someone from the centre eventually contacted me. It took a about a year for them to take note of this website. They wanted to use this domain and asked me to take down this page. They said there were major changes and that all the problems would be sorted out. I said that would not be a problem and I would give them the domain. In return I would like free access for my family, to the centre for the next few years. They said it would not be a problem, but when I asked for an official letter or access cards, nothing has arrived to date.

I will be visiting the centre soon with my family to see if there has been any changes, or has the centre become another typical run down museum in Africa, sponging off donation money and not giving anything really in return.

The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, a R150 million science centre project, is one of the initiatives that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has introduced as part of the department’s Mathematics, Science & Technology (MST) strategy – alongside Gautengon-Line, Schools of Focused Learning, Dinaledi Schools and Curriculum Redress. The project is being realized through the department’s project development vehicle, the Gauteng Education Development Trust.

The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre is located in the celebrated building currently known as the Electric Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg. It is a building that is particularly well-suited to its new purpose as an interactive science centre. Supporters of the project include the Department of Science and Technology, Blue IQ, the Johannesburg Development Agency, and various industry partners. At the helm of the science centre is the executive team – CEO Kelebogile Dilotsotlhe, Chief Operating Officer David Kramer, and Business Development Director Hemant Waghmarae. Between them, they bring a collective expertise and experience in the science education field that spans over 35 years. The team has been significantly enhanced by the appointment of Cynthia Malinga and Stuart Hopwood as Education Programmes Manager and Exhibitory Manager, respectively. Construction is being completed in phases and the entire project will be fully operational in January 2006. The facilities will include 6 000 square metres of interactive exhibition space comprising travelling exhibition space, a news room, a "firsts" gallery, icon exhibits and a pre-school discovery centre. It will also have a career centre that will comprise an interactive career route map, aptitude testing, career guidance and mentoring, a job facility, and life-skills training including a pre-school. The centre features new and exciting areas of contemporary science and technology, and the interactive exhibits concentrate on many of the scientific achievements that will shape our lives through the century.

Sci-bono is located at the corner of President and Miriam Makeba Streets in Newtown, Johannesburg. The telephone number is 011-832-3363 or 011-639-8400.

Articles

The Sci Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown has become the largest science centre on the continent.

A donation of four new exhibits to the centre by Ile de France, the province in which Paris is situated, boosted the centre to this status on Monday, 18 September 2006.

Ile de France and Gauteng signed a sisterhood agreement in 2001 which includes a wide co-operation programme in areas such as education, transport and security.

The French province has now contributed funding and technical support from Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris which is one of the world's most prestigious science centres.

The four new exhibits at Sci Bono will be: a Science Village that focuses on communications, biology and technology; an electricity expo that teaches children how it is made, distributed and used, a mathematics exhibit to help high school learners to understand maths and physics and Me Games, and a collection of logic games that teaches confrontation, change and crisis management, strategic thinking, risk management, communications and team work.

These will be the first exhibits of their kind to be made under licence in South Africa and the French institute has agreed to reduce its costs for Sci Bono.

"These exhibits will not only provide a great stimulus to learning for hundreds of thousands of learners throughout Gauteng and South Africa, but will propel Sci Bono to greater heights within the science fraternity," said Kelebogile Dilotsotlhe, chief executive of Sci Bono.

In addition to the four exhibitions, a new website has been launched in co-operation with the Gauteng Education Department (GED), the City of Johannesburg and the BHP Billiton Career Centre. Total South Africa has donated R640 000 to the project.

Mallele Petje, head of GED said his department had given the Sci Bono Centre R12-million this financial year for operational costs.

"Through initiatives such as this, together with steps being taken within our schools to enhance the learning of maths, science, technology and entrepreneurship, we hope that learners' interests will be stimulated in the understanding of science and technology," he said.

It was the "maintained political will" of Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa that had allowed, since 2003, the introduction of the first science centre to the city of Johannesburg, said Janine Haddad, vice president of the Ile de France regional council.

"France's participation in this is a pledge of excellence and quality in the realisation of the co-operation programme between the two cities."

Official Website

The Official Sci-bono Website is located at http://www.sci-bono.co.za