M Mangena: African Institute for Mathematical Sciences graduation
ceremony

23 June 2006

Programme Director
Vice Chancellors
Members of Council
Academic and Professional Staff
Graduates
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Every culture on earth has developed some mathematics, which spread and
evolved from culture to culture until today where there is international
mathematics. Western historians are agreed that international mathematics has
roots in ancient Egypt and Babylonia, and it grew rapidly after its
establishment in ancient Greece. Mathematics continues to grow at a phenomenal
rate with no end in sight. But the application of mathematics to science
becomes greater all the time.

One of the profound contributors to the current international mathematics is
Albert Einstein. His pronouncements about the value of mathematics to science
and human development are very instructional.

On the question of value, he asserts, “All that is valuable in human society
depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual”. And on
the subject of science, he claims, “After a certain high level of technical
skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity,
and form. The greatest scientists are always artists as well”.

Human civilisation dates back many millennia, and mathematics is the basis
for all human development initiatives. Therefore, today’s students in the
mathematical sciences are engaged in a profession they can be truly proud
of.

Located at the Southern tip of Africa, the African Institute for
Mathematical Sciences can be seen as a reincarnation of the knowledge
generation tradition that began in ancient Egypt those many years ago.

Africa is in danger of falling behind in its ability to provide high quality
graduates in the mathematical sciences. In South Africa itself, the number of
students graduating as secondary school maths and science teachers is
approaching zero, and this is cause for grave concern.

My department is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the
development of science and technology nationally. And to be able to fulfil our
mandate, producing the critical mass of relevant human capital is a deciding
factor. Without mathematics teachers the foot soldiers in our classrooms in the
villages and townships the results of the work done by my department will reach
the desired mark.

Many African countries are in the same boat as us in this regard.
Mathematics is the bedrock of all sciences, and without mathematicians,
Africa’s hope of reclaiming its unique position in the community of nations
will remain an illusion. The formation of this institute in 2003 was a major
accomplishment for Africa, and that is why every graduation is a critical step
in the right direction.

The tutors here are outstanding African and international lecturers,
grounded in the tradition of strong mathematical and computing problem-solving
skills. The result is that their students leave with a postgraduate diploma in
the Mathematical Sciences they can be truly proud of.

Allow me to mention a few initiatives that South Africa has undertaken to
address the challenge of producing more high school graduates with sound
mathematical grounding.

In 2001, we launched the National Strategy for Mathematics, Science and
Technology Education, known as the Dinaledi Project. The maxim of this strategy
is, ‘Creating Tomorrow’s Stars Today’. Dinaledi are stars. From ancient times,
stars have played an important role in human culture of showing direction.
Since then, a number of initiatives to support the strategy have been developed
by communities, NGOs and the private sector.

For example, in December 2005, we officially launched the Department of
Science and Technology (DST)/Thuthuka Maths and Science Development Camps,
which is a joint initiative between my department and the South African
Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). Through this programme, learners
receive intensive tuition in mathematics and science to assist them to qualify
for admission into the undergraduate streams leading to careers in accounting,
science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

Similar initiatives at this institute, which have the potential of
increasing the effectiveness of our initiatives in supporting our youth in
mathematics and science, include the formation of African Institute for
Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Schools Enrichment Centre (AIMSSEC), a schools’
mathematics enrichment programme offering free learning resources for learners
from age five to about 18 years. Valuable additional dimensions of this
programme include the provision of a professional development course for
teachers, and an Online African Mathematics Community. The online system is
particularly helpful in supplying an interactive medium to assist learners and
teachers having problems with school mathematics. There is also access to
Global Links for Schools, through which, in conjunction with Cambridge
University, students are exposed to video-conference mathematics and science
lessons linking schools around the world. A particularly innovative and useful
aspect of these services relates to the programme which provides Grades 4 to 12
educators working in rural and township schools, an opportunity to join a
ten-day residential course in Stellenbosch.

Further developments at this institute include the AIMS/DST/NRF Advanced
Mathematical Science Programme. The course also serves as preparation for the
AIMS Postgraduate Diploma Programme, and it teaches advanced research skills
and provides an overview of cutting edge sciences.

All these developments come from an institute which graduated its first 30
students two years ago. After last year’s 41, now another 42 students join
their ranks, and we commend and congratulate them. It is to these graduates
that I now wish to address my remarks.

As custodians of over 75% of the world’s platinum deposits, South Africa has
decided to strengthen its hydrogen fuel-cell research in the hope of developing
an alternative to the internal combustion engine. Platinum is the key catalytic
material used in hydrogen fuel cells, and although it is not the only catalyst
in use, it is the catalyst of choice for the most promising emerging
developments, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. A world-wide system of
hydrogen refuelling stations and hydrogen pipelines is envisaged.

Again, in the field of responsible energy-generation, our country is well
advanced in the development of the South African Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor.
The demonstration plant is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

In Sutherland South Africa hosts the South African Large Telescope.
International collaborative research in astronomy is being conducted here, and
we need more young scientists from all over Africa to come and work at this
cutting edge scientific project. Similar initiatives, notably, the Karoo Array
Telescope, are being established in the Northern Cape and we need a new
generation of scientists, researchers and engineers to come and work at these
national facilities.

These are some, though by no means all of the projects that are illuminating
our country’s scientific progress. We need the assistance of skilled
mathematicians to successfully implement all these projects.

Having been identified and named as one of New Partnership for Africa’s
Development’s (NEPAD) Centres of Excellence, this institute has a clear
responsibility to Africa “to harness and apply science and technology to fight
poverty, improve health, to achieve environmental sustainability and
industrialisation, while contributing to global science and innovation.”

As part of this responsibility, we are presently deeply involved in the
formation of the African Mathematical Institutes Programme. This is a
partnership between my department, AIMS, the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study,
Sun Microsystems and the Vodacom Foundation. AMI-Net will work to partner and
complement existing initiatives such as the African Mathematics Millennium
Science Initiative (AMMSI) to help build a knowledge network connecting
Africa’s mathematicians and scientists. This will provide access and
inspiration to young researchers throughout the continent.

It is all very exciting, I believe more so than anywhere else in the world.
That sense of excitement is now made keener by the addition of 42 highly
skilled persons to Africa’s roster of mathematicians who can now make it
possible for us to take a substantial step forward in the field of
mathematics.

May I, in closing, thank the eminent panel of international patrons who gave
their unstinting support to the formation of this institute? Amongst them,
Francis Allotey, Director of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Ghana;
Philip Anderson and Joseph H Taylor of Princeton University, both Nobel
laureates in Physics; Sylvester J Gates of Maryland University and Director of
the Centre for String; David J Gross, Director of the Kavli Institute for
Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, another winner of the Nobel Prize in
Physics; Stephen Hawking, Cambridge University’s world-renowned cosmologist;
Professor Romain Murenzi, Minister of Education, Science and Technology in
Rwanda; and Sir John Sulston of the Sanger Institute, winner of the Nobel Prize
in Medicine. We are deeply grateful for their input, their contributions and
their encouragement.

We are also much beholden to a large group of financial supporters’
organisations and individuals from Africa and abroad. These include a number of
distinguished universities, foundations, trusts, United Nations agencies,
mathematical societies; government agencies and concerned businesses. Without
their spirited assistance, the institute would most certainly not have advanced
this far. On behalf of the students and all of us, I wish to convey our
sincerest gratitude and appreciation. We have no doubt that the growth of this
institute will make a greater contribution than was originally envisaged to
Africa’s development.

Apart from the caring patrons and founders I mentioned earlier, the
emergence of the Institute has been advised and assisted by a number of related
organisations, all of whom have contributed towards making the African
Institute for Mathematical Sciences one of NEPAD’s Centres of Excellence.
Amongst these are South Africa’s National Department of Education; those
concerned with the Advanced Mathematical Sciences Development Programme; and
the African Mathematical Institutes Network.

We greatly appreciate the backing of all concerned and are deeply indebted
to the wonderful staff and visiting lecturers at the Institute.

As a final tribute to the graduates and their teachers, I wish to end by
quoting an old Indian saying “Like the crest of a peacock, so is mathematics at
the head of all knowledge.”

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
23 June 2006