Madam Deputy Speaker, the ANC is of the firm view that our freedom is meaningless without the full emancipation and participation of women in all aspects of our lives, including science.
Studies conducted recently on the performance of children in maths and science in schools discovered that boys do better than girls, because boys are encouraged to do better. We require that the strategic interventions that have been established, for example those at Dinaledi schools, be strengthened to ensure that they assist girls in those schools to do science.
Women students in scarce-skills faculties in schools need focus, support and monitoring. We need interventions to manage career flexibility for women in science. We need interventions in favour of developing women in research and technology. The ANC believes that interventions are needed to ensure that more women study to become scientists, and that they are able to progress through the systems. We thank you.