Durban schools break a Guinness World Record

The 5th of February 2016 was a day that marked a milestone in the lives of thousands of Durban school children when they set their own Guinness World Record!

Pupils from 22 various Durban high schools gathered at the Durban Exhibition Centre to participate in a practical Science lesson – in fact the largest practical science lesson ever hosted. The previous record was held by the Vijnana Bharati science movement in Delhi, India with an impressive 2,000 students participating in the event. The Durban Scholars raised this number to 2,102 students.

The record was achieved with the help of 76 teachers, including lecturers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), 50 stewards and 50 volunteers who helped facilitate the lesson on the day. The learners who participated in the experiment were all in Grade 9, which is a critical period for teaching learners about the importance of Science and Mathematics in moulding their future.

“We had to meet a number of prerequisites in order to get the official stamp of approval from Guinness, these included a letter explaining the record of attempt, statements from two independent specialist witnesses as well as photographic and video evidence confirming that the record had in fact been broken”, explained the chief organiser, Mrs Jolene Van Heerden.

The event was sponsored and supported by the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education (CASME) in conjuction with UKZN’s college of Agriculture, Engineering and Science and the eThekwini Municipality. Each participating school received a set of equipment after the event.