The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is proud to be a partner in ‘The Witness Pietermaritzburg Museum Passport Competition’. Now in its fourth year, the exciting competition was launched at the Msunduzi-Voortrekker Museum yesterday and aims to encourage learners to look differently at our museums; to view them as our very own local treasures and as an alternative source of learning and gauging new information and experiences.
Museums in their own right have in the recent past, also adopted fresh perspectives on holding the interest of our learners and building on their inquiring minds. Many have implemented interactive exhibits that allow learners to garner information in new ways and be an innovative element of visual and audio stimulation.
CMA Museum Curator Sian Theron says: ‘Visiting local museums is integral in learning about our own cultures and heritage, and the museums involved in the Museum Passport Competition have collaborated to cover a wider variety of topics, be it sports related, cultural, scientific, historical , ecological, environmental or heritage related.’
Sian adds, ‘It is also refreshing to see that the local nature of these museums is such that their combined focus is on our collective local heritage which allows learners to understand more about their hometowns and its home grown history.’
Among the organisations, institutions and businesses which have united to make the Passport Competition a growing success over the years are The Witness Newspaper, the CMA, Macrorie House Museum, Tatham Art Gallery, The Old Prison, Pietermaritzburg Tourism, Olwazini Discovery Centre, Msunduzi Museum and KwaZulu-Natal Museum.
Comrades House is especially honoured to be an integral part of this people-building initiative as it elevates our learners to new spheres of education and cultural experiences.
The competition runs from 1 February until 27 April 2012 and is open to learners from Grades 1 to 12 at all local Midlands schools. Up for grabs to the winning school are a PC, five digital cameras, five cellular phones and other prizes from the generous sponsors namely, TechGents, ABCO, Walton’s, Working on Fire and Lotus Stationers.
For more details, please contact any of the above participating organisations.
Statement released by the Comrades Marathon Association on Thursday, 2 February 2012