JOHANNESBURG – A trio of representatives from the Namibia Chess Fedration (NCF) met with former world champion and FIDE presidential candidate Garry Kasparov to hear the latest ideas on the role of chess in general education.
South African dignitaries present at the meeting included Afrika Msimang, president of the Kasparov Chess Foundation in Africa and the president of Chess South Africa, Hendrik du Toit, amongst others.
President of the NCF, Otto Nakapunda, and his colleagues rubbed shoulders with Kasparov during a dinner meeting in Sandton, Johannesburg, where the chess minded grandees presented radical methods of growing chess not only in Namibia but in Africa as a whole.
Amidst a number of campaign driven discussions, Kasparov said he recognized the fact that Africa has been neglected for far too long in terms of providing chess as an educational tool and that he himself was also guilty of this a few years back.
The now retired professional chess player, however, said he continued to show his commitment towards the development of chess in school programmes in variuos African countries.
The NCF delegates were also treated to an eye-opening workshop, aimed at illustrating how chess has had a huge impact on South African schools through a mini chess programme that has become renowned as an award-winning educational programme in the country.
The founder of the mini chess programme, Marisa van der Merwe, who also facilitated the workshop, said “mini chess is aimed at children 5-9 years old as it not only makes them school ready but also helps them understand maths and science through chess at a very tender age.”
She also explained that the programme is currently employed at a number of pre-primary and primary schools in South Africa, which all show great progress in terms of the children’s logic, problem solving skills, creativity, planning, concentration, reading and emotional maturity.
“The mini chess programme was developed over years of teaching chess to ‘entry phase’ learners (5 to 9 years of age) as part of the school curriculum. It has already been used on a trial basis, with great success, at a number of schools in SA,” she further elaborated.
NCF representatives were amazed to find that the programme enjoys patronage from President Jacob Zuma, who is also a keen chess player.
The programme will ideally fit into Namibian pre-schools and elementary schools as it is organized into structured lessons, with detailed lesson plans in the teacher’s manual and attractive project books for learners. Marisa added that the programme uses tried and tested methods for teaching chess to little ones, including the use of mini chess games.
The public relations officer of NCF, McLean Handjaba, was pleased with the programme and hinted that should the programme find home in Namibia, the nation as a whole would benefit for generations to come as it aims at educating the very core and life of the country – the children.
Meanwhile, the NCF is planning to host its AGM on March 8. The venue will be communicated to all members by next week.
• (For more information, please contant PRO Handjaba at pro@namibiachessfederation.com or 0814006467)
By Staff Reporter