| The idea of conducting a Census @ school was first initiated in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1999 by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Centre for Statistical Education. RSS formed a partnership with the UK Maths Year 2000 initiative and Office of the National Statistics who then conducted the first Census @ school project in 2001 during the run up to the UK’s 2001 census.
In South Africa, the Census @ school project was initiated for the first time in 2001 by Statistics South Africa in collaboration with the Department of Education. A pilot study was conducted in July 2001. The project was officially launched in Cape Town on 18 September 2001, by the Ministers of Finance and Education. The main Census @ school count was conducted between September and October 2001.
South Africa’s Census @ school project aims to:
- Involve learners in collecting data about themselves;
- Improve learners’ data handling ability within;
- Provide data and contextual material for material for teachers and learners to use in their schoolwork across the national curriculum;
- Raise awareness about South Africa’s national population and housing census; and
- Familiarise learners with the purpose of, and processes and concepts involved in the national population census.
Apart from the UK and South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are other countries that participate in the Census @ school project. To allow for comparative analysis among participating countries, a questionnaire is designed with a number of common questions. Countries are at liberty to add questions that are more country specific.
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