To help address the problems encountered in the basic education of our learners, Engen is funding a R13.5 million three-year pilot programme that integrates supplementary maths and science support for learners as well as training and development of teachers and school management in three provinces.

The Whole School Development programme (WSD) is adapted from Engen’s long-running Maths and Science Schools of Excellence programme but tailor-made for rural schools.

Engen will pilot this integrated approach in three priority provinces as identified by the Department of Education, namely Sekhukune district in Limpopo, Cala district in Eastern Cape and Ugu District in KwaZulu Natal. The launch of the KwaZulul Natal programme is taking place on Monday, 31 May at Ingwemabala High School.

“The unique needs in the remote areas has shown us that you cannot simply replicate the existing model in a rural setting,” says Khanyisa Balfour, CSI manager at Engen Petroleum, the country’s leading refiner-marketer of petroleum products. “We realised that what was needed was an integrated approach which not only focuses on the learners in the programme, but also looks at interventions focusing on maths and science teacher development and capacity building at school management level.”

Engen will pilot this integrated approach in three priority provinces as identified by the Department of Education, namely Sekhukune district in Limpopo, Cala district in Eastern Cape and Ugu District in KZN .

The Cala District project presents a unique opportunity to measure the success of the new refined programme as it already has a school of excellence.  High school learners from Cala district will now receive support at their schools along with their teachers and principals. And this will give Engen an opportunity to track improvement in learner performance in a closed-loop scenario.

In the Ugu district, eight high schools have been targeted, namely Nkonka High School, Nobamba High School, Thobigunya High School, Ingwemabala Comprehensive High School, Makhanda Secondary School, Sithanduxolo Secondary School, Sister Joan’s High School and Mthusi High School. The following is being provided to the schools: training and school based support (classroom management) for 22 science and mathematics educators, science and mathematics teaching resources and a learner extension and revision programme for Mathematics, Physical Science.

Partnership

The pilot programme will be run by two non-governmental organisations known for their holistic development of teachers, learners and school management (Maths Centre in Limpopo and Eastern Cape, and the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education in KZN.)

“If you have leaders equipped with management and administrative skills to run the schools and manage people correctly, teachers that have the support they need for developing and teaching the desired curricula, this empowers and motivates learners and you will get positive results,” says Balfour.

Emphasis will be put on partnerships between the schools and communities. “The idea is not to replace people, but to supplement, support and enrich their output,”  adds Balfour.

Training takes the form of in-service instruction of teachers and managers, consisting of workshops, classroom mentoring and support.

The future

Balfour says a successful programme should, in theory, result in doing away with tertiary support altogether, as teachers will in time be sufficiently skilled to handle the curriculum. The reality, though, is that the need is currently still enormous, and is at risk of getting worse through the loss of qualified teachers, which must be overcome.

What is certain is that the programme will trickle down to earlier basic education levels, such as primary school.

For now, Engen will track benchmarks to measure improvement over the three years of the programme, and will decide afterwards how to spread, diversify or otherwise refine its investment in education.