Apartheid's most tragic legacy is possibly South Africa's education system.

To achieve economic stability and, eventually, prosperity, we need to promote and develop the intellectual skills and capacity of all of our people through quality education. This will enable people to meaningfully contribute to growth and development, thus increasing productivity and simultaneously fostering a sound work ethic and diminishing levels of crime. Much will also be achieved to halt the soul-destroying poverty experienced by so many in our rich and diverse country.


Our education system has taken time to fall into the decline that we presently experience and it will, equally, take time, energy, commitment and care to developmentally remediate and rectify this.

For sustainable educational change to be effected, longer term strategies need to be implemented. This is due to the fact that in the developmental process, people are a large component of the change process. Valid transference of skills and capacity are not achieved through a poorly negotiated “quick fix”, and neither will these prove to be sustainable and accountability will potentially be absent.

The focus at Edupeg has always been to add value to the provincial and national educational endeavour, through facilitating improved curriculum delivery by increasing material resources, enhancing intellectual capacity and promoting confidence and self esteem of both teachers and pupils. Our goal is to achieve improved quality of teaching in the classroom, which will lead to improved learner performance.

Educational policy alone cannot bring about the required change, as educational development is about people and relationships between people. Trust, respect, responsibility, accountability and understanding need to be part of the comprehensive component to bring educational change. Principals and educators need to recognize the role that they play in the process, realize the need for change and then participate responsibly to effect such change.

The communities in which Edupeg works are probably best described as poor, to very poor. Many schools are impacted upon due to the migration of families seeking economic opportunities and a better life. Some schools experience an influx of pupils, resulting in physical challenges of space and amenities, as well as high teacher: pupil ratios, while other schools are threatened by closure, due to diminishing pupil enrolment. The majority of our schools struggle with the challenges of teaching children in a language of instruction that is not their mother tongue. Many teachers find that they lack the content knowledge, skills and capacity to cope with the multiple challenges of teaching children from communities where parental and home support is minimal and where the communities themselves might not be sensitive to the needs of their youth. The sterile environments of the majority of our youth frequently promote mischief and values such as respect, courtesy, responsibility, conscientiousness and tenacity are not always reinforced by social structures. Children learn the life skills that build character and perseverance through real life situations, and not only through a Life Skills curriculum. Under the prevailing circumstances, it is thus not surprising that the performance of the majority of our schools is poor to dysfunctional.

No amount of plotting, planning, pushing and persuading will result in a sustainable shift, without the building of relationships. James Taylor of CDRA (Community Development Resource Association) states that “Relationship is at the heart of development itself.” Trust, honesty, openness, transparency, clear understanding, values and vision are what our trainers focus on as they work alongside educators on the road to educational recovery. We recognized some time ago that there were simply too many workshops, and that teachers were “workshopped out”. Teachers need time and practice to implement new methodologies, and thus we work with teachers in their classrooms, enhancing and strengthening their skills and capacity and increasing their material resources, with the goal of supporting them to become agents of future positive educational change. Unless principals are committed to the intervention process and to ultimately ensuring that effective teaching occurs regularly, and is sustained, change will not occur. Probably the greatest challenge is to support teachers to transfer and translate what they have learned into classroom practice. Throughout our visits, our trainers seek to create and promote a mutually supportive and enabling environment where schools can eventually drive their own development. For this reason too, we work in clusters of schools, thus promoting effective and concentrated participation which, with support, can lead to greater community participation and growth.

It is of importance to note that the system must also take some responsibility for the challenges faced in education in South Africa today. For many children, their first school experiences are of bewilderment, frustration and defeat. A critical and formative phase of a child's education involves stimulation, perceptual development and opportunities to become “school ready”. The comprehensive perceptual development section in the Edupeg books incorporates exposure to stimulating and appropriate activities that will promote early success at school entry level. This aspect is frequently absent in disadvantaged schools.

The children with whom we work have little access to print media at home and see little in the way of reading or writing in their home environment. Coupled with a lack of stimulation, poor nutrition, poverty and its associated challenges, the majority of poor South African children have their potential critically stunted by Grade 3 level. “This situation is not only morally indefensible, but a massive wastage to individuals and nation alike, in the face of the most acute skills crisis in the country's history.” Nick Taylor, CEO, JET (Joint Education Trust) International Conference: “School Development – what works?”

The Edupeg activities promote written work, enhancing the understanding of mathematical concepts and promoting systematic recording, incorporating the attained answer. The bright attractive and colourful pictures promote language discussion, vocabulary enrichment and opportunities for extended written exercises, which involve more complex sentences and higher cognitive skills. In these ways, Edupeg seeks to support the cultivation of a strong work ethic, where children work responsibly, using their initiative, to ultimately become responsible democratic citizens.

We are constantly submitting funding proposals, as we recognize the essential asset of having long term financial commitment from funding partners and thus financial security. We are also focussed on strengthening our relationship with other educational projects, which could result in synergy, as our resources are well recognized and highly regarded. Additionally, we are strengthening our relationship with WCED, ECDOE and KZNDOE, as the educational changes required have proved to be more effective as active partnerships, not isolated individual interventions.

Thank you to our donors for their generous funding, which has enabled us to make a significant and positive impact on teachers, pre and primary school children, as well as increased resources in schools and improved teaching methods.

Thanks to our dedicated, professional and highly committed trainers, for their patience, persistence, perseverance and professionalism, often under very challenging circumstances.

Thank you also to our intrepid administration team, for the invaluable effective running of the project.