Educational requirements
in South Africa will continue to be hampered by a number
of constraints, amongst which are three main factors:
the high ratio of school learners to educators;
the relative lack of adequate educator training
and expertise in certain areas and the
lack of funding available to rectify either of these
situations.
In order to address some of the problems pertaining
specifically to the teaching of numeracy and literacy
in primary schools, Old Mutual financed
in 1994, the development of the revolutionary
teaching aid, Edupeg.
This funding was granted post significant research
amongst educationalists and learners from diverse backgrounds
and economic groupings. Old Mutual
recognized that this educational programme has significant
benefits for learners and they owned the project
for 3 ½ years, subsidizing the cost
of the programme into primary schools.
Prior to demutualization, The Edupeg Project
was sold by Old Mutual, to the pegboard manufacturers,
and then sold on to The Sactwu Investment Group,
in 1998. The Sactwu Educational Trust had resolved
that ways should be sought to promote primary education,
which was the motivation behind purchasing this programme.
The substantial changes and adjustments to the national
curriculum over the past ten years have resulted in
many teachers in disadvantaged
schools being confused about
content and application of teaching in a learner-centred
teaching environment. This can partially be attributed
to the nature of curriculum re-training (which has been
very theoretical in content and delivery), the lack
of learning materials provided for an Outcomes Based
Education system, and the capacity of the teachers involved.
Statistics from national testing of Grade 3 learners
show an alarmingly poor trend with
regard to numeracy and literacy levels.
The Sactwu Educational Trust has recognized
the need to support educators and learners
and as a registered Section 21 organization, Edupeg
has partnered with NGO’s and provincial education
departments nationally, to support teachers
and learners in need.
Under the ownership of Sactwu the
focus has been on supporting disadvantaged teachers
and learners nationally, often with co-corporate funding. |
