No other area of social development receives as much attention as education.
Nearly one third (32.4%) of all CSI spend goes to projects in education, with some 93% of Trialogue — researched corporates supporting initiatives in this sector. More than half of this funding is channelled to the school system with maths and science projects receiving the lion’s share.
For government too, education is a key focus area, with projects such as the Dinaledi Schools Programme taking centre-stage in many provinces. And yet, in spite of such a focused effort to bring about improvements to education, learner performance remains poor and things seem slow to change. While there are pockets of success, these seem to be confined to single projects or schools and there is little evidence of sustainable improvement across a broad base.
Practitioners and funders need to understand the underlying reasons why this is the case. To this end, the Trialogue Making CSI Matter conference being held on 24 and 25 May at The Wanderers Club in Johannesburg, has dedicated two breakaway engagement sessions to focus on issues of education.
The first will investigate the situation regarding maths and science performance and explore a specific intervention that is delivering promising results. Maths and Science Communities of Practice (CoP), based in Gauteng and the Western Cape, have fostered a robust process of learning between different stakeholder groups, allowing for formalised knowledge-transfer and information-sharing platforms.
Members of the CoP include educators, NPOs and representatives from the Department of Education. They engage in collective learning, are able to pool ideas and network with fellow practitioners. “Being part of the Community of Practice has been of enormous benefit — we can have a look at where overlap is and where there are synergies, and thereby have a greater impact on the communities in which we work.
Hugely beneficial has been the sharing of ideas, papers and statistics on what is and isn’t working. If we don’t collaborate we will be working in independent pockets and we won’t have the kind of impact we should,” says Jennifer Court of NPO, ASSET (Association for Educational Transformation), about her experience of being part of the CoP in the Western Cape.
The breakaway engagement session will uncover additional benefits of the CoP mode of working, investigating which of its processes are more broadly applicable and highlighting key findings in maths and science that are emerging from these forums. Still on the subject of models for improved learner performance, the second education breakaway engagement session will explore the models predominantly adopted in order to deliver sustained improvement in learner performance.
Making reference to the Centre for Development and Enterprise’s (CDE) report, Building on what works in education: Options for talented learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, the session will investigate ways to help learners reach their full potential. As the report shows, many learners from disadvantaged backgrounds who are capable of obtaining university-entrance passes in mathematics, fail to do so because their schools do not teach the subject adequately.
We will explore the various options available to help such learners achieve the pass rates of which they are capable. Three key models are most commonly used. School interventions address problem areas on a partial-or-whole-school basis, running programmes that benefit all or some of the school’s learners. Supplementary learning interventions, on the other hand, provide after-hours tutoring for learners, usually those who show potential.
Finally, relocation interventions remove learners from weak education institutions and place them in schools recognised for providing excellent education. Each model has different benefits and presents its own challenges. In line with the CDE report, the session will examine the various factors that contribute to success, including learner selection, school selection, academic support,
emotional and social support, school expenses, boarding, transport, programme costs and going to scale.
Further, the benefits and challenges of each model will be explored as well as investigating the most appropriate methods for corporate intervention. As with all of the conference’s breakaway engagement sessions, these workshops will include panelists who are experts in their field.
Linda Vilakazi, Executive Director of Bridge, the organisation responsible for establishing CoPs, will share her knowledge in this area, while members of the maths and science CoPs will share their experiences of being part of the programme.
Nick Taylor of renowned education NPO JET, will be on hand to discuss the CDE report and the various models available to deliver sustained learner performance and Seliki Thlabane, CEO of Protec will highlight experiences in supplementary education.
“Delegates can expect a rigorous exploration of the key issues facing the education development sector, and an opportunity to be part of the discussion that hopefully shapes the way forward,” says Vanessa Rockey, director at Trialogue.
This article originally appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper as a supplement to the M&G in partnership with the Southern African Trust