By Pumza Marubelela | Project Leader
Shine Literacy has sought to provide invaluable support for parents, caregivers, teachers, and learners. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it became even more important for us to find ways to continue to provide our invaluable services and support to communities in need. One such way we can do this is by providing much-needed take-home packs for Foundation Phase children. The need was evident after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a series of lockdown regulations that meant that children would miss most of the school year. Without access to schools, many children in the communities we serve have very little access to educational materials in their homes and unreliable internet access to be able to access material online.
The shortened 2020 academic year meant that children in the Foundation Phase lost an estimated 32% (65 days) of their school year when compared to the planned 2020 school calendar. However, school closures were not the only reason for children losing valued time at school. A combination of scheduling factors and socio-economic factors also contribute to their total days lost.
With many schools adopting a staggered approach to reopening classrooms, children are still spending a portion of their school week at home while schools are technically open. Due to this, it is difficult to quantify exactly how many days on average were lost per child, outside of the official school closure days issued by the Department of Basic Education.
The government-mandated lockdowns left the onus on the respective provinces to come up with a plan and strategy to ensure learning continues through the year. While some did turn to online learning and resources, many simply did not have the ability to make the seamless switch from classroom to online learning. Before the pandemic, many teachers in the country had not received substantive formal technology training, either to support blended teaching and learning or to fully apply online learning. This further compounded the problems faced by teachers and learners and emphasized the importance of physical take-home resources. This provided a unique opportunity for Shine to step in and lend a hand to already struggling communities.
Read more here.
By Siphokuhle Mkancu | Communications Officer
By Siphokuhle Mkancu | Communications Officer
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