Beneficiary’s success story:

“My school performance or results during term one were so bad, that I was so scared to show my parents my school progress report! I never thought I will manage to pass grade 11. My friend invited me to the Soul Buddy study club, at first I dint understand what’s really happening here! But after few months I then realized that this is important place for me. I never liked working in a group or study is a group.

This programme has taught me that if people can work together we will achieve more, my school marks has improved so well. My self-esteem and confidence has also improved. I love this initiative and I will cherish every moment and opportunity I receive from this programme. Yours: Lerato….    

Waterberg Welfare Society Educational Support Progress Report, July–Sept 2019 

Project Aims:

• To provide extra tutorial studies in Mathematics, Physical Science, English, Technology, Life Science, Geography and Agricultural Science.
• To equip learners with broadened solving skills, which will enable them to get better exam results.
• To motivate learners, so that they are able to take up challenging subjects and fill the future employment gap.

Project Outcomes:

• Knowledge and learning in a safe, nurturing environment.
• Improvement of cooperation among teachers and learners.
• Improvement of digital (ICT) skills and learning strategies.
• Social skills, improvement in cooperation and greater wish for cooperation with peers at home, promoting adult-child communication.

How many people benefited from this project in this reporting months?

A total of 80 participants was reached during the reporting period:

• 40 learners who are in grade 8 (30 Females & 15 males)
• 14 learners who are in grade 10 ( 6 Females & 4 Females
• 24 learners who are in grade 11 (22 females & 2 Males)
• 2 learners who are in grade 12 ( 1 Female & 1 Males)

What are the major challenges and how are they overcome?

• Lack of parental support. We noticed learners are under immense pressure. One of the key reasons they are going through hardship is that some of their parents are comparing them with other children. Instead of being supportive, they expect them to perform very well. Families were identified and official visits were made to engage with parents or caregivers and come up with the best solution to support their children’s education. Feedback from the visits is very positive and children were allowed to attend additional extra study sessions.
• Bullying and peer pressure. Learners have developed unnecessary competitiveness over the type of phone they carry, the school they attend and the school marks they get each term. This has resulted in some dropping out of the study club, however through ongoing focus group sessions with the affected groups we were able to address majority of the of their frustrations. We also went to the local high school to engage with their respective teachers. Extra mural activities such as fun runs, movies clubs and fitness activities were introduced as a way of teaching learners the importance of teamwork and the risks of bullying and negative peer pressure.
• Hot weather contributed negatively to the attendance of learners and makes it difficult for the participants to focus. We have started engaging with parents and most support the idea of extending our operating hours prior to the final examinations.
• Lack of teachers in high school. Some learners didn’t have class teachers in the 2^nd school term. This had a negative impact on their school performance. Through support from TWT, our tutors will spend more time with such learners and provide additional support involving participants in the decision making process and providing learners with an opportunity to commit to additional sessions.

The impact of the project during the reporting period:

• Improved social skills
• Improved school grades
• Improved self-esteem and confidence

What lessons were learnt during the implementation of the project? 

• Education is a societal issue. It requires all stakeholders, especially parents and caregivers, to work together.
• Edutainment works well for learners. Making education fun motivates participants and give them a space to want to learn more.
• A safe space for participants should always be maintained at all times, this enables them to share some of the frustrations they are encountering at school, in the community and at home.
• Creating a congenial space for learning is critical. It allows participants to plan and sometimes co-facilitate their study sessions.
• Peer pressure and bullying has a negative impact on other learners. We always to encourage learners to talk openly about such issues. Further support is required to help those affected.

If you would like to support this educational project,

please contact The Waterberg Trust, or make a donation here