Learners leaving school before completing Grade 12 is nothing new in South Africa.
But a newly established NPO, Learn to Grow, has set its sights on overturning the country’s high drop-out rate through its various programmes. The Melkbosstrand-based organisation works across the Western Cape and focuses on education and parental involvement, and engagement in schools, and specifically the schooling of their child.
“Research shows active involvement in activities in the classroom leads to better marks, discipline and overall successful outcomes for the scholars,” explained executive director Rika Joubert. “More successful matriculants translate to better employability and opportunities for further training by qualifying for support for vocational training or tertiary studies.”
She sketched the following scenario: Bongani is a cashier at a local supermarket, working long hours for little money. Most of the time she leaves home for work before her children leave for school.
Bongani is in constant fear that her teenage son will fall into the wild crowd at school and has, with worry, seen that his marks are dropping. She wonders if he stays away from school, and why it seems he doesn’t write tests the way some of her friend’s children do. When she asks him about school Bongani always gets the same answer. She doesn’t know whom to connect with at the school about her worries and fears.
“In South Africa only two out of five scholars finish matric,” Joubert pointed out. “Like Bongani, many the parents of scholars are under-educated and feel ill-at-ease when talking to their children about schoolwork, or they feel unsure of how to secure a future with at least a matric that can qualify them for bursaries for studies.
“They just simply do not know what is really going on in class, even if their child is attending school. This leaves them fearful and frustrated about the future for their children.”
Unfortunately, this is a prevailing issue in disadvantaged communities. Open lines of communication between the school and parents for the benefit of the scholar, in many instances, is non-existent, often due to financial constraints for schools, which cannot afford the teacher-to-parent communication platform, even at only R25 per scholar per year.
“And the Bonganis of the world who fear for their children’s academic future do not have the courage to approach and become involved in the schooling of their child freely, unless we step in,” Joubert said.
“For even less than the price of a cappuccino you could help to connect one family to the school to forge a partnership between an involved and engaged parent and teacher. Getting more matriculants in tertiary training is a win-win for all, and for only R25 per child you can be part of the solution.”
For more information on how to donate to the cause visit www.learntogrow.org.za.
