Organisation aims to improve academic skills in Kagiso

With many children struggling to learn and improve their literacy and academic skills, one organisation is taking the initiative to ensure that children improve academically and receive quality education in Kagiso.

Rebuilding the West Rand (RWR) was established in 2012. The organisation aims to develop human skills and support the infrastructure and services needed for a good quality of life in the West Rand community. The organisation focuses more on improving well-being and education in the West Rand.

The organisation hosted a well-being programme at the Gauteng Provincial Archives Centre in Kagiso that saw 50 people attending which included children and their parents.

According to programme director Ellen Kubayi, many schools in Kagiso are in dire need of assistance in improving the standard of education. The purpose of the programme was to find solutions to improve the standards of education through engaging with parents and children.

“Since 2012 the organisation has collaborated with various schools in the West Rand playing their part in identifying the issues that young people face academically. Between 2012 and 2016, RWR collaborated with The King’s School West Rand to offer teacher training on Saturdays. In addition, our collaboration with various stakeholders has seen learners from our local high schools benefiting from extra tuition offered by tutors from RWR in Mathematics and Science as well as motivation for learner focus. This included Grade 12 learner camps and other activities for Kagiso Senior Secondary,” Kubaye said.

Through RWR and courtesy of the West Rand District Municipality, the staff of Kagiso Secondary was taken on a weekend camp for a strategic session. All these processes resulted in marked improvement in the performance of the school as evidenced by the school’s matriculation results.

Dr Nico Molefe added that community initiatives by RWR include improving community infrastructure and skills development initiatives.

”A functional society needs to have several functional infrastructures such as a library, stadium or sports complex and a community hall, RWR seeks to participate in ensuring that such infrastructure is available and functioning properly. This would require community engagement and engagement with responsible authority for such infrastructure,” Dr Nico said.

The programme also focused on providing more learning material that children can use as well as highlighting the importance of STEM-based education.

STEM, according to Nico, is an education teaching approach that combines science, technology, engineering and math. This is to inspire young people to take on work in those fields so that future inventors and innovators can be created.