Hands-on Learning Issue 31
Through the Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learnt so that others can draw from and build on their experiences. How our unsung heroes can reduce stunting The care and nutrition that mothers and […]
Hands-on Learning Issue 30
Through the Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learnt so that others can draw from and build on their experiences. Catching up: Lessons in implementing accelerated learning programmes in South Africa In South Africa, […]
Learning Brief – Catching up: Lessons in implementing accelerated learning programmes in South Africa
In South Africa, eight out of every 10 Grade 4 learners in South Africa do not meet the low international benchmark for reading set by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which serves as an indicator of learners’ ability to make sense of texts. The ability to recognise words and make sense of […]
Learning Brief – No learning without well-being: Why mental health matters in post-school education and training
Mental health is shaped from before birth onward by a constellation of socio-economic factors, including poverty and inequality. In South Africa, where nearly 70% of children live below the upper-bound poverty line of R55 a day, poverty results not only in unmet needs but in sustained deprivation affecting mental health. International research shows that children […]
Hands-on Learning Issue 29
Through the Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learnt so that others can draw from and build on their experiences. Data-informed arguments for investment in children In 2024, analysis of routine data revealed that […]
Learning Brief – Setting up public school partnerships in the Northern Cape
The Lesedi Solar Park Trust in the Northern Cape has a mandate to invest in communities within a 50-kilometre radius of the Lesedi Power Project over an extended period of time. DGMT’s place-based synergies (PBS) team is responsible for managing community development funds for the trust and facilitates supportive developmental pathways for people in the […]
Op-ed: Equal education doesn’t have to mean government employs all teachers
The authors of the Daily Maverick article, The vultures are circling South Africa’s starved education system, are right to assert that despite education being a public good, parents’ ability to pay is the main reason why some schools continue to perform much better than others. We will only have an equal education system when all children can succeed, […]
How are politicians thinking about school dropout prevention strategies?
A quarter of our children are nutritionally stunted, damaging their educational prospects. While there are many reasons why children are pushed or pulled out of school, poor academic results and grade repetition due to poor marks are the best predictors of dropout. In South Africa about one in ten children (1.2 million) fail their grade […]
Tintswalo: A cynical allegory of delivery
When South African presidents speak, their audiences listen with weary hearts, exhausted by disappointment and deferred promises. So, when President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) this month, he would have been acutely aware of how weary South Africans have become. A February poll suggested that his party, the ANC, would likely get a […]
Hands-on Learning Issue 25
Through the newly rebranded edition of our Hands-on Learning publication developed in June 2023, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learnt so that others are able to draw from and build on their experiences. Blended learning: When […]