 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2014) |
South African Education and Environment Project is a non-profit organisation serving children and youth through educational support at every level of academic development. The organisation helps young people who are neglected by South Africa's education system. [1] [2]
Philippi, the township community in which SAEP works, is a historically disadvantaged, under-resourced community. Like many townships in Cape Town, Philippi faces many social problems, including poor education, violent crime, substance abuse, environmental degradation and a rise in the number of residents with HIV/AIDS. It is a community which is severely impoverished, with the majority of residents living in informal wood and iron structures, typically without electricity or running water.
Schools in Philippi are often overcrowded, with low pass rates, and are under-resourced with few extra-curricular activities available to students. Nearly half of working-age people are unemployed and only 32% of the population (20 years & older) has completed secondary school (Grade 12) or higher. The average household income is R3,200 or less, indicating that many residents hold low income jobs or live on social grants. Successful graduates often move away from the township, leaving learners with few role models and little motivation to challenge local job seeking behaviours or believe that they can make something of themselves. Lack of information, networks and opportunities trap many into continued poverty and under-productivity.
SAEP (USA) was founded in 1994 by Norton Tennille as a Cape Town based, US funded non-governmental organisation focusing on environmental education and awareness. In 1998, SAEP (USA) broadened its educational support activities to include after-school tutoring in core academic subject areas, including biology, mathematics, and English at Sinethemba Senior Secondary School in Philippi township, Cape Town.
In 2003, SAEP (USA) and Jane Keen, a South African social worker, teamed up to form SAEP (SA), a sister organisation which was registered as a community-based South African Non-Profit Organisation that year and two years later became a registered Public Benefit Organisation. The same year, the Bridging Year Programme was started which aimed to assist school leavers in improving their English, developing computer skills and exploring career alternatives.
Under the leadership of Jane Keen, SAEP began working with a cluster of ten educare centres to help them improve infrastructure, develop financial and administrative skills, and register with the Department of Social Development and Education.
Arts had been a part of SAEP's high school programme in the form of poetry workshops since 2000, but in 2005 it became a programme in its own right. Visual arts, drama, photography and film were added that year, and music and other activities in subsequent years.
In 2009 SAEP moved its high school academic programme from Grades 11 and 12 to Grade 9 with its launch of the Hope Scholars Programme, a holistic tutoring and mentoring programme designed to begin in Grade 9 and follow the learners through Grade 12. The same year SAEP also launched, in partnership with ADT Security, the ADT teach Programme, a three-year computer training programme designed to provide township learners in three high schools with IT skills necessary for the job market and for tertiary studies.
Tertiary support was provided on an ad hoc basis from the time that the first Bridging Year students applied and were accepted to university. This was formalized in 2010 with the launch of the Tertiary Support Programme.
Since 2006, SAEP had had a vision of creating a research and development hub or "think-and-do" tank but lacked funding for it. In 2011 it became a reality with a small three-year grant from the National Lottery. It grew considerably in 2013 thanks to funding from the STARS Foundation Impact Award for Education.
SAEP recognized the importance of academic and career counseling at an early stage, and began a formal programme when it cofounded Inkanyezi in collaboration with its UCT partner organization TeachOut. In 2013, SAEP's social worker, who has experience and expertise in career counseling, developed this programme which has a focus on capacity building for high school life orientation teachers.
SAEP was awarded an 'impact award' by the international STARS Foundation in both 2012 and 2013. In 2012 SAEP received the regional runner-up award for excellent service provision and effective management. In 2013 SAEP received the 2013 Stars Runner Up Award for Education in Africa / Middle East. The Stars Awards recognize and reward effective, well-managed local organisations working to improve child health, education, protection and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in the countries with the highest under-five child mortality.
Also in 2012, SAEP's Early Childhood Development Programme received a national Impumelelo Innovation Award for its replicable model and track record of poverty impact. The same year, Jane Keen, SAEP Director, was named one of the three national Education Finalists for the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year Award in recognition of her lifelong commitment to improving the lives of marginalized children.
In 2008, SAEP's Early Childhood Development Programme won an ABSA/Sowetan award as runner up Western Cape Resource Training Organization of the Year. Also in 2008, SAEP (USA)'s founder, Norton Tennille, won the national Inyathelo Award for Exceptional Philanthropy for his groundbreaking work in education in the schools of Philippi and neighbouring townships.
SAEP's vision is "A generation of motivated South African youth, equipped with education and life skills in order to maximise their potential, and contribute to society.
SAEP's mission is "To prepare and motivate children and youth from under-resourced communities to thrive by providing education, life skills and psycho-social support" through its learning programmes.
SAEP's overall organizational objectives are:
SAEP employs a community-driven approach. All the programmes have developed in response to specific needs expressed by learners, teachers or principals in the Philippi community. The offerings include:
Prior to 2019, SAEP also ran the following programmes, but the programmes were terminated due to insufficient funding:
SAEP has an Impact Centre, a research and development hub, which supports and develops the educational programmes and contributes to the broader conversation on education in South Africa. The Impact Centre is also responsible for the monitoring and evaluation reporting for the entire organisation. In 2016, SAEP established the Impact Centre Consulting, its sustainability arm to help generate unrestricted income revenue stream for the organisation by developing monitoring and evaluation modules for small to medium size organisations using cloud-based CRM, Salesforce.
Vocational education is education that prepares people to a skilled craft as an artisan, trade as a tradesperson, or work as a technician. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with requisite skill. Vocational education is known by a variety of names, depending on the country concerned, including career and technical education, or acronyms such as TVET and TAFE.
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. It can mean any form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling, encompassing basic literacy to personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner. and to ensure the fulfillment of an individual.
Higher education in Mauritius includes colleges, universities and other technical institutions. Public university education has been free to students since 2019. The sector is managed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) which has the responsibility for allocating public funds, and fostering, planning and coordinating the development of post-secondary education and training. Formerly the Tertiary Education Commission, in 2020 it was reformed into the HEC and a separate Quality Assurance Authority (QAA) for auditing of qualifications.
The Universal College of Learning (UCOL) is a New Zealand Government ITP located primarily in Palmerston North but has campuses also in Whanganui, Masterton and Levin. Dr Linda Sissons is the current Chief Executive.
The Welsh Baccalaureate, or Welsh Bacc, is an educational qualification delivered in secondary schools and colleges across Wales. The Welsh Government says that it gives broader experiences than traditional learning programmes, developing transferable skills useful for education and employment. The Welsh Bacc is offered at Advanced, National Foundation and National/Foundation level, and is studied alongside a range of academic and vocational qualifications.
Education in Kenya refers to the education system in Kenya. It is considered a basic right that should be offered to every individual. Education in Kenya predates to as early as the 18th century among the Swahili people. The earliest school was established by missionaries in Rabai. During the colonial era, the number of Kenyans with exposure to education steadily increased and a good number of them were privileged to proceed abroad for further education.
Education in Mauritius is managed by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources, which controls the development and administration of state schools funded by government, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools. The Tertiary education is maintained by the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology. The government of Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary levels. Since July 2005, the government also introduced free transport for all students. Schooling is compulsory up to the age of 16. Mauritian students consistently rank top in the world each year for the Cambridge International O Level, International A and AS level examinations. Among sub-Saharan African countries, Mauritius has one of the highest literacy rates. According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2018, 91.3% of the population age 15 and over can read and write in Mauritius were respectively literate.
Education in Nigeria is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Education. The local authorities take responsibility for implementing state-controlled policy regarding public education and state schools. The education system is divided into Kindergarten, Primary education, Secondary education, and Tertiary education. Nigeria's federal government has been dominated by instability since declaring independence from Britain, and as a result, a unified set of education policies is yet to be successfully implemented. Regional differences in quality, curriculum, and funding characterize the education system in Nigeria. Currently, Nigeria possesses the largest population of out-of-school learning youths in the world. The educational systems in Nigeria are divided into two the public where the student only pays for PTA while the private where students pay school fees and some other fees like sports, exam fees, computer fees etc. and they are costly
Before the arrival of European settlers, who introduced a formal education system addressed to the elites, education in Ghana was mainly informal and based on apprenticeship. Economic activities in pre-colonial Ghana were based on farm produce shared within households and members of each household specialized in providing necessities such as cooking utilities, shelter, clothing, and furniture, and trade with other households was therefore practiced on a very small scale. As such there was no need for employment outside the household that would have otherwise called for disciplines, values, and skills through a formal education system. After colonization, Ghana's economy became a hybrid of subsistence and formal economy.
Eklavya is an Indian NGO based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh working in the field of education. It was registered as an all India in 1982. The organization is named after Eklavya, the protagonist of a story in the Mahabharat, for his determination to learn even in the absence of a teacher.
Skills for Life was the national strategy in England for improving adult literacy, language (ESOL) and numeracy skills and was established as part of the wider national Skills Strategy to increase the numbers of young people and adults with adequate skills. The strategy was launched by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in March 2001.
Education in Namibia is compulsory for 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16. There are approximately 1900 schools in Namibia of which 100 are privately owned. Namibian subjects' syllabi are based on the International General Certificate of Secondary Education which is part of Cambridge International. The Constitution directs the government to provide free primary education; however, families must pay fees for uniforms, stationery, books, hostels, and school improvements. Among sub-Saharan African countries, Namibia has one of the highest literacy rates.
North East Autism Society (NEAS), previously Tyne and Wear Autistic Society (1980–2009), is an English public service organisation established by parents in 1980 to provide educational and residential programmes to children with an Autism spectrum Condition. The Society bought Thornhill Tower as its base on Thornhill Park, Sunderland creating a residential school. After which, The White House was purchased at South Shields that was subsequently sold to buy Thornholme House, a former hospital, establishing a comprehensive base within the Sunderland region. Thornhill Park became the location for the Society's main bases when in 1994, the Adult Services was established with the opening of a small specialist college at number 14 Thornhill Park. Community Services was then formed in 2009. As of the present day the Society has developed rapidly and is now one of the primary providers of specialist care and support for individuals with an ASC in the North East of England. The Society has recently opened the North East Centre for Autism in County Durham which has increased the operational area and range of the services it provides.
The African Leadership Academy (ALA) is an educational institution located in the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, for students between the ages of 16 to 19 years old, with current alumni coming from 46 countries.
Student Sponsorship Programme South Africa(SSP SA) is a non-profit trust based in Johannesburg, South Africa that enables academically distinguished, economically disadvantaged students to excel at some of the top private and public high schools in the Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces. The SSP process begins by recruiting exceptional students from underprivileged communities and placing those students into top private and public high schools of nearby districts. To complete the process and ensure a positive outcome, SSP provides extensive support services for the students and their parents throughout all the high school years.
The 8-4-4 System educational program is a system of education in Kenya with eight years of primary education, four years of secondary education and four years of university education. The system was introduced in 1985 to replace the 7-4-2-3 curriculum, which consisted of seven years of primary school, four years of lower secondary school, two years of upper secondary school and three years of higher education. The 7-4-2-3 system had been adopted when Kenya was part of the initial East African Community. Following the introduction of 8-4-4, CPE became KCPE while KACE became the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Primary school was made free and mandatory, and secondary and higher education were subsidized by the government.
Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are 'global consciousness'; the moral or ethical aspect of global issues, and 'global competencies', or skills meant to enable learners to participate in changing and developing the world. The promotion of GCE was a response by governments and NGOs to the emergence of supranational institution, regional economic blocs, and the development of information and communications technologies. These have all resulted in the emergence of a more globally oriented and collaborative approach to education. GCE addresses themes such as peace and human rights, intercultural understanding, citizenship education, respect for diversity and tolerance, and inclusiveness.
Tertiary education in New Zealand is provided by universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics, private training establishments, industry training organisations, and wānanga. It ranges from informal non-assessed community courses in schools through to undergraduate degrees and research-based postgraduate degrees. All post-compulsory education is regulated within the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, a unified system of national qualifications for schools, vocational education and training, and 'higher' education. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is responsible for quality assuring all courses and tertiary education organisations other than universities. Under the Education Act 1989, The Committee on University Academic Programmes (CUAP) and the Academic Quality Agency (AQA) have delegated authority for quality assurance of university education. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is responsible for administering the funding of tertiary education, primarily through negotiated investment plans with each funded organisation.
TVET refers to all forms and levels of education and training which provide knowledge and skills related to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life through formal, non-formal and informal learning methods in both school-based and work-based learning contexts. To achieve its aims and purposes, TVET focuses on the learning and mastery of specialized techniques and the scientific principles underlying those techniques, as well as general knowledge, skills and values.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) is a government agency under the Ministry of Education responsible for implementing government policies that ensure that Ghanaians of school-going age irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, disability, religious and political dispositions receive quality formal education. The Ghana Education Service is governed by a fifteen-member council called the GES council.