Posted in Maths, Uncategorized, tagged maths, vimbai on November 21, 2011| 2 Comments »
Unfortunately, due to the massive amounts of work that comes with the end of terms around here, I was unable to mention a very important day of the year. On the 10th of November, our very own program manager Vimbai Nyatsambo had her birthday. We had a tiny celebration at the math’s and english program that day, with Vimbai bringing massive amounts of cake. However, what made this day truly special was all of hugs, kisses, and well wishes from the kids to Vimbai. They even did a little artwork:
Posted in Library, Maths, Volunteers, tagged education, Education without Borders, library, phumela mattoti, Ted Weber on September 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Ted Weber, who many of you know as EwB’s local volunteer contact in Cape Town, recently visited Fezeka School. Here is a brief note from Ted, as well as some pictures he took of the library, staff, and students.
Glen and Marc,
Roger and I were at Fezeka school last week.
Vimbai who is the EwB Project Coordinator for the school was in the Library chatting to Roger and myself with Phumela Mattoti, the Life Skills teacher.
The subject was the up and coming talks, which we are doing for the learners in September. In comes this young man who Vimbai was assisting with his application to study Pharmacy at UWC [University of the Western Cape]. He should do well as he is one of the best students in Physics and maths we hear.
So here are the pictures of the application going into the envelope for delivery by Vimbai, as well as a message from her.
“Hello Ted,
It was great meeting you too. Thanks for your sms earlier this afternoon.
The Student’s name is Sonwabile Mafongosi.
He is really excited about studying at UWC next year.
Peace, Love & Joy
Vimbai Nyatsambo”
Regards,
TED
Posted in Maths, tagged Education without Border, EwB, IKamvaYouth, Khayelitsha, South Africa on August 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The new report on EwB and IkamvaYouth’s joint “Yes We Can!” maths project is now available. The program is the result of a joint effort by EwB and IkamvaYouth to improve math scores amongst Khayelitsha students.
Teachers had identified low pass rates amongst their graduates. The primary reason for the poor math results was that many students lack the basic skills in mathematics in order to be able to “bootstrap” their way up to more advanced levels. As explained by the author of the report, Phillip Luyanda Mcelu, IkamvaYouth’s “Yes We Can!”project coordinator, “maths is like a ladder, you can’t jump one step and expect not to fall. Without understanding grade 8-level maths it makes it difficult to fully grasp grade 9 maths and the chain continues to grade 12.”
The feedback from the students has been positive; however, one of the major challenges over the course of this ongoing program is to ensure high student participation and attendance. Mr. Mcelu has worked on resolving this problem through frequent communication with parents, and also encouraging students to do homework at home by taking their books and materials home with them. Doing so has helped demonstrate to parents the importance and benefits of the math program.
It is hoped that over the years Khayelitsha will be able to graduate more students with the math skills to be able to help them find employment after they finish their studies, thus ensuring livelihoods.
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