“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” – President Nelson Mandela
Education is in crises
The Primary:Tertiary Education Disconnect Matric Class of 2012 • The South African Government boasted a 73.9% matric (Grade 12/NSC Certificate) pass rate nationally in all its public schools in 2012; • Only 54% of the students who wrote matric passed Maths (with a mere 30% pass rate) • Of all the children enrolled in Grade 10 in 2010 (2 years prior to matric) only 37.5% passed matric. There was a 51% dropout ratio of students between Grades 10 and matric and schools culled their poor performers. • Of all the children who joined Grade 1 in 2001, only 32.9% passed matric in 2012. This is the true matric pass rate pointing to a dysfunctional, under resourced public schooling system where the majority of the pupils who start Grade 1 do not pass matric. • Of these children who joined Grade 1 in 2001, only 13.5% graduated matric in 2012 with grades strong enough to enroll in a Bachelors program at varsity level. • In 2018 the official matric pass rate announced by the South African Government was 78.2%. • However of the 1 067 075 grade 10s enrolled in 2016, only 512 735 Source: PoliticsWeb: The “real” matric pass rate? by James Myburgh-June 2013 wrote matric in 2018 – 48.1% of students. • This means only 37.6% of these Grade 10s passed matric in 2018. Source: The South African: Matric 2018: South Africa’s ‘real’ pass rate revealed • Only 51.5% of 2018 matric students passed their Mathematics Exams. – and it’s a shocker by TheSouthAfrican Staff & Agencies
The Real Issue M u c h o f S o u t h A f r i c a ’s e d u c a t i o n a l challenges, marked in part by poor literacy and numeracy aptitude, as well as high attrition rates can be attributed to l i m i t e d - q u a l i t y f o u n d a t i o n - p h a s e education 1 . This results in disadvantaged children that get left behind and who require intensified learning at 2-4X the rate to catch up, if at all, by Grade 4 2 . 1 Education White Paper 5 on Early Childhood Education, Meeting the Challenge of Early Childhood Development in Africa, 2001 2 Waterford Study
The Multiplier Effect of Digital Learning “ … Early childhood education has been shown to play an important role in addressing skill gaps for disadvantaged children. Integrating technology into early childhood education means that children may have access to a wider range of opportunities for learning. They will have the opportunity to build basic technology literacy and learn to use technology e ff ectively for educational purpose, according to the report … ” Early Education Plays Role in Bridging the 'Digital Divide‘, Rand Corporation, 2014
Computers ≠ Digital Education Gauteng on-line classroom at Shirinda Primary School March 2017 (before BrightLights) BrightLights Learning Lab April 2017 The mere supply of computers is not sufficient to close the digital divide. The Gauteng on-line project which resulted in digital labs being installed in many of the public schools in Gauteng in 2012 has failed due to the lack of educational software and content. The hardware in most cases is now obsolete with no technology refresh in the pipeline
Government Can’t Go it Alone While South Africa’s annual GDP allocation towards education remains one of the highest in the African continent, the . country has finished in the bottom 10 countries for five consecutive years in the World Economic Forum’s mathematics and science education quality rankings . The 2018 scorecard ranks the country’s education quality lower than that of Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi.
BrightLights Intervention
BrightLights Mission Digital Learning disrupts the poverty cycle. It is fast and adaptive, overcoming common hurdles such as low child: teacher ratios, under-skilled teachers, and different learning abilities. Most importantly, it does not discriminate against the economically disadvantaged . BrightLights aims to level the playing field in under-resourced areas by providing best-in-class digital tools allowing children to fully participate in the modern environment with knowledge and confidence.
BrightLights Levels the Playing Field BrightLights Learning Labs • Virtual teacher for each student “ … It is the tension between access and quality • Works at the pace of each student that emerges as a key issue in considering • Customized to address weakness and boost current early learning and its expansion in future the strengths of each student … ” 1 • Early English literacy and Maths foundation • Content refreshed annually, taking 1 Building strong foundations: Improving the quality of early education, Ursula Hoadley, School of advantage of latest research and teaching Education, University of Cape Town. South African Child Gauge 2013 best practices • Single investment serves multiple grades • Trained resources provided to guide and channel learning
Powered-On Labs Fully licensed educational software used by private schools in SA and Headphones for Wi-fi and Router for Consoles for each learner internationally personalized lessons Internet connectivity Content aligned to Two - Four trained Gauteng Grade R-7 facilitators depending on Ergonomical desks and Brightly designed learners (CAPS size of student body chairs for young learners interactive classrooms Curriculum)
BrightLights Learning Lab at Shirinda Primary Pilot Project: April 2017
BrightLights Learning Lab • Pilot Project at the Shirinda Primary School in Mamelodi; • Revamped the Gauteng Online lab and provided Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity; • Refurbished useable devices and purchased 15 new Chromebooks to provide a total of 35 seats; we now have a total of 47 seats with additional donor chromebooks; • Fully licensed Literacy (ReadingEggs and ReadingEggspress) and Maths (Mathseeds and Matheletics) learning software made available; World class software used by private schools in South Africa as well as schools globally in countries such as the United States, Australia, UK; • Currently the lab accommodates 336 learners; • Content aligned with the South African primary school curriculum, • Currently available to Grades R through to Grade 6. In 2020, Grade 7 will be added. • English language medium of instruction; • Self paced learning in a fun, interactive digital environment; • Learning facilitated by trained resources funded by BrightLights and under joint supervision of BrightLights and Shirinda school; Su ffj cient time provided daily for facilitators to review progress and report to the Class Educators; Facilitators able to review performance • metrics and adjust learning; • Facilitators have access to multiple dashboards providing real time reports with individual, grade, topic, subject, and summary statistics.
Results Matter – Reading Eggs Reading Eggs Progress Reading Eggs consists of 120 lessons and supplementary activities. This data reflects progress at the end of May 2019 for Grades R-3 at Shirinda Primary School and the majority of students are tracking accordingly with some Gr3’s beyond the 80 lesson mark! As the learners progress through the years the grades will benchmark to the expectations of 40 lessons per grade resulting in Grade 3s moving on to Reading Eggspress once they have achieved a minimum of 80 lessons. Report date: May 2019 (Shirinda)
Results Matter – Reading Eggspress Reading Eggspress Progress Reading Eggspress is designed to build children’s skills in reading, comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar from grades 4 – 7. This data reflects progress at the end of May 2019 for Grades 4-6 at Shirinda Primary School and allows us to see each grades progression through the English Skills and My Lessons curriculum. The Reading Eggspress program has an enormous range of learning resources, reading lessons, and exciting literacy games and the library consists of over 2500 online books for kids Report date: May 2019 (Shirinda)
Results Matter – Mathseeds Mathseeds Progress Internationally, Mathseeds are for learners from Grade R to 2. Whilst we introduced it to Grades 3 and 4 at Shirinda Primary we subsequently moved them to Mathletics. Grades 1 and 2 utilize the Mathseeds software while Grades 3 and upwards utilize Mathletics. The challenge is that English is not the home language of these children and therefore in the earlier years they may struggle to understand the instructions. Report date: May 2019 (Shirinda)
Results Matter – Mathletics Achievement Percentage by Year Mathletics Progress 100% 90% Mathletics courses are aligned to the requirements of 80% the primary maths curriculum and designed for all 70% learning styles. Questions include animated tutorials, 60% audio support and adapt to the learning pace of each >=85% 50% child. 50-84% 40% <50% 30% Mathletics empowers learners to feel confident and 20% motivated to think critically, make learning choices, 10% seek help when they need it and reflect on their 0% learning by being able to visually track their progress. 3 4 5 6 This data reflects the achievements at the end of Term 2 2019 for Grades 3-6 at Shirinda Primary School. The majority of learners are achieving between 50-84% and above for activities attempted. Report date: June 2019 (Shirinda)
BrightLights Learning Lab at Itemoheng Primary Launched: May 2019
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