EduCating the matrics of 2016

Matriculants are being encouraged to learn in an innovative way.

The 6th annual eduCate programme was launched this month by Primestars Marketing, a company dedicated to developing educational programmes.

Each of the companies involved including Tsogo Sun and Kulula.com among others, and the Department of Basic Education, are fully on board with the new age way in which Grade 12 pupils will learn maths and science, ahead of their final exams later in the year – but this is not the first year that this cinema-learning has been implemented.

Made possible by a number of key sponsors including the Capitec Foundation; Sasria, an insurance company, and the Telkom Foundation, the programme is a national intervention that is set to turn Ster Kinekor cinemas into Theatres of Learning – a programme that has yielded great success in previous years.

Martin Sweet, managing director of Primestars Marketing, explained the issue that led to the initiation of the mass maths and science educational sessions. “The burning issue at hand is that there is a dramatic shortage of skills in the hard sciences, and if we are to transform South Africa’s business sector, we must start by educating the youth in maths and sciences,” he said.

The eduCate programme is made up of 10 free pre-recorded revision sessions – five maths sessions and five science.

The programme aims to service a number of schools across the country, with specific attention on the pupils from underserviced areas and townships in hopes that the new environment will encourage focus and learning.

“We need immediate solutions, and the eduCate programme serves our children by motivating pupils to work harder and matriculate with maths so that they can pursue studies in fields with good employment prospects,” Sweet continued.

The content will be broadcast and screened simultaneously in nine provinces over 10 consecutive Sundays from 24 July.

A pupil who took part in the programme previously gave testimony to its effectiveness. “I am a prime example of the result of this project. In Grade 11, I barely passed mathematics and was determined to give it up so I could have a better chance at passing matric. After attending eduCate, I received a 90 percent pass in my final exams,” said Mfanafuthi Methula.

Pupils from schools in Midrand, Hillbrow, Johannesburg and Sandton will be transported from their schools to The Zone at Rosebank to take part.

Details: www.primestars.co.za