A total of 23 447 learners in Grades 7, 8, 10 and 12 attended ‘Back on Track’ and matric support classes over the holiday period in the Western Cape.
“Parents will be familiar with our successful winter school classes for matric learners which take place every year,” the Western Cape Education Department said on Tuesday.
This year, according to the department, 10 842 matric learners attended ‘Back on Track’ classes, which are targeted to the schools that need the extra support the most, while 7 109 joined the district-based classes.
That means that nearly 18 000 matrics have received extra academic support over the holiday period.
“What the ‘Back on Track’ does differently is to expand support to other key grades, so that learners are already in a better academic position by the time they reach matric.
“This is the first time we have held holiday classes for Grades 7, 8 and 10,” the department added.
Of these, a total of 1 665 learners are Grade 7s and 2 113 Grade 8s went to camps and classes over the holidays, which focused on mathematics and language, along with psychosocial well-being and life skills sessions.
“Our Grade 10 learners participated in a unique mathematics intervention, with 1 734 Grade 10s attending extra classes across the districts.
“This intervention has been designed given the performance of last year’s Grade 9s in our annual systemic tests, which showed that they need extra support in mathematics.”
Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier also visited some of the Grade 10s at the University of the Western Cape, which hosted classes for the Metro South Education District.
“The learners I engaged with said that they were finding these classes extremely helpful and that the tutors had given them a new perspective on the material covered.
“What struck me was how optimistic the learners were, and the level of commitment they were showing to the programme. I was also impressed by the commitment of their parents, some of whom travelled with the learners and accompanied them to the classes,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the department noted that the teachers also form part of this intensive mathematics intervention.
“I visited the 140 Grade 10 maths teachers who attended training at the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute (CTLI) by our maths experts during the holidays.
“We thank all of the officials, schools, tutors and parents who made this holiday period a successful one for the learners and teachers participating in the ‘Back on Track’ programme.”
He believes that their hard work will go a long way toward improving learning outcomes and giving our children a better future in the Western Cape. – SAnews.gov.za
