The ânew normal” in schools during the Covid-19 pandemic has raised many challenges for teachers. To help tackle some of these challenges, the LLC Academy is supporting teachers from ECD centres through their Teach-a-Teacher (TAT) programme.
The TAT programme addresses youth unemployment, as well as the critical shortage of qualified ECD practitioners, by providing a year of funded education and valuable work experience to deserving unemployed South Africans who cannot afford to study.In addition, it can also help corporate companies score points on their B-BBEE scorecard by sponsoring a student teacher for a year.
The academy focuses on the growth and social upliftment of previously disadvantaged individuals, educating them so that they can become suitable for employment opportunities that were previously out of their reach.
Two women from Gauteng are putting their best foot forward to ensure that children from their communities have access to education from an early age.Natalia Khoza is the Principal at the Rivonningo ECD in Finetown believes that it is vital to work on improving the education and care of children from disadvantaged communities. âEducation is very important for the children of the community of Finetown because it is one of the less fortunate areas in Johannesburg. The community is known for its poor upbringing of children and poverty,â said Khoza.
The Rivonningo ECD Centre was opened back in 2012 and looks after 40 kids from the ages of 0 to 6 years old.The children are provided with education and healthy balanced meals. âWhen we started this creche we gave up my house to the children of the community until we managed to build a creche outside. Many families from the community canât afford school fees, but we still take care of their children. We give them food and education,â said Khoza.
Angeline Gesa is part of the TAT programme and has been volunteering as a Grade R Teacherâs Assistant at the Rivonningo ECD Centre for 12 months. She used to be a stay-at-home mom and she says that being a volunteer at Rivonningo allowed her to utilise her skills.âAs the teacherâs assistant, I have learnt a lot from working at the centre and this has allowed me to help educate children and give them a better future. I have gained a lot of knowledge and skills that I hope I will be able to use one day to open my own ECD centre,â said Gesa.
She said that being a teacher has allowed her to help them and make a difference in the community through education. âI love to learn new things and working with children is a huge learning experience because we donât only teach them, we also learn a lot from them. Working in an ECD centre you arenât only teaching children, you are also teaching other people you work with, the parents and the community, what they may not know about their children,â added Gesa.
