As the world commemorates International Literacy Day on 8 September 2022, South Africa is reminded of how online learning has enriched the country’s education system. Numerous learners benefit from feature-rich digital resources, and countless others can improve their literacy rate through online learning.
The latter is especially crucial in South Africa, where a recent Reading Panel study found that 78% of the country’s Grade four children cannot read for meaning in any language. The concern is if children’s literacy skills remain slow, inaccurate, or unreliable, their learning will continue to suffer. However, despite the strides made in e-learning, many South African learners still can’t access the high-speed, uncapped internet required to benefit from these digital tools and materials.
To help break these barriers, SubjeX, a digital educational platform, has partnered with Vuma to provide free access to an online RedHill School MasterClass series for over 200 high schools in Vuma’s Fibre to Schools project. Vuma’s Fibre to Schools project connects every registered primary and high school the fibre provider passes in its growing network of communities with a free 1Gbps high-speed fibre internet connection.
“The MasterClass videos helped me fill the gaps I might have missed in class. In addition, the summary on each topic gives important points and sets me up to start revising past papers without reading the textbooks, which saves me time,” says Sanele Khumalo, a learner at Maryvale School. “Being a visual and verbal learner, the videos have assisted me in the best way possible. I’m so grateful to this pocket school.”
The series has been so effective in helping countless matrics in these schools access a range of world-class pre-recorded online lessons and learning material that the fibre provider is also offering 100 free Subjex subscriptions to matric learners throughout the country. Learners can visit Vuma’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page for details on how they can access the platform.
“Digital learning is key to building tomorrow’s leaders, which is why we’ve partnered with SubjeX to drive transformation in our education system and remove barriers that prevent thousands of young people and teachers from taking advantage of these online opportunities,” says Taylor Kwong, CSI Manager at Vuma. “This solution was the perfect addition to our connected schools initiative because the schools already have fibre to access the platform’s fun and engaging lessons for matric learners.”
Subjex caters to the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and Department of Basic Education (DBE) curricula by offering 14 IEB subjects and eight-core DBE subjects. In addition, each topic contains numerous lessons that learners can access online via a computer or smartphone.
“We’ve encountered challenges where learners couldn’t access the platform’s full capabilities because of a lack of fibre connectivity or an unstable network connection at home. However, through this partnership, more learners will be able to properly prepare for this year’s exams using comprehensive syllabus material and benefit from the platform’s tailored packages,” says Marina Appelbaum, Head of SubjeX.