Sasol Report to Society 2020 - Book - Page 38
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The year in review: global impact continued
Education continued
Schooling education
SOUTH AFRICA
NORTH AMERICA
Infrastructure support
We
New kitchen facilities and equipment were handed over to three
schools in South Africa in support of the school nutrition programme.
Two classrooms were rebuilt at a secondary school in Delmas,
Mpumalanga.
Two mobile science laboratories were donated by the Sasol Foundation
to Sci-bono Centre and North-West University to service schools in Gauteng
and North West provinces respectively.
additional mobile science lab was donated to Osizweni Education
Resource Centre to service schools in Badplaas ensuring learners in
An
under-resourced schools have access to science laboratories.
Technical education in schools
Over the years the Sasol Global Foundation (the Foundation) has played a pivotal
role in embedding technical subjects, building teacher capacity and providing
resources required for technical education to succeed in the South African
schooling system.
The Foundation is supporting five technical high schools across the
country and has contributed to improved performance and the number of
learners enrolled for technical subjects in these schools. One of our learners from
the Gauteng North District was among the Top Ten learners in the country for
Technical Mathematics and Science in 2019.
designed an interactive Sasol chemical
manufacturing exhibition facility in Southwest
Louisiana. The objective is to generate
enthusiasm and interest among young people,
their guardians and teachers and to learn about
the chemical manufacturing industry and
ultimately careers available in the industry
locally. About 9 000 people per quarter
visit this facility.
Through
established partnerships, we
supported 120 teachers in the 'Partners in
Education' programme.
Sasol
partnered with the Southwest Louisiana
community to establish a scholarship
programme that provides financial support for
tuition, training costs, support services and
technical support for the unemployed and
undereducated population in a five-parish area.
This year, we provided 110 scholarships.
In North America, more than 2 800
students benefitted from STEM
education support programmes.
About 6 000 learners are benefitting from this intervention and
40 teachers are receiving onsite support and training through workshops.
CASE STUDY
Enabling digital access to education during South African
COVID-19 lockdown
The Sasol Foundation partnered with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Africa Teen Geeks
to provide free online classes ensuring learning and teaching continued during the national lockdown
which was introduced in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The 'STEM Lockdown Digital School' formed part of the Foundation’s commitment to support and enable access to quality education
and to promote excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The platform provided learners with a virtual
classroom experience enabling interaction between the teacher and learners.
Since the launch of the initiative, more than 250 000 Grade R to 12 learners accessed online lessons, most reporting the courses to be
engaging and stimulating.
More than 1 600 videos have been produced covering lessons from Grade R to 12 curricula with a focus on Mathematics, Mathematics
Literacy, Natural Sciences, Physical Sciences, Numeracy, Computer Application Technology (CAT), Information Technology, Coding and
Literacy. All lessons were recorded and uploaded on YouTube and are available for learners who missed the classes or wishing to
re-watch the lessons. The project also recruited and trained 54 teachers to
develop and deliver online classes.
The challenge with delivering online classes has been the digital divide, which limits online
access. Only children who have devices such as laptops, tablets or smart phones could access
the classes. The high cost of data for those who have devices, was prohibitive, and negatively
impacted consistency in participation. The Sasol Foundation is working towards migrating all the
content developed through the digital school platform, to the free DBE portal. This is to ensure
that millions of learners across the country have equitable access to learning resources that
permeate not only digital but also socio-economic and geographical divides.
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Sasol in society: 2020 report
The project recruited
and trained
54 teachers
to develop and deliver online
classes
