Growsmart Program Helps to Improve Literacy Rates in Western Cape, South Africa

Elementary school children in Cape Town, South Africa are definitely in need of help, in terms of support in education. While there are many learning advocacy groups in South Africa, Growsmart operates a program in Western Cape to help elementary school children, primarily those who are in grades four to six to improve their writing, comprehension, verbal and reading skills.

The Western Cape Education Department and Growthpoint Properties joined forces in creating Growsmart and launching it in 2010. It is a high impact literacy program that not only provides positive influence on school children but also on teachers, the schools as well as the Western Cape communities.

Low literacy rates

In a numeracy test given by the Department of Education in the Western Cape, only 35% of children in grade three were able to process problems in basic math. However it was much lower for children who are in grade 6, with only 17.4% passing the numeracy test. Literacy rates for the same level of students have a pass rate of 48%. Education authorities are very worried as these children will be the future leaders of South Africa.

Growsmart’s positive impact

According to Growthpoint Properties’ head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Shawn Theunissen, the competition they annually run in the schools have truly taken off. During their first year, there were only 80 schools and 240 pupils that participated in the program. This year, the number has dramatically increased to more than 700 pupils and 200 schools.

Commitment to educate and further literacy

Quoting Shawn Theunissen: “Literacy is the foundation of learning and continued growth.” This embodies the program of Growsmart. For them it is not about learning to spell and repeat it like a parrot; it is how a student is able to grasp the meaning of a word and use it to verbalize. This, Theunissen added, is what a successful educational system is all about. The Growsmart program approach provides school children with a fun and engaging way to learn while encouraging their competitive spirit to pit their learning skills with other school children. Even teachers in the underprivileged areas of Western Cape are provided with crucial materials for lessons.

Children are enjoying the fun way that they learn new words, spelling them correctly and using them in a sentence. They are also mighty proud when they give their school the prestige of them winning the competition for their school. With them having fun, they forget that they were indeed learning and increasing their literacy, which removes the tedium in sitting inside a classroom and listening to a teacher giving lessons.