Research indicates that, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, South African learners grappled with educational challenges – eight out of ten children in Grade 4 could not read for meaning in 2016 (PIRLS, 2016) and only 41% of pupils had basic maths skills in 2019 (South African TIMSS).

The pandemic has led to significant learning losses, with a recent study conducted by the Western Cape Education Department, the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town showing that pupils have fallen 40-70% of a school year behind their earlier cohorts in language learning, and 95-106% behind in maths.

On 30 June 2022, responsible business consultancy Trialogue held a webinar to discuss how online learning can become a supportive fixture in the education landscape in South Africa, with the aim of improving outcomes. The panellists were Setlogane Manchidi, Head of CSI at Investec, Collen Mkhomazi, Head of Education at the Kutlwanong Centre for Maths, Science and Technology, and Angie Maloka, Senior Manager: Education and Community Programmes at the MTN Foundation.

Watch the webinar

Challenges to online schooling

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given South Africa’s loadshedding challenges, the results of a snap poll held at the start of the webinar revealed that most attendees identified connectivity as the most significant challenge to online schooling.

This is borne out by the fact that less than 12% of schools were able to offer remote learning options to pupils in 2020, according to Stats SA findings. The challenge for companies supporting education through CSI programming is to address the issues that restrict online learning and make it a supportive factor in the education system.

Refining the Promaths model

For longstanding partners Investec and Kutlwanong, the Covid-19 crisis created opportunities to launch their highly successful Promaths programme in an online format. “It was long overdue, and marked a significant milestone in the programme,” Mkhomazi said. “Our motivation was to not only accelerate the curriculum in response to disruption posed by the pandemic, but to also integrate the ICT component into the programme.”

Manchidi explained that having a trusted relationship with Kutlwanong provided a strong foundation when the programme transitioned online. “Investec raised the possibility in the midst of a hard lockdown and the idea was received without suspicion as everyone knew we had the best interest of the learners at heart,” he explained. “We have always viewed Promaths as a model to be refined as we go along, and the opportunity to take the programme online was an example of such refinement.”

He stressed that online education is not simply taking a lesson planned for the traditional classroom and transferring it to the internet. “We discovered that the best option is a blended approach, with Promaths Online a mirror of our Promaths programme at the Kutlwanong centres to achieve continuity,” he explained. “We didn’t consider it an add-on but something to be integrated into the programme, and we designed components specifically for each format.”

Looking beyond the pandemic, Manchidi believes a hybrid model will work best as one cannot rely solely on virtual learning, particularly in a country facing the harsh reality of loadshedding. At the same time, virtual learning allows one to monitor which learners connect from which regions and respond accordingly. “We will respond differently, for example, to learners in Qwaqwa in the Free State, focusing more on face-to-face learning where connectivity is an issue,” he pointed out.

Learnings from taking Promaths online

Manchidi and Mkhomazi highlighted several learnings that emerged from the process.

“Corporate funders often want to design on behalf of others, but in the process exclude the very people that will use what is designed,” Manchidi said. “We didn’t want to sit in our privileged space as a corporate funder and design from the positions and lenses available to us – we realised we were building for a different context, for communities fairly new to the online space.” The aim was to create a platform teachers and learners could relate to and as such users were involved in the planning. “Above all, we didn’t want the platform to be a ‘white elephant’,” Manchidi explained.

Learners were more adaptable than teachers, who required reassurance and training so they could teach in a completely new way. “Any corporate that thinks of doing something online should know that the older generation will be the greatest challenge; youngsters respond quickly to change and adapt easily,” he said.

The programme remains sustainable because Investec was able to negotiate 50-70% discounts on data from the cellular networks. The cost of data was not passed on to the learners but absorbed by the funder. “Affordability was key as we didn’t want to exclude the majority of learners,” Manchidi said. Most learners had access to devices, so Investec did not have to provide much assistance in this regard.

Mkhomazi underlined the importance of planning, which he believes is the key to success with any education format. “Planning was key, and we received a lot of feedback from our partners during our meetings. This was crucial as we needed to know everything would work seamlessly when we launched,” he explained. Weekly planning and training sessions are held with all teachers on the programme.

The success of migrating the programme online has been reflected in learners’ results. “In 2021, 992 Promaths learners achieved distinctions in maths and physical science; 16 received a 100% pass in maths and nine in the physical sciences,” Mkhomazi pointed out.

MTN brings learning directly to pupils

Since 2008, MTN has installed around 400 computer centres at schools across the country, but during lockdown learners were unable to access these centres. MTN had intended to take learning online for some time, using technology to enhance teaching and learning over a period of years. The pandemic accelerated its plans.

The MTN Online School portal was launched by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in October 2021 – it took six months for the steering committee, technology partners and DBE to create the virtual learning platform. “It was a relief to launch as the majority of young people were not receiving any education during lockdown,” Maloka said.

MTN sought a low-cost solution aligned to public education, catering to its more than 30 million customers with children in public and private schools. For learners using an MTN SIM, the site is zero-rated, but other network users are not excluded. “We wanted a solution that would be everywhere the learners were, whether at school or at home, online or offline,” Maloka said. “They had to be able to access the school from different platforms.”

Maloka agreed with Manchidi that funders often design programmes on behalf of others, so MTN worked closely with the DBE and other stakeholders to ensure the school catered to everyone. The curriculum-aligned content covers all subjects from grades R to 12, but Maloka said updating content is a challenge due to lack of partners. “We acknowledge all our partners who invest in digital content – we know it’s not cheap to produce,” she said. Some of MTN’s partners have also provided devices for learners.

Advice for companies

• Plan to succeed. Mkhomazi said one can create powerful learning opportunities by combining virtual and in-person formats in a single experience – but this requires proper research and planning. “Both formats offer unique challenges – it can be difficult if not impossible to replicate one in the other,” he explained.
• Cultivate partnerships. Maloka said that virtual learning platforms only work effectively with partnerships in place. “We are not competing with anyone,” she pointed out. “Our objectives are the same as we want to achieve the best possible education outcomes. You can’t do everything by yourself as the need is immense, so look at what you can offer and make sure you’re not duplicating effort and wasting resources in the process. Regroup to enhance the offering.”
• Invest in teacher development. Maloka made the valuable point that technology cannot replace good teachers or quality content. Teachers need support as they navigate virtual platforms – Mkhomazi says the Promaths teachers receive continuous training so they are comfortable with how to deliver content online.
• Help with connectivity – or find a way around it. Maloka said that content can be downloaded from MTN’s platform, so learners don’t need to access the portal live all the time.
• Advocate for an enabling environment. Online learning has the potential to overcome social inequity, but stakeholders should come together to challenge the government to create a more enabling environment for learners. Contexts may differ, but online learning can bring maths and science teachers to remote rural areas that don’t have teachers with the requisite skills, said Manchidi. “We should consider online education in the context that’s appropriate and can support our schooling system,” he concluded.

More resources:

• Peruse the ‘Maths and Science Education‘ topic, which is sponsored by Investec, on the Trialogue Knowledge Hub
• Read about MTN Online School