It takes a village to raise a child, and our experience from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that our “village ” has many actors, or stakeholders, willing to ensure that our children achieve holistic education outcomes in a system still characterised by glaring inequality, especially in socio-economically marginalised communities.
Among these stakeholders are our educators, who have assumed frontline worker status during the pandemic.
They include community volunteers, community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, NGOs, NPOs, higher education institutions, various government departments, and business partners.
Their respective roles have become increasingly important because SA’s most vulnerable children have suffered through tremendous learning challenges this year, and the impact of Covid-19 has undeniably left a gap in the essential afterschool space as well.
Partners in the after-school sector in SA are joining #LightsOnAfterSchool, a 21year-old international movement celebrated annually on October 22 and aimed at increasing awareness of the afterschool sector and its impact on improving learner outcomes and education as a whole.
These partners include NPO The Learning Trust, Nelson Mandela University’s faculty of education, and the education hub of convergence located at the Centre for Community Schools (CCS) department through one of its projects, Organising in the After School and in School Space (Oasis).
The #LightsOnAfterSchool campaign highlights the critical role these various after-school and in-school programmes play in providing equal access to educational as well as psycho-social support.
After-school programmes are organised activities for children to participate in at the end of their formal school day.
These include homework assistance and dedicated tutoring, career guidance and job readiness programmes, arts and culture, physical movement, music programmes, feeding schemes, sports and more.
We also have various activities organised during the school day which include community volunteers supporting schools at multiple levels including roles as teacher assistants, and in security, personal hygiene of the school and administrative support.
Glowing examples of the type of support is the involvement of communities in schools like Charles Duna and Sapphire Road Primary; the work of Unako Communitybased Movement in schools; the STEM in Action engagement hub in the Advanced Mechatronic Technology Centre (AMTC) at Mandela University; Dynamic Vision Teambuilding providing teacher development workshops, youth camps and courses; and The Bookery, which has facilitated the opening of three literacy spaces in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Area and is working with CCS to open a literacy space in Cala.
There are many other examples of after-school programmes providing various forms of complementary assistance to support schools to achieve their educational outcomes.
The argument needs to be made that all these stakeholders need to be supported, recognised and validated for the role they play in allowing our children to have a fulfilling education experience.
This is particularly true for the support provided in socioeconomically marginalised communities that face tremendous material and human resource challenges.
Research reveals how afterschool programmes have been one of the most influential players in working towards minimising the learning gaps of the education system in these lower quintile schools, which are said to experience the highest number of grade repetitions and drop-outs annually.
The CCS in the faculty of education at Nelson Mandela University is excited to partner with The Learning Trust in celebrating the first #LightsOnAfterSchool campaign in SA.
The collaboration with the trust aligns with the new vision and strategic objective of the university being in the service of society, while converging with a broad range of stakeholders in various hubs of convergence to co-construct new ways of responding to the challenges faced by our communities.
The #LightsOnAfterSchool campaign was launched by the non-profit US-based organisation Afterschool Alliance, in October 2000, and is chaired by former California governor (and Hollywood actor) Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The organisation calls on after-school programme partners throughout the world to generate awareness of equal and quality access to learning programmes.
The 21st annual campaign this year is dedicated to shining a light on everything the afterschool programmes have done in an unprecedented year and will involve hosted events as well as roundtable discussions with policymakers, local community leaders and educational institutions.
The Oasis project will facilitate the conceptualisation of campaigns that focus on how we co-construct such programmes which are contextually relevant to the Eastern Cape and include the voices of all participants.
The campaigns seek to not only serve as advocacy for the fantastic work done in a tough and challenging space, but how we can campaign in SA in a way that helps to get more partners, funders and donors on board to grow the in- and after-school sector.
All these stakeholders need to be supported, recognised and validated for the role they play in allowing our children to have a fulfilling education experience.
This article appeared in The Herald of 22 October 2020 written by Dr Bruce Damons, project manager: Hubs of Convergence, Bird Street Campus, Nelson Mandela University.