South Africa’s Teach2Teach Leads The Way For Pre-school Teachers In Mooiplaas

Teach2Teach, a Section 21 not-for-profit organisation has partnered with FOXit, a specialist independent software provider to help simplify learning and manage resources  for staff at Ditshego Preschool in Mooiplaas, Gauteng.

The partnership has also given Teach2Teach the financial resources it needs to help learning institutions and has helped it demonstrate the value of on-site skills development in the form of teacher training, as well as effective

FOXit is a Centurion-based company and official partner of Teach2Teach. Its affiliation forms part of a focused, strategic Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and corporate social responsibility programme.

The organisation assists institutions to solicit the resources they require and also provides services, specifically in-classroom training free of charge, to under-resourced education institutions -particularly within previously disadvantaged areas, to ensure that education environments are well-organised and sustainable.

However, this service and the sustainability of the organisation are dependent on the buy-in and reliable support of businesses.

For the Mooiplaas community – and the Ditshego Preschool in particular – the organisation’s involvement and attention has been instrumental in restoring an environment conducive to learning.

Wendy Watson-van Tonder, spokesperson for the initiative, together with volunteer Nicky Herbst from Westview Methodist Church, explain that there was a definite need at the Preschool for guidance and advice to reorganise resources, apply a more stream-lined approach and instil a sense of order in terms of classrooms and overall management.

“We were approached by a volunteer and requested to assist.  Since we continue to push education in previously disadvantaged areas and help to bring about some upliftment in future generations, Mooiplaas fits our ‘mission’,” explains Watson-van Tonder.

She adds that whilst teachers were initially sceptical, having been let down on numerous occasions by would-be helpers, this scepticism turned to enthusiasm after there was a realisation Teach2Teach was there to stay to get the job done.

Isabel Nel, Managing Director of Ditshego Preschool, expressed the gratitude of all staff and pupils from the school for the work done by Teach2Teach.

In a letter to the organisation, Nel wrote: “In 2012 Ditshego Preschool was a safe place for 140 children in the Mooiplaas Informal Settlement.  Six of the seven teachers only had informal training to conduct a daily program for the children. This is not enough to ensure a better future.

Since January 2013 Teach2Teach has trained teachers and we provide education as well.  Parents and volunteers have seen the difference.  In very difficult circumstances Teach2Teach persevered and the children are the beneficiaries … You made a difference in so many children’s lives.”