LEARNING
UNDER LOCKDOWN ANÉL LEWIS rounds up some of the support programmes corporates have initiated this year
OLD MUTUAL ENSURES CONTINUITY OF LEARNING When lockdown was announced, the Old Mutual Foundation was in the fi nal stages of its new fi ve-year strategy for education, scheduled to commence in 2021. This meant that the foundation had unallocated funds that could immediately be redirected to its COVID-19 response, explains Fikile Kuhlase, head of the Old Mutual Foundation. As education is Old Mutual’s largest corporate social investment (CSI) portfolio, much of the R50-million that was pledged towards the Fikile Kuhlase company’s comprehensive COVID-19 response was used to ensure continuity of learning. “It was important for the Old Mutual Foundation to support programmes that would remain sustainable even once schooling resumed. We thus supported the school recovery programmes, noting that our role was critical to ensure that the education system was stabilised as soon as possible so that learning and teaching could continue undisrupted. It was important for Old Mutual to play its part in saving the 2020 academic year,” says Kuhlase. The foundation was one of several companies supporting the plan of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to help reach more than 13 million learners through integrated online and broadcast platforms, such as television and radio.
“Education during the pandemic has continued to be received inequitably by learners in our country.” – Fikile Kuhlase,
HEAD OF THE OLD MUTUAL FOUNDATION 18
Old Mutual’s 21 Acts of Goodness programme supported 2020 matrics.
OMNI TAKES A HOLISTIC APPROACH Old Mutual also supported the Dial-aTutor platform, which allows Grade 8–12 learners to access subject specialists via a toll-free number. The 21 Acts of Goodness programme for the matric class of 2020 recognises the massive challenges wrought by COVID-19 this year. Old Mutual is one of 21 organisations involved in this project to uplift matriculants around the country. Other programmes funded from the R50-million included a nutritional programme, in partnership with the DBE, and the provision of hygiene awareness, e-learning and other learner support materials.
CSI TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE One constant throughout the pandemic has been the increased reliance on technology – be it for business meetings and social gatherings, or to host virtual classrooms for online learning. With this in mind, DriveRisk donated 30 laptops to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountant’s Thuthuka Bursary Fund. The devices enabled aspiring chartered accountants from disadvantaged backgrounds to access the technology they needed to continue studying during lockdown.
For Omni HR Consulting, a private FET college, the implications of COVID-19 created an opportunity to accelerate the conversion to accredited and credible online learning. Cindy Londt, Omni HR operations executive, says: “When COVID-19 hit, we were ready for online learning to support our learners without disruption. We saw it as a huge opportunity to penetrate the market and to use it to our advantage to engage with the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and the Cindy Department of Londt Education to support the migration to online learning.” Where before there had been only draft policies in place to accommodate online learning, SETAs are now willing to allow online and virtual learning. Omni places a strong focus on its corporate social responsibility by weaving so-called “soft” life skills and work readiness into its education platforms. Over the past three years, 21 000 students have been exposed to entrepreneurship programmes that will prepare them to work in the retail space or start their own business. “As much as education is the heart of what we do, we are passionate about making a difference in the lives of the people that we serve – our staff, our clients and the larger community. It is not just about the qualification, it is about making a holistic and positive impact,” explains Londt.
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