South African Education Project (SAEP)

We help children & young people from disadvantaged communities by educating for a brighter future.

How can you help?

More about South African Education Project (SAEP)

Educating for a brighter future: SAEP’s primary objective is to promote social and economic development of Philippi and to improve living standards through programmes to encourage and support children and young people in studying to gain the means to improve their lives., We intervene at critical transitional stages in their schooling to build their capacity to thrive at the next stage. Programmes are offered at ECD level, primary school (Grades 3 and 4), secondary school (Grades 8 and 9) and at post-secondary level through a bridging year and structured support for students at tertiary level. Our vision: A generation of South African youth, equipped with education and life skills to maximize their potential and contribute to society. Our mission: To prepare and motivate children and youth from under-resourced communities to thrive through education, life skills and psycho-social support. COVID-19 - When the lockdown was declared, in March, everything changed in the way we worked. Our programmes identified new needs of our beneficiaries and developed new ways of working to adapt to the new conditions. We will continue serving the beneficiaries in our programmes and prepare for the time when schools reopen, so that we can help to make up the time lost. We have distributed food parcels and vouchers to families whose children are in our programmes and have taken care to distribute learning materials to learners and students in all programmes. Even in ECD we have distributed learning kits and sent regular SMSs with activities for parents to enjoy with their children at home during lockdown, keeping the social links between children, ECD centres and ourselves. Our vision and mission are delivered through 5 programmes: Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme: SAEP supports 75 ECD centres in Philippi to become centres of excellence through our holistic training and mentorship in centre management, learning programme enrichment, and providing nutritious meals and learning materials. We work in partnership with the Department of Social Development (DSD to support 138 centres (including those in our holistic programme) to achieve compliance and register with DSD so that they qualify to receive a subsidy. The ECD centres employ 511 principals and practitioners and enrol 5,597 children. Siyakhathala (‘We Care’) Primary Programme: – is a reading programme to assist Grade 3 children to read for understanding in their home language isiXhosa before they make the transition to learning in English in Grade 4. We work with 120 learners as well as the teachers at one primary school in Philippi. Hope Scholars Programme: – Learners in Grades 8 and 9 at high schools in Philippi participate in a programme which emphasises career choice, hikes and environmental activities. We cooperate with Tshilidzi, formed by a group of students who benefited from Hope Scholars, are now at university and anxious to give back. Ihlumelo Hope Scholars programme gives after-school tuition in maths, science and English to 120 learners and hikes, experiential learning and enriching outings. Bridging Year (BY) Programme: – prepares post-secondary school students for tertiary education, and is open to students from across Cape Town, all of whom have had a compromised education due to the legacy of Apartheid. The course includes critical thinking, academic literacy, career guidance, computer skills and psycho-social support (to deal with personal and family problems which could hamper their success at university and college). The students are required to perform community service and work experience placements. The students are enrolled with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Second Chance Programme for academic tutoring so that they can rewrite certain Grade 12 subjects, to help them gain entry to their chosen courses of study. Tertiary Support (TS) Programme: – follows the BY students when they enter tertiary studies and supports them by linking them with external advisers and mentors, career advice, workshops on preparing for the world of work, financial planning workshops, etc. To honour President Mandela, who loved all children, we would ask • ECD centres will need start-up kits to operate safely in the pandemic – sanitizer, soap, containers and thermometers – each kit has been costed at R4,100 but every contribution helps. • ECD centres have been disrupted and will need food for the children when they reopen, particularly those which are not subsidized by the Department of Social Development.