Description of project:

President Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Education, Kader Asmal, highlighted the need for an intervention in the teaching of maths and science at schools and at tertiary level. After discussions with specialists in the education sector, the Shuttleworth Foundation also recognised this need. As a result, in 2001, the Foundation sponsored the Phambili project - a new methodology for the teaching of maths and science being implemented by a private company, Effective Teaching.

Effective Teaching has summarised each grade's prescribed textbooks (maths and science) into comprehensive workbooks that contain exercises and practice problems. As a result, lessons are pre-prepared, the content is accurate, structured teaching takes place and the lesson is completed in an allotted time. Through this methodology, Effective Teaching aims to regularise teaching. According to Effective Teaching, a pilot study of the Effective Teaching Programme has shown a positive impact on the examination results.

The Shuttleworth Foundation?s involvement:

The Shuttleworth Foundation funded this programme in its entirety in 2001.

Aims and objectives:

The Shuttleworth Foundation supported this maths and science programme in an effort to test whether this methodology actually does raise the academic standards of maths and science of learners. We also evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the programme as well as the costs of implementing the programme on a large scale.

Evaluation:

The programme was completed at the beginning of 2002.