The nationwide lockdown has kept pupils behind closed doors for over a month, but a Hout Bay-based NGO is looking to fill the gap by providing free online learning content.
Noma Moyo, the project manager of School in a Box, said in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown, the organisation had found a way to share its resources with pupils who need it, for free during this period.
“We have a massive content selection, including a digital library in all official South African languages, and thousands of lessons from Grade 1 to Grade 12,” Ms Moyo said.
“Learners can also hone their knowledge with study guides and past papers. An online library also provides hours of reading, as well as teacher resources,” she said.
School in a Box was formed in 2015, when the founding members, who ran a private school in Johannesburg, realised the massive need for scalable, high quality educational content in less privileged communities across the country.
“Millions of South Africans are not only unemployed, but also often unemployable, due to the inadequate education they receive,” Ms Moyo said.
School in a Box is an affordable, easily customisable, and works offline, with the curated content being linked to the CAPS curriculum and structured accordingly, so pupils don’t have to sift through hours of videos and content to find lessons that are of good quality, and suitable for them, she added.
“Parents are being inundated with several channels promoting learning tools. School in a Box is offering a one-stop additional/supplementary learning platform for Grades 1 to 12. No strings attached, no spamming your inbox, no trial period, absolutely free access to all content.”Over the next 18 months, School in a Box will be looking to target 100 000 pupils across Southern Africa.
“We need to have a way to get great content and lessons into the hands of those who need it – either as part of their school day, or in after-school scenarios,” Ms Moyo explained.
If you would like to make a donation to School in a Box to enable them to continue providing free content to pupils during lockdown, visit www.schoolinabox.co.za/donate/
To take advantage of these resources, parents and teachers can email their name, surname, email address, contact number and child’s grade to support@schoolinabox.co.za or WhatsApp 081 783 4547 for their unique username and password.
