{"id":238387,"date":"2022-09-27T23:07:52","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T21:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=122053"},"modified":"2022-09-27T23:07:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T21:07:52","slug":"harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Harnessing STEM education support to impact scarce skills"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\n<aside id=\"republication_tracker_tool-2\" class=\"republication_tracker_tool clearfix\">\n<h5 class=\"adtitle\">Republish for Free<\/h5>\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message\">\n<p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<figure id=\"attachment_122054\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122054\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?attachment_id=122054\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"wp-image-122054 size-thumbnail lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-122054 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills.jpg\" alt width=\"200\" height=\"300\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-122054\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balan Moodley, CEO of PROTEC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The clarion call for government and organisations to contribute to an increase in scarce skills in the STEM sector has been growing more strident. The need is real, both to fill the skills gap and for much-needed job creation, but more must be done to meet this need.<\/p>\n<p>Gaps in learning and other challenges can be identified throughout the education spectrum; our education system is ultimately delivering predominantly non-STEM-related matric results.<\/p>\n<p>A quick review of the 2021 matric results shows that of the 897 163 learners who wrote NSC matric, only about 45 000 achieved pass marks over 50%. Of the learners who wrote physical science, only about 21 000 achieved over 50%. That\u2019s a low base of learners with STEM gateway subjects, which means most matriculants finish school with no opportunity to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology fields.<\/p>\n<p>The lot is falling to education support organisations and NPOs such as PROTEC to impact these numbers, and while we\u2019re achieving good results, we\u2019re only scratching the surface of the need in an increasingly 4IR-focused world.<\/p>\n<p>PROTEC was established 40 years ago by members of the SA Institute of Civil Engineers to increase the pool of black engineers in South Africa, in response to apartheid policies that denied black learners that opportunity. It has always been wholly funded by corporate and individual donors.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, PROTEC should have become obsolete at the dawn of our democracy and a new education system that ensured equal education for all children. But that didn\u2019t happen. In fact, we find the need today greater than ever. Of the top 10 critical scarce skills in South Africa now, three \u2013 IT, engineering, and finance \u2013 are supported by PROTEC.<\/p>\n<p>The PROTEC model<\/p>\n<p>The model established by PROTEC\u2019s visionary founders has been delivering excellent matric and bachelor pass rates throughout the decades.<br \/>Working with high schools within target areas, PROTEC identifies and selects learners with potential in STEM subjects.<\/p>\n<p>Education support is provided in Maths, Science, English and World of Work lifeskills lessons by facilitators and tutors under the management of a PROTEC branch and project manager through PROTEC\u2019s comprehensive e-learning platform and facilitation. This hybrid model is crucial to our aim to be a leading STEM education support provider.<\/p>\n<p>Top results<\/p>\n<p>Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the model in matric, through tertiary education, and into STEM careers. We estimate that over our history, over 30 000 learners from disadvantaged communities have successfully passed through the PROTEC programme and are qualified engineers, doctors, scientists, educators, and other professional people. We\u2019re contributing to the pool of STEM skills and estimate that about 85% of our PROTEC alumni are employed by corporates in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Our matric results, both before and during the pandemic, have been excellent, with our Class of 2021 achieving a 99.5% pass rate and a significant 78.2% bachelor pass rate.<\/p>\n<p>Noteworthy are the 2021 matric results from PROTEC\u2019s AngloGold Ashanti Project, which has been running since 2019 for 39 learners in Diepsloot. They achieved a 100% pass rate and a 95% bachelor pass. But most significant is the improvement in results. In maths alone, the top six learners had an average of 35% in 2019, and matriculated with a combined average of 84%.<\/p>\n<p>Three-pronged approach<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our experience shows that our success is founded on three key aspects:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. The people we employ and train to manage and deliver the programme in the field<br \/>2. Our flexible operational model that is managed with stringent accountability<br \/>3. Our funders who enable the delivery of our programme<\/p>\n<p>All three must be balanced for optimal success. However, our adaptability means that when funding increases, the model allows growth in reach and in capacity to expand our facilitator and tutor base.<\/p>\n<p>Often businesses seem to view their CSI initiatives as box-ticking exercises. But when we do partner with a funder who engages with us, our teams and beneficiaries, and recognises the real impact their involvement has on individual lives and on communities, their engagement increases exponentially.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll continue our efforts to build and strengthen partnerships with like-minded organisations who share our vision of young people in successful STEM careers, taking their place in a brighter future for South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re committed to continuous evaluation and re-engineering of our strategies to ensure we remain relevant as an NPO in STEM education support. Under consideration are plans to expand PROTEC\u2019s geographical reach and support of a larger number of beneficiaries; ongoing development of our e-learning platform; introducing a more structured approach towards empowering beneficiaries to put their learnt theory into practice; equipping learners to adapt to the changing employment landscape; and developing a programme to assist teachers in the GET (grades 8 and 9) and FET (grades 10 to 12).<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit www.protec.org.za, or email balan@protec.org.za<\/p>\n<p><strong>PROTEC at a glance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Celebrating 40 years of building successful STEM careers<br \/>\u2022 Head office in Randburg, Johannesburg<br \/>\u2022 Nine branches<br \/>o Seven in KwaZulu-Natal (Tongaat, Inanda and KwaMashu, Mandeni, Stanger, Umlazi, Umbogintwini, and Umkomaas)<br \/>o One in Gauteng (Soweto)<br \/>o One in Mpumalanga (Nelspruit)<br \/>\u2022 Eight projects<br \/>o Four in Gauteng (AngloGold Ashanti Diepsloot, Zutari Mamelodi, General Electric Ivory Park, and Telkom Tshwane)<br \/>o Three in Eastern Cape (Dedisa Motherwell, Altron Dimbaza, and Telkom Gqeberha)<br \/>o One in Northern Cape (Transnet School Support Programme)<br \/>o One in Limpopo (Growthpoint Teacher Development Programme)<br \/>\u2022 National Post School Programme that operates from head office, with national reach<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"post-views-icon dashicons dashicons-chart-bar\"><\/span> <span class=\"post-views-label\">Press Release Views since 1 July 2022:<\/span> <span class=\"post-views-count\">65<\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\">Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republish for Free Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Balan Moodley, CEO of PROTEC The clarion call for government and organisations to contribute to an increase in scarce skills in the STEM sector has been growing more strident. The need is real, both to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-238387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/harnessing-stem-education-support-to-impact-scarce-skills.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}