​The Centre for Pedagogy (SUNCEP) team in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (SU) will be hosting 15 different tuition sessions for more than 1000 teachers and learners during the school holiday.

The biggest of these groups is a group of 600 Grade 5-12 learners who will meet in Worcester, Villiersdorp, Malmesbury, Atlantis, Franschhoek and Springbok to attend supplementary tuition sessions in Mathematics and Natural, Life or Physical Sciences.

One of the programmes offered in Worcester involves a group of learners from six farm schools. Media24 donated magazines and newspapers which will be used in the literacy component of this initiative.

In the Southern, Northern and Western Cape, 300 HOPE@Maties Grade 12 learners will also attend supplementary tuition programmes. These learners come from more than 90 different schools.

The HOPE@Maties programme is aimed at Grades 12 learners to improve their content knowledge and skills in Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Accounting so that they may access higher education programmes in 2017. Most of these learners have already applied to be Maties in 2017.  The closing date for applications is 30 June 2016.

Approximately 80 tutors identified by the different departments of education will present the various tuition sessions alongside SUNCEP staff members.

In some areas the learners will commute to the sessions daily; and in others they will stay in school hostels for the week.

SUNCEP is also expecting more than 100 teachers to attend a blended learning SU accredited Mathematics short course in Vredendal and Kuils River. This is a follow-up session after earlier face-to-face sessions.  

This is one of the initiatives to further familiarise teachers to include technology in their teaching. The interactive Mathematics material was developed by SUNCEP and will be available on their tablets again.

In Stellenbosch, a group of 50 school management team members will be attending a short course in Curriculum Leadership and Management, also presented by SUNCEP.

"Good school governance is important and necessary for learning to take place. That is why this is such an imperative part of SUNCEP's offering," says Dr Trevor van Louw, Director of SUNCEP.

In Kimberley, approximately 60 new school principals will be attending an induction course, designed and developed by SUNCEP. The purpose of this course is to familiarise new principals around issues of school management and governance.