The recent enrichment programme for teachers by SU's School of Accountancy in collaboration with the Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) attracted more than 330 Western Cape teachers this year.

The annual Teacher Enrichment Programme (TEP) is a focused, online training course for Grade 9 economic and management sciences teachers in the Western Cape. Its purpose is to provide EMS teachers with knowledge and skills to strengthen their teaching capabilities, and to help them explain difficult concepts to learners.

The four-week programme was coordinated by Ms Waldette Engelbrecht, lecturer at the School of Accountancy. Weekly sessions commenced in July 2021 and were offered in both English and in Afrikaans. Every session focused on elements of basic financial literacy, such as accounting for debtor and creditor transactions, from the use of the correct source documents to recording transactions in financial statements.

The programme was concluded by an insightful presentation by Professor Stephen Coetzee of the University of Pretoria on the future of education in view of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Antoinette Venter, Director of the Economic and Management Sciences curriculum at WCED, expressed her satisfaction at the end of the course. She remarked that the collaboration between WCED and the School of Accountancy had proven positive, and that the training was of a high professional standard. “The WCED looks forward to a continued roll-out of this programme to teachers in other grades as well," she said.

• Illustration (supplied): One of the slides used in the enrichment programme. School of Accountancy lecturers Petro Gerber, Juan Ontong, Sher-Lee Arendse, Chrystal Schonken, Danielle van Wyk, Andrea van der Merwe, Nicolette Klopper, Lee-Ann Kelly and Armand Bruwer gave presentations during the enrichment programme coordinated by Waldette Engelbrecht.