We believe that education is the key to unlocking a child’s potential and that this should be denied to nobody, no matter how remote their location or how poor their circumstances. Xhosa is the home language of children in the Tyume Valley but the medium of instruction in schools is English. In order to succeed in school and in an increasingly globalised world learners must master the art of reading, writing and expressing themselves in the English Language before they can begin to make progress in other fields.
TVS programmes are aimed at removing that barrier through a combination of different ways – working with teachers and volunteers to encourage children to read, first in Xhosa and then in English, introducing fun ways of learning at residential study camps and after school classes and opening up to them a window onto the opportunities waiting for them in the wider world outside their beautiful but deprived rural area.
There is a reading crisis in South Africa. On international reading scales, children in South Africa perform very badly; in fact, South Africa comes last out of 50 countries, behind less developed countries like Egypt and Morocco.
Reading with understanding...
Fluency in speaking, reading, and writing English is vitally important in South Africa where it is the main language of education, business, and administration. For children to become fluent in a language, they need to start young and to practice it...
Starting Maths programme aims to support teachers and support staff, through providing a structured curriculum that they can use to reinforce teaching and learning a basic maths curriculum, linked to the South African CAPS curriculum.The programme begins...
Our English and Maths programmes are supported by residential Study Camps at Hobbiton Outdoor Activity Centre at nearby Hogsback.
English study camps for primary school children aim to improve their confidence and competence in speaking English....
TVS is working to overcome the inequalities that are embedded in the education system by training teachers and volunteers from the schools and communities that we are helping. As well as providing workshops, we involve them directly in hands-on professional...
The TVS TechLearn programme introduces children to computers as a learning tool using IT technology to build on the knowledge and skills previously taught and to support children’s learning in English Language and Maths. Training for local teachers i...
