PUPILS GET AN EDGE
Fri 19th October 2007
Tshifhiwa Masutha
New Technology was
introduced to Pretoria last week Thursday, giving pupils an
advantage in the classroom to change the way they learn.
Absa has joined forces with the Teaching Handwriting
Reading And Spelling Skills (THRASS) organisation to launch the
THRASS Absa Talktogether Literacy Project.
This collaboration is a unique approach to teaching
English and other home languages to school pupils.
The launch was held at Eendracht Primary School in
the city centre, which was chosen to be the first school in Pretoria
and only the third in South Africa to implement the THRASS System.
The project aims to revolutionise the teaching and
learning of languages in South Africa through the forging of
partnerships between primary schools, universities and other
organisations.
It is an English phonics programme that uses the
‘letter-sound’ method which basically means a pupil can press a
certain letter or word and the programme instantly responds.
“It will give the letter or word as well as give the
correct pronunciation and also acts like a dictionary,” says Nkidi
Phatudi, Head of the Department of Early Childhood Education at the
University of Pretoria.
Sixteen teachers from different schools are currently
at the university of Pretoria undergoing further training on how to
use the system so they can assist other teachers.
Alan Davies, CEO of THRASS says it is a map to teach
children about the sound and spelling choice of English. “We are
also celebrating the children’s home languages through the use of
computers and interactive boards,” he says.
Nicholas Young, chief financial officer at Absa calls
this the Make a Difference (Mad) campaign, where their aim is to
make a difference to education and raise literacy levels
countrywide.
The cost of all the equipment, which includes a huge
touch-screen television, accompanies with its speakers, smartboard
and a laptop is R150,000 and they will be given to schools for free.
The principal of Eendracht Primary School, Gerhard
Olivier, is overwhelmed with the gift. “Most of our children are
from poor backgrounds and are not really getting any help at home,
which leaves us with all the work,” he says.
The School has 22 classes and plans to accommodate
each class at least twice a week in the THRASS media centre.
They are also planning on introducing more of the
children’s home languages to the curriculum next year.
Source: Rekord
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