Kgololo’s pupils wise up on university
ALEXANDRA - Kgololo Academy pupils learn about furthering their education and different career options.
Kgololo Academy is getting closer to its objective of producing graduates and professionals from its inaugural crop of five- to seven-year-old pupils.
Now in its second year, the private school on 2nd Avenue in Alexandra is modeled around some of the successful local and American schools. Its intakes are local children who receive a quality education in manageable class sizes of 28 pupils compared with public schools which have more than 50 pupils in each class.
The academy also exposes pupils to careers through experiential learning on various professions to enable them to make informed choices as they develop and grow.
The school lived up to its motto, Set your dreams free, at a recent Celebrate Varsity Day event where a scientist, teacher and firefighter answered questions from the Grade 1 pupils.
The visitors informed them about the benefits of education, the need for commitment, exploring various career options, understanding one’s strength and the need to develop good personal and study habits to enable them to contend with the workload amid the freedom at university which can lead one astray. They were also exposed to aspects of firefighting such as safety and disaster management and evacuation.
Kgololo Academy founder, Waahida Tolbert Mbatha said the input would equip and shape the children into achievers from a young age. “It exposed them to the steps towards university. We also engage them in field trips to various institutions they may go to, to avoid intimidation when they enrol in the future,” Tolbert Mbatha said.
She added that the small class sizes provided the pupils with close contact with the teachers and enabled them to make drastic improvements in their competency in literacy and numeracy. Already the academy has seen a 75 percent improvement in mathematics.
The school’s Ofentse Mokobodi said the children also received an extra 200 minutes of instructional time by starting early and leaving school later than most other schools, they get two nutritious meals and a daily snack, as well as the opportunity to participate in extramurals including modern dance and cricket. “The close relationship with the teachers also enables the children to master words, pronunciation and to read independently from very early on,” Mokobodi said.
Mbatha commended the department of education, community and parents for their support which she said included volunteering with homework and field trips as part of their commitment to a 20-hour volunteer’s agreement.
It is currently registering for the 2017 Grade R and 1 intakes.
Details: 011 264 0079.
