Two Oceans teacher training facility officially opens
OLD Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI), in collaboration with the Two Oceans Education Foundation, has announced the official opening of a new teacher training facility, the Two Oceans Graduate Institute (Togi) in Cape Town – OMAI’s first investment in tertiary education.
In March 2017, the Schools Investment Fund approved an investment of R72 million with the Two Oceans Education Foundation. The investment includes finance for the building of a primary and high school as well as the Two Oceans Graduate Institute, which will train future schoolteachers.
The Two Oceans Graduate Institute offers a four-year bachelor degree in intermediate phase education. Tuition combines distance learning as well as a minimum of eight hours of contact time with trainee teachers a week.
The institute has two intakes a year (the first was in July), with the goal of enrolling 300 students a year in the Western Cape and then expanding into other provinces.
OMAI, through its Schools and Education Investment Impact Fund of South Africa (Schools Investment Fund), has approved investments of R1.4 billion in new education facilities. It is the first and largest education impact fund of its kind in South Africa.
Set up in response to acute education infrastructure shortages in South Africa, the Schools Investment Fund works in partnership with school/ education operators such as the Two Oceans Education Foundation to improve access and quality of education for children of disadvantaged communities and to provide affordable independent schooling. Funding the Graduate Institute is a natural extension of the School Fund investment, as the development of quality teachers is paramount to the sustainability of the country’s schooling infrastructure.
The fund has produced impressive results, including the enrolment of approximately 16 000 students across 24 schools and employing 1 074 staff, of which 560 are teachers.
Leading educationalist Professor Jonathan Jansen, guest speaker at the launch, reminded the audience that “there is no other profession if it was not for a teacher”. He challenged Togi to “accept only those students who have a passion for teaching, because if they don’t have a passion for teaching then you will not produce quality teachers”.
Simphiwe Somdyala, head of Old Mutual Corporate Affairs, congratulated Togi and Old Mutual on their partnership because “quality educators are essential for quality education”.
Paul Boynton, chief executive officer of OMAI, commenting on the Two Oceans Graduate Institute’s official opening, said:
“We are delighted to be opening this wonderful new educational facility. The future teachers who train there will go into primary and secondary schools around the country, enabling learners to receive a first-class education and secure the qualifications that will serve them well in today’s rapidly changing world.”
Ashra Norton, the director of Togi, added: “We are very pleased to be opening the Two Oceans Graduate Institute, which we have developed in partnership with OMAI.
“We greatly appreciate OMAI’s support, expertise and commitment, not only to our new teacher training institute, but also their commitment to positively impacting the educational landscape of our country.
“We look forward to continuing to work together with OMAI in the coming years as we endeavour to positively transform education in South Africa. Our intention is to add more degree and higher education courses to our tertiary education offering so as to better allow us to effect positive change in this beautiful country of ours.
“We firmly believe that the power of education to shape the minds and hearts of our young people, and provide our children from less-privileged communities with real opportunities to excel in their lives, is vital to the future development of South Africa.” Ashra Norton Two Oceans Graduate Institute