Sactwu winter school is coming to town

THE Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) kicked off their annual matric winter school at the weekend and it’s coming to Cape Town.

It’s aimed at giving the dependants of Sactwu members an advantage by equipping them better to write their exams successfully.

The Sactwu winter school will take place in Athlone from July 2-12 for seven hours a day.

It started in Newcastle, KZN, last Saturday when pupils received help from qualified teachers to prepare for matric exams.

Winter school national co-ordinator Hazel Jacobs said: “Classes are done tuition-style, hence there is more positive-outcomes learning taking place because they get individual attention.

“In a normal school environment there are 35 to 40 children in a class, sometimes there is not an opportunity to ask questions and work through problem areas.

“Here the areas they are struggling with are unlocked.”

Jacobs said investing in education was important to break the cycle of poverty.

“Many learners come from lower-income families.

“Some are going to write the matric exam for the first time and this will be their first opportunity to go to university beyond Grade 12, which will empower them to break the cycle of poverty in the family.

“If you don’t have good marks, you don’t have access to tertiary education, the better your matric pass the more opportunities to apply for courses,” Jacobs said.

This year 882 eligible pupils nationally applied to participate in the Sactwu matric winter school.

The programme will focus on maths, maths literacy, physics, life science, English home language, English first additional language, accounting and business.

A session on career guidance and life skills training is also offered on the first day.