School marks improve with tutorials
Weekend lessons pay off for pupils
Kutlwano Mabale struggled with science at school and got the lowest marks in her class.
That was until the Grade 11 pupil at Fidelitas Secondary School in Diepkloof joined 50 other pupils from six schools around Soweto who get free tutorials in maths, science, technology and English on Saturdays at the Soweto Empowerment Centre.
Kutlwano, 16, is now confident that one day she will realise her dream to become an actuarial scientist. Her marks at school have since improved.
“I was always achieved the lowest marks in class. I had no hope of passing or pursuing my dreams because I had no one to help me. I was introduced to the science lab, which makes it easier to understand my teachers at school,” she said.
Kutlwano is not the only one to benefit from the Protec learning excellence project (a nonprofit organisation ).
Another pupil Mbali Linda, 17, who is in Grade 12 at Fons Luminis Secondary School, said one-on-one lessons with tutors has helped them. “We get opportunities to do science practicals unlike at school when we just draw diagrams on the chalkboard. It is easy to get the teacher’s attention as there’s only a few of us in class.”
Sihle Fihla, 16, a Grade 11 pupil at Thaba-Jabula in Klipspruit said after joining the programme last year he scored two distinctions in maths and science.
Their tutor Thabang Molise said many pupils who joined his class did not have a good foundation in science.
“Coming from poor backgrounds meant that they did not have resources needed to help them with their studies.
“They have never been in a computer or science lab before. It takes them about a month … to get a hang of things as I make sure to work with them on a one-on-one basis.”
Centre manager Terrence Ndlovu said the programme also provided pupils with exposure in their fields of interest through job shadowing.