LEARNER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The LDP provides educational services for high-school learners who attend under-resourced schools in the townships and who live in poverty-stricken communities in the Greater Cape Town Metropolitan Area. Since 1982 the organisation has been providing educational support in the form of a Saturday School for learners from disadvantaged communities. The school operates throughout the year and during school holidays. From small beginnings the programme has grown according to demand, to accommodate up to 2500 learners. Contrary to expectations the demand and need for supplementary tuition has increased year on year. Although government policy has attempted to bring equality and redress in education, schools in previously disadvantaged communities remain heavily under-resourced in all respects and continue to reflect the poverty that surrounds them. The schools are overcrowded, with educators and managers often ill equipped to cope with the demands of the curriculum.
Impact of the LDP
Personal Development
The learning environment on the LDP is entirely different from that at mainstream schools. Learners attend voluntarily and are not subjected to school rules and discipline. They learn in a safe environment to organise and manage themselves and as a consequence develop more confidence and responsibility.
Senior Certificate results
Each year the Senior Certificate examination results of the learners who attend the LDP show clearly that the programme has an important impact on the overall pass rate as well as the quality of the pass. The results are the main indicator that the LDP continues to achieve its aims.
The LDP is linked to ASSET’s Bursary Programme in that those learners, who succeed in gaining entry to Higher Education, are considered for bursary awards.
For parents who struggle for daily survival, there is little if anything to spend on their children’s education and few organisations like ASSET who give educational and financial aid. Our programmes are therefore widely popular and seen as providing an essential service.
THE LEARNER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (LDP)
The LDP provides supplementary tuition in key subjects on Saturdays throughout the year and during the school holidays to Grade 11 and 12 learners from historically disadvantaged schools in the W. Cape.
The LDP objectives are to:
- provide content, study skills and exam preparatory support in main school subjects;
- improve conceptual understanding and learner performance;
- improve language proficiency across the curriculum;
- to help learners explore appropriate career paths;
- to improve life chances of learners and raise awareness of the issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic;
- to ensure long term sustainability and impact by working in harmony with the Western Cape Education Department.