File picture: Etienne Creux
The Growsmart Educational Programme will kick-off its semi-finals in the 2022 Growsmart competition for literacy and mathematics in which 170 learners participate this month.
The Growsmart Educational Programme is a corporate social initiative intiated and funded by Growthpoint Properties. The programme hosts an online and project-based inter-school/inter-grade competition in literacy, story writing (creative writing) and mathematics for learners in grades 4, 5, and 6.
Schools that have scored less than 55% in their LITNUM (literacy and numeracy) results are selected by the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Limpopo education departments to participate in the programme.
In addition, it has also piloted an Entrepreneurship Competition for Grade 6 in the Western Cape.
Hosting the competition in a digital format has allowed Growsmart to extend its reach. Having started with the four metro educational districts in the Western Cape, it has now grown to include the remaining four educational districts from Eden and the Karoo, Overberg, West Coast and Winelands.
A total of 158 schools and 805 learners - 400 in literacy and 405 in mathematics - from the Western Cape were registered to participate in the competition this year.
In literacy, 85 learners and mathematics, 85 made it through to the semi-finals set to take place this month.
Over 200 storywriting books were submitted and have since been marked. The winner of that will be announced at the final.
In literacy, the learners are tested on their ability to spell, select the correct definition and identify whether the word has been used correctly in a sentence.
In mathematics, the questions vary from BODMAS, problem solving and mental maths. They compete in four competition rounds in total and, by a process of elimination based on accuracy and time, are moved forward until a final of five winning learners remain.
The winners in the Growsmart competition - learners, teachers and schools - are rewarded with substantial prizes for their education worth over R500 000.
Twenty-five creative and child-led businesses for the Entrepreneurship competitions - from Growpreneurs to Tasty Fridays - were received, with nine schools moving to the semi-final round.
To assist and guide learners in the storywriting and entrepreneurship process, they were given access to free Growsmart resources such as a creative writing and entrepreneurship workbook and online learning tutorials.
In addition to the specifically created workbooks, Growsmart invited learners and mentors to a face-to-face entrepreneurship seminar hosted at Workshop 17 at the Cape Town Waterfront. There were 96 attendees who rotated between four seminar rooms where presenters introduced the principles of marketing, branding, and financial tools.
In addition to amazing prizes in the Growsmart Competition, semi-finalists can also look forward to participating in the Growsmart bursary programme facilitated with various bursary partners.
All participating learners who have reached the semi-finals are invited to apply for a bursary opportunity.
“This process sees Growsmart support the learner and their family every step of the way, starting from the application process, which often is daunting and deemed unattainable.
“The importance of this programme is to provide access to quality education, alleviate and or assist with the financial burden of the cost of education and inspire and encourage the learners to study further,” said Jewel Harris, founder of Growsmart and general manager of Growthpoint Properties Cape Town.