Civil Engineering May 2022 | Vol 30 No 4

Civil Engineering May 2022 53 “The hybrid model is important in the changing 4IR environment, and it’s vital to our aim to be relevant as a leading STEM education provider well into the future.” CLASS OF 2021 RESULTS PROTEC’s Class of 2021 delivered excellent results despite the impact of the pandemic on their final two years of high school. Of the 367 matriculants around the country in PROTEC’s primary sup- port programme for learners with the potential to improve their performance, 365 passed – which represents a 99.5% pass rate. 287 achieved bachelor passes (a significant 78.2% bachelor pass rate), and overall they achieved 430 distinctions. Highlights of the Class of 2021’s results: Q Q PROTEC’s top achiever is Phindile Xaba from PROTEC Tongaat branch. She attended Sacred Heart Secondary School and achieved seven distinctions. Phindile is now studying Computer Sciences and Information Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Q Q PROTEC Stanger’s Darshan Bramdev from Stanger Manor Secondary School achieved 96% in English, five distinctions, and came in second overall in PROTEC’s top 10 students. He is studying Actuarial Sciences at Stellenbosch University. Q Q PROTEC Tongaat’s Ntuthuko Ngcobo from Nondenisa Secondary School achieved 99% in mathematics. Q Q PROTEC Nelspruit’s Michael Maseko from Sitintile Secondary School achieved 99% in physical sciences and five distinctions. Q Q PROTEC Umlazi’s Ernest Gabayi from Velabahleke Secondary School achieved eight distinctions. Q Q Five of PROTEC’s top 10 learners are female. PROTEC’s whole-school Telkom- sponsored programme achieved an 84.1% Phindile Xaba from PROTEC Tongaat branch is PROTEC’s top achiever in the Class of 2021 with seven distinctions Darshan Bramdev from PROTEC Stanger achieved 96% in English, five distinctions, and came in second overall matric pass rate and a 38.5% bachelor pass rate. Five students achieved five or more distinctions in this programme, with top achiever, Shenikah Ledwaba from Reitumetse Secondary School in Soshanguve, achieving seven distinctions, including 99% in accounting. Also noteworthy are the matric results from the AngloGold Ashanti Project, which has been running since 2019 for 39 learners from three high schools in Diepsloot. They achieved a 100% pass rate, a 95% bachelor pass, and 56 distinctions overall. Over the three years since the programme launched, the beneficiaries’ results have made great strides, with their average improvements as follows: Q Q Mathematics: from 37% at inception to 65% in 2021 Q Q Physical sciences: from 34% to 63% Q Q English: from 53% to 70% Q Q Accounting: from 42% to 76% The top six mathematics learners had an average of 35% at inception. Their matric result is a combined average of 84%. LOOKING AHEAD Having successfully reached its 40-year milestone, Moodley says this serves as a reminder “that longevity requires us to continuously evaluate and re-engineer our strategies and systems as we head into a future that is ever changing.” Looking ahead to what is next for the organisation, Moodley says future plans could include: Q Q Expanding PROTEC’s geographical reach Q Q Supporting a wider and larger number of beneficiaries Q Q Continuing to develop and improve the e-learning platform Q Q Introducing a more structured approach towards empowering beneficiaries to put the theory they are learning into practice Q Q Understanding the future of work and equipping learners to adapt to the challenges and changing landscape Q Q Increasing the focus on fine-tuning the evaluation of diagnostic results to determine the areas where local school teaching needs to improve, and then developing a programme to assist high school teachers in the GET (grades 8 and 9) and senior phases Q Q Seeking alternative funding streams to enable PROTEC to build unrestricted funding, and a sufficient reserve fund to continue delivering on its mandate Q Q Exploring partnerships with organisa- tions that can: Q Q assist in PROTEC-wide career days Q Q be feeder companies for learners post-qualification Q Q provide access for job shadowing and work experience Q Q Partnering with national or provincial education authorities to consider the possibility of using the e-learning platform to broadcast lessons into under-resourced schools. For more information Visit www.protec.org.za or email Julie Vivier, PROTEC’s fundraiser, on julie@protec.org.za .