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Xstrata's Schools Development Programme

A ZAR3.8 million holistic education programme is helping 20 historically disadvantaged schools in Mpumalanga Province in South Africa improve the quality of their mathematics and science teaching, governance and school management.

Executive Director Corporate Development Eric Ratshikhopha said the three-year, joint Xstrata Coal/Xstrata Alloys programme initially focused on improving the governance and management of the schools before addressing the quality of primary and secondary school teaching.

"In contrast to the historical tendency of business to focus solely on short-term gain in curriculum development, we recognised the importance of focusing on the actual management and governance of the schools to ensure they are being run professionally and with the interests of the students' educational development in mind," he said.

A number of preparatory meetings were conducted between July and September 2003 aimed at introducing the programme to senior representatives of the provincial and regional levels of the Mpumalanga Department of Education. In October 2003, Xstrata representatives held meetings with circuit-level officials and stakeholders from all the government-selected primary and secondary schools to solicit 'buy-in' for the schools' involvement in our programme. These meetings were then followed by school visits to discuss the programme with school staff.

In January and February 2004, a baseline study was conducted to determine the infrastructural conditions, governance, management and curriculum practices in the schools. The study revealed the strengths and needs of each school and will serve as a benchmark to measure improvement. We have used the study results to establish business plans for each school.

Forty teachers have been registered to complete the Mathematics Advance Certificate in Education course through the University of South Africa and science teachers will be registered in 2005.

Eric confirmed that the baseline report was presented at the first steering committee meeting in July 2004, which was attended by senior officials from the Department of Education.

"At that meeting, the steering committee realised the learnings from our programme could be replicated throughout the Mpumalanga Province, so a broader meeting with regional and circuit-level officials was held in October 2004 to discuss the issue," he said.

"We will work with the provincial government and relevant school governing bodies to conduct an annual baseline study of each school enrolled in our programme to ensure the programme remains relevant and successful."