Standard Bank South Africa – Developing Future Fit Educators

We are committed to forging a sustainable growth path that benefits both current and future generations. We have embedded the consideration of social, economic and environmental (SEE) impacts into our business strategy and decision-making processes. We take our responsibilities to society and the environment seriously, and we commit to being transparent and accountable for our impacts.

Each of our twenty markets across the continent has different CSI strategies and delivery models. In all cases, we work closely with government departments and other social partners to understand priority needs at the national and local level, and partner with local agencies and community organisations to ensure effective and sustainable delivery of our programmes.

In South Africa, Standard Bank is committed to empowering South Africa’s youth through education and skills development, and our CSI focus is on supporting improved access to quality education through the development of multi-year strategic partnerships with community organisations.

We support programmes to strengthen the capacity of teachers and caregivers, with a focus on early childhood development (ECD) and foundation phase learning.

We aim to be a contributing partner to the development and implementation of future skills curricula for ECD and the foundation phase, by working with leading organisations and entities in this area. We support projects that develop teachers and teaching in early years schooling, benefitting children aged 4 to Grade 3, and we empower primary caregivers by providing them with skills to supplement early learning.

These projects are run in partnership with NGOs or academic institutions and are typically implemented over three to five years. We also provide support to a limited number of programmes designed to improve access to tertiary-level education.

The over-arching purpose of this intensive professional development programme at Uplands Outreach is to boost teacher effectiveness by forming vibrant Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) of Foundation Phase and Intermediate Phase teachers in Mpumalanga. The programme emphasizes evidence-based approaches to learning, using the latest tools and techniques in education.

At Standard Bank – we believe that success is defined by improving numeracy, literacy and pedagogy in teachers, which has been achieved and all KPIs have been met (and exceeded in most cases). The programme adapted swiftly to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and is continuing to yield positive results for both teachers and learners, with quantifiable improvements noted by independent evaluators.

In summary, the programme is achieving the following:

• Boosting overall teacher effectiveness
• Maintaining vibrant Professional Learning Communities for Foundation Phase and Intermediate Phase teachers
• Improving Numeracy in our partner teachers
• Improving Literacy in our partner teachers
• Improving Pedagogy in our partner teachers
• Demonstrating a measurable impact on learner performance
• Establishing lasting personal and professional relationships with 56 passionate teachers in the Insikazi Circuit
• All programme Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been met each year for six consecutive years

The 2022 programme statistics can be found here (hyperlink).

A recent noteworthy outcome of the programme is the tangible career growth and advancement of participants: at the end of 2022, six partner teachers have been promoted since 2017 and another five partner teachers have pending promotions.  Twenty-eight partner teachers are considering applying for promotion and have requested assistance with CV and interview techniques.

An independent evaluator described the Standard Bank Teacher Development Programme as the following: “This is one of the best and most comprehensive professional development programmes I have observed.”