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<\/a>\u201cOur foundation has already made strides by offering quality preschool education to hundreds of children in South Africa,” Federer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, in January 2019, the Foundation launched its “School Readiness Initiative” in South Africa to provide vulnerable children with a strong foundation for primary education through quality Grade R programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already spending approximately R175 million, the initiative aims to increase pre-primary education enrollment, improve developmental readiness for primary school, and reduce repetition and dropout rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative focuses on the critical transition from Grade R to primary school (Grade 1) and seeks to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Enhance Grade R teacher capacity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Establish a peer-to-peer mentoring system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Involve stakeholders such as school inspectors, principals, teachers, and parents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Mobilise efforts to better equip schools for young learners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Implement a Child Monitoring System to track development in key areas like language, numeracy, and socioemotional growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
He emphasised that while progress has been made through the hundreds of South African children supported, much remains to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe challenge is huge. 1.3 million children still need the tools to learn and grow” said Federer at a business breakfast that morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is not just a funding issue\u2014it\u2019s about collaboration, learning from each other, and working together to find solutions that will make a lasting impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I rely heavily on the team that I have, and they do incredible work, and we have incredible partners as well that we work with local NGOs,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kolisi, who co-founded the Kolisi Foundation with similar poverty upliftment goals, said, “Having someone like Roger who hasn’t grown up in the streets of South Africa doing this kind of work inspires me to do more and to talk more and bring more people here .”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For me, it’s a no-brainer. The people of South Africa have helped me. It is my duty to give back to South Africa and it’s essential that we all do this kind of work and work to uplift communities,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Partnerships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Siya Kolisi, Roger Federer and BLSA’s Nonkululeko Nyembezi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The foundation operates directly through collaboration with NGOs and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While in South Africa, Federer announced a broader collaboration between his foundation and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is aimed at leveraging the business sector\u2019s resources to address gaps in early childhood education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BLSA chairperson Nonkululeko Nyembezi said that “the business sector is by now well versed in working in close collaboration with the government in tackling difficult challenges confronting South Africa.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What many of us haven\u2019t done until now is to prioritise spending on the youngest ones.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Prioritising human capital from the earliest years is not just a social responsibility, it\u2019s a strategic advantage for creating a thriving society and sustainable success,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federer called on other companies to partner with NGOs and foundations like his to fund and implement educational programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that the task is ambitious, with the goal of ensuring every child in South Africa has access to early childhood education by 2030, but he expressed optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to work together to ensure that every child has access to the education they deserve,\u201d Federer said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge, but one that we are committed to tackling. We can make a real difference by combining our resources, expertise, and passion for this cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Parliament on 11 February, Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube said that “investment in early child learning will yield powerful dividends later on in life. And indeed for our economic prospects.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said to achieve this, they are focusing on: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Expanding access to quality ECD programmes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Prioritising Foundation Phase teaching careers in the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reviewing Post Provisioning Norms to reduce class sizes and improve outcomes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Updating the National Catalogue of Learning and Teaching Support Materials;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Protecting teaching and learning time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
“This is key to ensuring that our children have strong learning foundations that will unlock opportunities for them to excel in school and participate in our economy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other multimedia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n