MALVERN resident, Keith Reddy has developed study guides which he hopes will be of great help to learners who are struggling to keep up with their school work since the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 caused numerous disruptions to so many learners.
“It is my strong belief that education eliminates poverty,” said Reddy who emphasises this point to the children in his classroom everyday.
“So many learners have this misconception that mathematics is difficult. Hence, I wrote this study guide to break this misconception,” he said.
“My reward is to see learners enjoy mathematics. When you enjoy mathematics or any other subject, you begin to see the results improve exponentially. This also opens up many opportunities for learners in the field of science,” he said.
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Reddy has decided to donate his books to Malvern Child and Youth Care Centre (MYCC) where most of the children who live in the home have not been able to return to school since so many of them have chronic illnesses or weakened immune systems which makes it dangerous for some children to attend school and perhaps bring back an infection to the home.
Church
Reddyand Andile Ncamana, the director at MCYCC have known each other for some time due to both attending the same church before lockdown closed institutional worship in the country.
The two men were amazed to realise they already knew each other when Reddy informed Ncamana about his plan to donate his study guides to MYCC.
Reddysaid he feels a responsibility to help learners, both those he is in direct contact with and others with his study guides.
“I have been teaching mathematics and Afrikaans for 12 years. I believe teaching gives you a platform to make a difference in a child’s life,” he said.
Reddy added every educator has so much power to change lives.
“I am so grateful for this opportunity to help children harness the potential and gifts they have and see them excel. Sometimes they cannot believe their achievements. All a child needs is to be given an opportunity and motivation. Teaching gives me this opportunity,” he said.
Home
Ncamana explained that there are too many children in each cottage to allow adequate social distancing at the home. “For this reason, as well as because some of the children at MCYCC have weakened immune systems, the decision was made not to return them to school when some grades returned to school,” he said last year.
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“It would be a disaster if one child would get infected,” said the director when speaking to the Queensburgh News last year in August when schools closed down for the second time since March.
“Social Development has offered to come and sanitise our premises once a week and the Department of Education helped us with allowing us to fetch homework from schools on a daily basis for our children not to be left behind,” said Andile Ncamana.
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While some schools set up digital platforms during 2020 Ncamana said the facilities at MCYCC are limited.
“We do have some computers, but they are not enough,” he said. During the long months of lockdown Ncamana identified a great need for the learners at the home to have extra lessons and tutoring, especially for the subjects that the staff at MCYCC are not proficient at themselves.
However with the second wave and further increased risks of transmission of the virus, the facility has been very careful to keep itself isolated as the school year ended, and over the festive season and into the beginning of January when it only officially and cautiously ‘reopened’ to allow some visitors from Monday, 11 January.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
