Education

The Mercedes-Benz Group of Companies in South Africa supports the South African chapter, with our parent company, Daimler AG, being founder of the Academy. 'Using sport as a tool for social change', it operates on the premise that children of school-going age from disadvantaged communities across South Africa can change their lives by participating in supervised healthy pursuits while being equipped with character-building and coping skills.

It is noteworthy that a number of project leaders and coordinators developed through their participation in Laureus projects have progressed to a level where they were offered employment.

• The 12 projects which LSFG currently supports, are well-placed to address the numerous challenges faced by vulnerable young people.
• Participants in these activities currently number 10 000; it goes without saying however that the positive impact is felt far beyond direct project beneficiaries and their immediate families and communities.

For more info: http://www.laureus.com 

The objectives of this project are to increase the country’s technologically skilled human resource base, capacitate targeted schools to deliver improved matric pass rates, and equip learners with skills, knowledge and values to live economically active lives. The beneficiary schools are located in Atteridgeville north of Pretoria, and North West.

• The beneficiaries of the project include 19 schools, with a selected group of 40 Grade 10 learners participating in a learner development programme between 2008-2010.
•  The following quantifiable deliverables were specified for this project:
• Teacher and learner based interventions
• Learner development to improve performance through extra classes, the supply of quality study materials, and practical workplace exposure and experience – the latter for instance through employee volunteering initiatives of the Business Women’s and Transformation Forums
• A reduction in turnover and drop-out rate for beneficiary groups
• An improvement in the quality and number of passes. 

This project is focused on improving both the quality and level of matric pass rates at the targeted schools, which were nominated by National Union of Metal Workers of SA (NUMSA) shop stewards at the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in East London. Beneficiary schools are located in the Border Kei region of the Eastern Cape, in Mdantsane, Duncan Village, etc., from where The Mercedes-Benz Group of Companies in South Africa draw their employees.   

• The objective of this flagship MBSA education project is to capacitate school managers at senior and middle management levels, teachers and school governors, to engage in strategies and activities that deliver institutionalised effective learning and teaching in the 15 nominated feeder primary and secondary schools.
• Beneficiaries consist of 10 297 learners, 352 educators, school management teams consisting of 78 members, 169 parents in school governing bodies, totalling close to 11 000 individuals.
• Key indicators have been identified as follows:
• Management of curriculum delivery, evaluating progress which has been achieved since a base-line study was undertaken in 2009
• Learner support and counselling through for instance study skills training, encouraging participation in extra-mural activities, a feeding scheme, one-on-one discussions, creating HIV and AIDS awareness with supporting guidance programmes, etc.
• Introduction of a focus on management and administration, including time-keeping, maintaining required registers and records.
• Management and governance. A sound structure has been introduced to achieve a sustainable impact in this regard, through regular and minuted meetings held between the schools’ stakeholders, strict financial controls and annual audits of school finances, the introduction of school policies, and last but not least, ensuring that school premises are well maintained, neat, clean, and present a welcoming environment.

The Mercedes-Benz Group of Companies in South Africa are members of the Eastern Cape Business Government Partnership, established in 2007 when the Provincial Government (PG) entered into a collaborative partnership with the NBI with the aim of enhancing the capacity of senior provincial officials from different departments through coaching and mentoring, ultimately improving service delivery of the PG. Much positive feedback has been received regarding the growth of the protégés through the mentorship programmes.

Our East London base is represented in the Collaboration Committee by Johann Evertse, Vice President: Human Resources; this Committee is chaired by the Premier and members include MECs and other CEOs/MDs of Eastern Cape business, and it focuses on issues of strategic development for the Eastern Cape economy, in particular the Rural Development Plan.

“I can define Rally to Read as an angel sent to the children, to teach them about the importance of reading” – these are the sentiments of, one of many employees who volunteered to participate in this initiative.
Rally to Read is a Corporate Social Responsibility project which started 12 years ago, and involves sponsors, organisers and participants visiting the most remote and needy schools in rural areas to deliver reading material, teaching aids, and other learning materials.

The Mercedes-Benz Group of Companies South Africa (MBX-SA) has hosted the annual Eastern Cape Rally for a number of years, and actively sponsored the initiative in the Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo regions. While the surroundings may have differed, the staff in all three locations witnessed the same thing, children in desolate conditions, yet filled with excitement, appreciation and hope.

The deliverables of this CSI project are:
• Distribution of durable secure portable libraries, the contents as prescribed by the Department of Education, and starting with Grade R children.
• Supporting a teacher development programme.
• Ensuring that more schools in inaccessible areas are targeted.
• Strategic relationship-building between MBX-SA senior management and Department of Education and other government stakeholders.
• Monitoring the challenges and progress at schools which are nominated to participate in the programme during the three year cycle.

Rally to READ 2011 has managed to bring R6 532 500 into the READ Trust, which will go a long way in delivering not just resources, but hope, to rural learners, their teachers and parents for a better future.

In January of each year, our East London base sponsors a fleet of twelve 4x4 vehicles to enable Eastern Cape Education Department officials to pay unannounced visits to schools in approximately 23 remote districts. The purpose of the visits is to monitor the start-up process for each academic year, identify areas of improvement at these schools, and monitor performance against objectives.

Monitoring tools addressing the following areas are used, for both the school and each district, and action steps and time frames are identified:

• School Management and Governance:
  • The focus is on learner welfare, government policies and structures, management of the educational documents, all levels of planning, how ready the school is to implement the School Improvement Plan and other organisational issues.
   
 
• Curriculum Management:
• The availability of learner and teacher support material is verified, as well as the relevant learning area/subject material for all the teachers.
•  
• Financial Management:
• The financial issues of the school such as Norms and Standards for School Funding are covered, as well as the current year’s budget, and it is ascertained whether parents are aware of the process involved to apply for full or partial exemption from paying school fees.

The Mercedes-Benz Group of Companies in South Africa does not just operate as a leader in the automotive industry but furthermore as a catalyst for change. This involves meeting the needs of South Africans in the areas of education with a strong bias towards development in rural communities, road safety, community development and sustainable job and wealth creation through entrepreneurship development.

It is because of this dedication to South African society that MBX-SA founded the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme in 2002.

The programme has since run in seven provinces in South Africa and encompasses a 10 day training programme teaching 30 unemployed youth various aspects of a business such as marketing, entrepreneurship and financial management. The key objective of the programme is for each individual to compile a business plan, after having completed their market research, through which they receive assistance. The top three winners are awarded capital to commence their respective businesses, which is paid directly to suppliers to ensure that these funds are used solely toward the growth of the businesses. Mentorship is provided during the implementation phase of the business, as well as links for all participants to a range of Government SMME support agencies.

Since 2002 the initiative has trained 841 people and has played a contributory role in addressing unemployment by creating 386 jobs.