The Secondary School Improvement Programme has now been expanded to offer support to over 300 000 learners in secondary schools.
Speaking during the launch of SSIP at Lenasia South Secondary School this morning, Creecy said the programme which offers extra lessons on Saturday and during school holidays had helped improve the pass rate in the province.
“SSIP is symbolic of the Gauteng Department of Education’s determination to lift the quality of education in schools and to see improved levels of achievement, particularly in those schools which have struggled to consistently achieve the benchmarks we have set for the province.
“Our determination has led to a number of intervention strategies that, like SSIP, are bearing fruit,” Creecy said. SSIP will this year support about 325 000 learners from 385 priority schools at a cost of R140 million. This figure includes about 60 000 Grade 12s, about 115 000 grade 10 and 11s and about 150 000 Grade 8 and 9 across the province.
Grade 12 learners will attend 18 Saturday sessions, 14 Holiday sessions, 10 exam preparation Camps, five exam support sessions (during the exams). Grade 10 and 11 will attend seven Holiday sessions in June.
The programme is a supplement to the normal teaching that takes place during the week. With SSIP, learners receive extra tuition in the following subjects Maths, Maths Literacy, Physical Science, Life Sciences, Accounting, English First Additional Language, Economics, Business Studies, History and Geography.
The programme has identified particular topics in these subjects that learners normally struggle with in an exam and expert tutors help learners on Saturdays and during holidays.
