The Capricorn Foundation has expanded its cooperation with the African Child Development Trust (ACDT) by funding N$575 000 for the printing of pre-primary and grades 1-3 workbooks.
The Foundation says since 2020, it has helped the African Child Development Trust improve early childhood development (ECD) through educational and development activities, establishing the groundwork for lifelong learning.
Over the weekend, Marlize Horn, Capricorn Foundation executive officer, visited one of the beneficiaries, Love Your Neighbour Pre-Primary School in Windhoek, Okuryangava, and thanked the African Child Development Trust for promoting inclusive education by reaching out to teachers and children in rural and urban communities.
“Investing in education is a key component of long-term development, and a driver of poverty alleviation. As Connectors of Positive Change, the Capricorn Foundation is happy to collaborate with the ACDT to ensure that no child falls behind, as access to quality education is a fundamental human right,” she stated.
Horn said the African Child Development Trust seeks to address the social challenges related to education, including access to quality education and equity in education.
Apart from the printed workbooks, their initiatives include an online learning platform, featuring video lessons with sign language interpretation for hearing-impaired learners to ensure all children have access to quality education.
Since 2020, ACDT, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, delivered nearly 13 million books to 14 regions in Namibia.
The project provides pre-primary and junior primary materials in 11 languages, offering nine free books per semester over two semesters, covering the curriculum from pre-primary to Grade 3.
These books are quality-approved by teachers and the Namibian Institute for Educational Development (NIED).
Trudy Swartz, a teacher at the Love Your Neighbour Pre-Primary School, thanked the ACDT and the Capricorn Foundation for their support.
“The school receives 200 workbooks monthly, which helps us support our learners better in line with the Namibian education curriculum, and prepare them for primary school,” she said. -Nampa