EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Despite its mostly negative impact on industry, the lockdown has given some education franchises reason to smile, writes ANÉL LEWIS

The Franchise Association of South Africa warned in June that 80 per cent of franchising outlets would not survive if they could not resume normal operations. Yet for some, such as the educational franchises that have managed to adapt and step into the breach as schools closed, there have been positive spin-offs.

Mini Chess, a play-education programme that develops critical skills, took “a big knock” in April as lockdown started, but it is now seeing an increase in new enrolments. “Education is one sector that has experienced a

Marisa van der Merwe complete disruption globally,” says Mini Chess founder and CEO, Marisa van der Merwe. “And we found ourselves caught in the middle.”

When schools closed and extracurricular activities were suspended, there was an even greater need for programmes that could supplement online learning. Adrie Schoeman, CEO of Master Maths, also saw numbers drop as household income was affected and priorities shifted. “The lockdown forced us to move quickly to only online support, which from a technology perspective was not diffi cult as we already had the platform in place and many of our learners had access,” says Schoeman.

However, the downside is that some of the learners did not have computers at home or money for data.

Mini Chess also had its challenges. “We immediately moved online in early April with the MC-Online pilot, which had been in the pipeline for some time. But we reached less than 50 per cent of our market online and it was diffi cult to reach our sponsored communities,” says Van der Merwe. Mini Chess offered payment packages and special arrangements to retain clients. But Van Der Merwe says

Adrie Schoeman the lockdown has had positive outcomes for Mini Chess. It encouraged the development of the company’s own online platform and led to the establishment of a portal for its nonprofi t programme. “Looking back, COVID-19 was the instigator for a lot of growth in our company.”

Lack of access to computers and/or companies and mobile network Other partnerships have also internet connectivity for students limits providers such as MTN and sought to bridge the technology their educational opportunities. Cue a global pandemic, which effectively moved all teaching online, and this divide has widened, with far-reaching repercussions for our country’s already unequal education system. When schools closed in March, the government responded swiftly by zerorating educational platforms aligned with the Vodacom helped reduce the costs associated with online learning. According to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa, over 1 000 local websites are either already zero-rated or FAST FACT Nearly 90 per cent of students in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to computers at home, and a staggering 82 per cent do not have internet access, according to UNESCO. gap. Siyavula, an e-learning platform, provides free access to curriculum-aligned open textbooks for Grades 4 to 12. Aware that many households do not own a smartphone or computer, the Department of Basic Education and the SABC national curriculum, enabling learners and in the process of being launched a multimedia learner teachers to access content for free. Publicapproved for free access over support initiative to provide private partnerships with telecommunications fi xed or mobile data. educational programming.

“Fuel’s vision is to enable every organisation on the African continent to have a learning management system to empower and uplift employees securely and effortlessly. Our clients have maintained and improved training delivery to hundreds of thousands of frontline workers across Africa throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our innovative low-bandwidth solution has enabled them to train employees on their own devices without incurring data costs. Our social peer-to-peer learning and webinar tools have aided learners in getting the required education, while still feeling connected during challenging times.” –Gavin Gamsu, CEO, Fuel