As the online learning platform continues to show significant growth, Tebogo Loate, who is the co-founder of Virtual Educator-Led Learning Experiences (Velle), support learners who lack access to after-school assistance with remote support across South Africa.
The Velle program was launched in 2020 and it primarily serves the public education sector, with a particular emphasis on schools with little resources. “A lot of learners within our community lack access to after-school support at home unlike other kids that go to more privileged schools,” said Loate. The Velle program provides after-school remote support to learners from Grades 9-12 with high-demand school subjects.
Loate further said that they are having a lot of educators and parents involved to drive the participation of the learners in the program. “Currently we are going to have a lot of educators involved in the platform to help us advocate and drive participation of learners. The second stakeholder group we believe are parents.
Parents are the ones that understand, that worry about whether the child is going to make it in their studies,” expressed Loate.
With the sponsorship of the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) an agency under the Department of Basic Education, the Velle program is able to offer learners additional support as part of its programs such as Woza Matrics.
“Indirectly, we have the relationship with the Department of Education because they act on behalf of the DBE and they report to the DBE on its programs,” he said. “What we want to achieve from this program is essentially to grow the program, to support as many learners across the country,” he concluded.
