We are a small team of friendly people who are on a mission help young South Africans excel in Maths and to train well-equipped and enthusiastic Maths teachers. In order to do this, we carry out three main activities:
1. We run afterschool programs
Numeric runs afterschool programs in 45 partner schools across the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces of South Africa. These afterschool programs are situated in lower income and township areas, including Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Mfuleni (Cape Town) and Soweto (Johannesburg). Each year in September/October, we recruit Bachelor of Education students from universities in these areas to work as coaches in our programs the following year. It is a competitive selection process, but students who are selected attend a two-week training bootcamp in December and are placed into programs the following year to work as Maths coaches.
2. We train teachers
Numeric has recently launched a Numeric Teaching Academy. The Academy provides fully-funded PGCE bursaries for university graduates to train to become maths teachers. More specifically, the Academy provides an intensive, year long training program during which candidates complete their post graduate certification in education (PGCE) and participate in content, practical and classroom management training. Students who apply and are accepted join a vibrant and friendly community of people who are passionate about maths education.
3. We run Khan Academy training programs
Over the last four years, Numeric has developed extensive expertise in using Khan Academy to provide high quality learning outcomes. Khan Academy is a powerful (and free) learning platform that was developed in the United States and which is backed by Google and the Gates Foundation. It is primarily targeted at mathematics, but over the last few years has extended learning material into physics, chemistry, biology and economics. Numeric does two types of training. First, we partner with universities to offer semester-long Khan Academy programs, typically for first or second year B Ed students. Second, we run teacher training courses for teachers who are interested in learning more about Khan Academy and how they can use it in their classrooms to produce superior learning outcomes. For more information, visit www.numeric.org or contact us directly at [email protected]
