Missio Dei School
Quality education remains a challenge in rural communities. Children are faced with numerous hardships including no transport to school and sub-standard levels of education. Language remains an issue as children in rural areas are less exposed to different languages. Once they are behind in education a snow ball effect causes them to be behind in securing employment which subsequently causes numerous social problems that our country faces everyday.
In 2012 we started off with a preprimary class and a grade R class for the local children. Our aim was to lift the standard of education and grow the school as the children move on to the next standard.
We soon realized that the task at hand was one of mammoth proportions. A shed on one of the farms was allocated to develop the school as it was strategically placed in the center of our community. Several volunteers stepped in and provided assistance at all levels: financially, providing expertise and volunteering to do the work. What started off in a one room classroom grew into a fully equipped school. Today we are humbled to say that we have 160 children enrolled at the school in the nursery school, gr R, gr 1- gr 7. Our personnel include 10 full-time teachers and one administrative manager.
Missio Dei Education Remedial Classes (MDE)
After our school on the farm was fully functional we realized that we need to do more to help solve the educational challenge we face in South Africa. Statistics in our country show that only 50% of gr 1 learners make it to gr 12. An international study for literacy (PIRLS) was done in 2021 indicating that 81% of gr 4 learners in South Africa cannot read with understanding. South Africa clearly has great shortfalls regarding foundation phase education. If we do nothing about this, it can only lead to more instability in the future.
MDE started with remedial classes at schools in 2015 to supply gr 3 learners with support in Mathematics and reading.
Our strategy:
- We train people from the community around the school to serve as tutors to 3 learners at the school.
- Schools identify struggling learners that can benefit from our program.
- We test the learners and arrange them in small groups according to their level of understanding.
- Schools allocate classrooms to us for the purpose of our remedial program.
- We supply remedial education in Mathematics and Reading to gr 3 learners four days per week.
- We appoint qualified teachers to train all our tutors on a weekly basis and visit classes daily to ensure quality education for the learners in our program.
- We test learners frequently to measure progress.
- We do daily discipleship with the learners to guide them in Godly character and responsible stewardship.
Benefits of this strategy:
- It is cost effective because we use the facilities of existing schools and train our own tutors. We can reach many learners for a fraction of the cost compared to a normal school.
- We create income and skills training for many people around schools in rural areas.
- We work with learners in small groups and can give more individual attention, ensuring progress.
- Progress of individual learners can be measured.
With the help of businesses and other individuals we were able to replicate this model to 29 other schools in the country. We reach more than 2600 learners on a daily basis.
Missio Dei Healthy Parenting
In September 2024 we launched a new project: Missio Dei Healthy Parents (MDHP) that wants to support and guide parents, specifically parents with children enrolled at MDE, to help them grow as healthy and happy families.
This is a holistic approach, while MDE supports the the gr 3 learners with reading and math, the parenting program supports the parents of the learners in order to uplift the whole family.
MDHP uses trained group facilitators, that work in pairs to do home visits and work in a group setting. A program manager, a professional social worker, oversees the implementation of the project and provides professional guidance and in-service training.
The Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) program provides guidelines in our work with parents. It is a 12-week course, after completion, the last meeting of parents is a ceremony and celebration where parents receive certificates to acknowledge their dedication and completion of the program. They can give feedback about their own experiences.
Some of the parent’s Testimonies
“I no longer find myself resorting to violent discipline. Instead, I have learned better ways to address my child’s behaviour with patience and understanding.”
“The programme has helped me build a stronger, more trusting relationship with my child. I feel more confident as a parent.”
Parents are encouraged to continue meeting in their groups, even after the course is finished to continue growing emotionally and spiritually.
“We have noticed a positive change in our child’s behaviour—there is less conflict, and they seem more cooperative and happier.”