Positive findings

The programme will roll out in quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools and ECD centres that have met rigorous selection- and needs-analysis criteria. The shift to focus on a child’s earliest years of development is where Sanlam believes it can make maximal impact. Vundla adds, “Appropriate cognitive stimulation, nutrition, care, and health services during a child’s early years are linked to enhanced academic performance, lower repetition and dropout rates, reductions in juvenile crime rates, reduced remedial education costs and improved economic and social productivity in adulthood. Our holistic approach will cover STEM, home language literacy, remedial support, robotics (to begin with, in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces), and a nutrition element.

“We are proud to be partnering with the Minister of Basic Education and her department on this. We are committed to supporting their efforts. We believe this programme will change children’s lives for the long term. Together, we have the power, and the deep shared passion and commitment to make a real, immediate and lasting difference.”

The Sanlam Foundation Education Programme partners with world-class implementation experts to foster strong foundational skills. This work is anchored by a theory of change and measurable outcomes to ensure it is data and feedback-driven.

Minister Motshekga says, “We are indeed privileged to work in collaboration and partnership with Sanlam, a proudly South African company with well-recorded success in nation-building in South Africa and other countries. The National Development Plan, which is the cornerstone of Government policy, specifies that effective and sustained partnerships between Government and the private sector go a long way towards the national vision of an improved basic education system. We highly appreciate that Sanlam has joined hands with us and recognises the huge task faced by the Department towards achieving our main objective of improving learning outcomes at every phase. We are, therefore, proud to be part of the launch of the Sanlam Foundation Education Programme today, which aims at, among others, to ensure that our children between three and nine years old receive quality foundation skills that will equip and nurture them for a brighter future ahead.”