The African Child Foundation is an art organisation founded by Keneiloe Mabotja. In 2022, the organisation was granted funds from the National Arts Council’s Art Organisation Support Fund, a three-year funding call for art organisations in South Africa. Over the last two years, the African Child Foundation has continued implementing its ‘Easy Learning Programme’ project, which was originally developed in 2018.
The Easy Learning Programme uses edutainment to generate interest among school learners in their curriculum by designing stage performances and teaching materials that help improve academic comprehension and application skills. The project aims to be a mechanism that bridges the gap created by the lack of academic resources in township and rural schools around Gauteng, Limpopo, and KZN.
The programme founder, Keneiloe Mabotja, wrote, “At a cognitive level, live performances increase comprehension of the text, improving overall performance for Matric Learners. At the Classroom level, learners refer to themes outlined on stage and during Q&A sessions with actors. Learners engage with actors; the text comes alive through dramatic re-enactment. Drama is beneficial to students as a learning tool because it allows them to develop more effective learning techniques and strategies. “
The programme’s objectives are to improve the quality of education in marginalised communities and provide solutions for economic growth and advancement in these communities. Keneiloe explained, “Through Easy Learning, we offer sustainable job opportunities as our travelling theatre is year-round, and also tours all nine provinces, thus spreading the reach of our job creation initiatives”.
Since its inception, the African Child Foundation has successfully implemented the Easy Learning Programme in more than 70 schools in Gauteng and Limpopo, with over 3,000 participating learners. Of those learners,1800 of them obtained academic distinctions in English Literature.
“This funding has assisted us in improving the quality of the education in those unprivileged schools and creating jobs for a sector that is mostly overlooked. We believe that any contribution made to the foundation makes a huge difference to society.”
The NAC is pleased to support initiatives such as the Easy Learning Programme that prioritise vulnerable groups like the youth and disadvantaged communities, as these groups make valuable contributions to the development of South Africa’s art and culture sector.
