Engen provides essential e-learning and AI skills to teachers.

Engen is upskilling its Engen Maths and Science School (EMSS) teachers in collaboration with Leap Africa to prepare them for our rapidly evolving digital world. With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing education systems to adapt and seek alternatives to face-to-face instruction, mastering e-learning methods is becoming an increasingly important part of a teacher’s skill set.

“As the future remains uncertain,” says Unathi Magida, Engen’s Transformation and Stakeholder Engagement Manager, “it is critical to upskill and empower our EMSS educators with best practice e-Teaching tools and skills that optimize the online learning environment.”

The teacher education program is divided into two phases.

Phase One offers e-Learning teaching methodologies with the goal of empowering teachers and equipping them with the necessary skills to improve their online teaching performance. “The program takes special account of the specific needs and numerous challenges that schools in poor urban and rural communities face,” explains Magida.

Phase Two, like Phase One, lasts two months but focuses on curriculum application and educational kits, with the goal of exposing teachers’ students to cutting-edge technological advancements and getting them to practically engage with technology.

“This phase focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), which includes an introduction to robotics and coding, and will also enable teachers to train other educators once the course is completed,” Magida continues. “Using innovative hybrid games, such as Scottie Go, for example, will provide teachers with interactive and fun ways to introduce learners to coding and programming.”

The Engen Maths and Science School programme is a national initiative that addresses key skill shortages in the engineering and technical fields by offering free supplementary Maths, Science, and English classes to learners in grades 10-12 at ten locations throughout South Africa.

The EMSS program includes a teacher training course. “Our EMSS program has been in place for over 33 years and strives to instill a learning environment that focuses on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) subjects,” Magida says.

“Engen is dedicated to developing tomorrow’s leaders, and if we want to ensure that tomorrow’s youth are prepared for a rapidly changing world, we must ensure that they have the right mix of skills to reach their full potential.”

Currently, EMSS classes are held in Cape Town (at Belgravia Secondary and Manzomthombo Secondary), Port Elizabeth, East London, Cala, Johannesburg, and Durban (at Fairvale High School, Ganges High School, Howard College, and Mangosuthu University of Technology).