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University of Warwick, UNIVEN and local school’s partner to improve Maths and English education in rural Schools

7 young educators and senior students from the United Kingdom have taught Maths and English in two rural schools in proximity to the Vuwani Science Resources Centre since 22 July 2011. Their engagement has been part of the international “Warwick in Africa” community engagement project. This programme, which has this winter for the first time been implemented by the University of Warwick in partnership with UNIVEN and two schools in the Venda region, comes to an end this weekend

The “Warwick in Africa” programme supports maths and English education in South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana. The focus in South Africa is on maths teaching. In 2010 26 students from the University of Warwick taught Maths in Schools in Alexandra and Soweto.  2011 also marked its first implementation in the Western Cape region in partnership between the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Warwick . The ‘Warwick in Africa’ scheme has the fundamental aim to enhance the education of young people in Africa. Students from the University of Warwick teach maths in targeted schools. Comprehensive information on the programme is available on its website:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/alumni/giving/priority/responsibility/warwickinafrica/ (link verified on 19 August 2011).

Mary McGarth, Director of Fundraising at the University of Warwick and Patrick Dunne, Council member of the University of Warwick and Group Communications Director for 3i Group plc, a FTSE100 based in the United Kingdom company, visited UNIVEN form 17 to 18 July 2011 together with Patrick Dunne’s two sons to evaluate the engagement and discuss the future development of the collaboration between the University of Warwick and UNIVEN.

The main purpose of the visit by Mary McGrath and Patrick Dunne was to evaluate the implementation of this year’s edition of “Warwick in Africa” and to discuss how the project will be developed next year. Further, the engagement focused on academic collaboration between the University of Warwick and UNIVEN specifically in horticulture and public health, the discussion of the possible co-supervision of doctoral students as well as the consideration of support from the University of Warwick for the strategic development of UNIVEN’s Directorate of International Relations.