LITTLE EINSTEINS: The Growsmart educational programme awarded 60 of the top Grade 4, 5 and 6 pupils in the province for their performances in maths, literacy and storytelling Picture: SUPPLIED
The Growsmart Educational Programme hosted a special prize-giving ceremony on Saturday, September 17 at the East London International Convention Centre.
The awards acknowledge and celebrate pupils who excel in mathematics, story writing and literacy.
Sixty of the top Grade 4, 5 and 6 pupils from 22 schools across seven education districts in the Eastern Cape took part in the awards programme.
They began working in May this year to earn their place in the fourth and final stage.
Fanti Gaqa Senior Primary School were the overall winner of the Literacy Competition, with Onesimo Qandashe and Lelomsos Mdluli winning first and second place, respectively.
Qandashe’s first-place win also came with an iPad Lab for the school valued at R350,000.
The competition winners were rewarded with educational material to the value of R20,000, R10,000 and R5,000, respectively, while the mentors were rewarded with a gift voucher from a Growthpoint Shopping Centre to the value of R10,000, R5,000 and R1,500.
The awards programme is a Growthpoint Properties corporate social responsibility initiative, run in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
The programme hosts an online and project-based inter-school competition in literacy, story writing and maths for pupils from schools that have scored less than 55% in their literacy and numeracy results.
Jewel Harris, the founder of Growsmart, said this year had produced the most driven group of pupils since the programme’s inception in 2010.
“This year was an extremely exciting one for Growsmart in the Eastern Cape as the competition was tougher than ever before, with three new districts participating for the first time,” said Harris.
“This is a great result, and we are proud to have even greater positive impacts on young minds in the province.
“Congratulations to all the winning learners, mentors and schools, and to everyone who participated in the programme.”
A special after-party was held for the pupils to celebrate their achievements, with face painting, a magic show, a clown and an abundance of sweets and snacks.
