#FutureFund

Since (re)-joining Seartec in June of this year, I have really wanted to use my powers for good. And by this, I mean that I want to make a positive impact in the lives of students and teachers across the country. Our CEO shares the same vision, and so when we sat down to discuss the #FutureFund, it was easy to pull everything together.

 

So what’s the problem?

Well, in Gauteng alone we have just under 500 no-fee schools. This means that students cannot afford to pay even a small fee towards their schooling. These schools are often in rural areas or in townships and have little-to-no resources, especially for maths. Most of these students don’t even have calculators, or have very basic scientific calculators.

At least 15% of the maths exam can be answered quickly using a good scientific calculator, and thus the mark allocations for these questions are low. But, if you don’t have a scientific calculator that has these functions, you are going to spend a lot of time answering very low mark questions, which sets you up to not being able to answer higher mark questions that don’t need a calculator.

 

The Stats

Of the 627 675 students who wrote their matric in 2016, 265 810 of those wrote maths (42%). Of these students 55 820 got more than 50% for their final mark. So thats 21% of all the maths students, and 9% of all matric students that got more than 50% for their final matric maths mark. That’s a pretty scary statistic.

Research also shows that maths marks predict future income. It’s not difficult to see why. If you perform better in grade 11 and 12, you are more likely to be accepted into university (and earn a bursary) and thus get a better paying job. If we want to improve South Africa’s economy we need to start producing strong maths students and results from all walks of life.

 

So what can we do?

Well, that’s why the #FutureFund was born. We have the lofty goal of raising R2 million by the end of February 2018. Seartec has set aside 10 000 top of the range scientific calculators (the Sharp EL-W506) at cost (R200 including vat).  We want to raise the money through donations and crowdfunding. The calculators will then be donated to schools and students that cannot afford to purchase their own. Each set of calculators will be accompanied by a workshop, so that not only do these students have access to the right tools, they can use them effectively too. And of course, if we surpass our goal, we will keep going until we run out of money.

 

What can you do?

Sharing is caring – the more you share, the more people know, and the more money we can raise.

If we reached 100 000 people and they each gave R 20 we would reach R 2 million, or if we reached 200 000 people and they each gave R 10 we would achieve our goal. (Does this sound like a proportional maths problem to you?)

But the maths is pretty simple – we need your help to make a positive change for our children’s future, and a positive difference in 10 000 maths students’ lives (or more if we surpass our goal!).

 

But that’s not all!

We want to reward you for getting involved so:

Teachers – the school that raises the most money towards the #FutureFund will also get 40 calculators of their choice.

Corporates – donate more than R20 000  and choose to nominate the school they are sent to. CASME is an NPO so you will also receive a tax certificate for supporting this worthy cause. We will also send you a picture of the students with their calculators so that you can see the positive impact you have made on them.

 

Donation details:

There are two simple ways to donate to the #FutureFund:

Through Zapper and this QR code:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or donating directly via EFT:

THE CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION TRUST with Trust Registration Number T623/85 are as follows:
BANK: Standard Bank of South Africa
BRANCH: Glenwood
BRANCH CODE: 04 25 26
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 051 193 132

REFERENCE  : Future Fund