28 February 2023

A Modern Education

By Accelerated Education Enterprises (AEE)

Teach children how to live, not just how to make a living - “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22.6

Accelerated Education Enterprises (AEE) is committed to positively impacting Africa through education. Since inception in 1983, the organisation has consistently provided quality Christian education solutions that are innovative, relevant, and accessible to all homes and schools, no matter the geographical location or socio-economic context.
Christian education provides the environment and learning materials in which to facilitate the development of positive character traits and a moral framework that is grounded in a biblical world view and principles. This means that whilst children are learning all that they should learn at school, they are also being nurtured towards a future where they can become responsible, empathetic adults with an understanding of personal purpose.

Whilst AEE is set on delivering a wholesome Christian education experience, they ensure that the academic rigour of their offerings is of a world class standard and that the learning experience is relevant to the realities and challenges faced by modern society. This has required a lot of research, ongoing development and partnering with international specialists in the field.

A key insight, that AEE believes is fundamental to education is understanding the uniqueness of each child: that each has different talents and that not all learn at the same pace. In order to reach their full potential, children need variable space and time to engage with teachers, instruction and learning materials that suit their unique learning styles.
“Considering the somewhat antiquated model of education that was developed in the industrial age where children are grouped in classes according to their chronological age and pushed through a system that requires them all to operate in a standard and uniform way, we should not be surprised that education is in trouble,” says Graham Yoko, CEO at AEE. “Education needs to be re-imagined and the cumbersome, slow to respond mechanics need to be dismantled so that we can implement a modern approach that is still supported by foundational academic rigour, but provides for a more modern and effective solution, that truly prepares learners for the future.”

That is exactly what AEE is doing. The learning materials provided by AEE are developed specifically on the proven Personal System of Instruction (PSI) learning model first researched and developed by academic fathers such as Fred S Kellar. The PSI system facilitates an environment where learners work with relatively small units of study material in each subject but are required to achieve mastery of concepts before they can progress on to new material. Mastery is achieved through exposure to multiple different material sources and teaching, as well as a personal search for information and discovery learning where learners grapple with information and concepts, figuring out solutions without being simply “spoon fed” content. The challenge is that this takes time and to be done properly, learners need to be given adequate time to be able to work at their own pace. The result is an education solution where time is variable, and learning is constant which contrasts directly with the conventional education system where time is constant, but learning is variable. The good news is that the teaching and learning materials provided by AEE can be implemented in traditional schools.

AEE offers a product range that caters for schools in different contexts throughout Africa. It is not a one size fits all offering. In addition, products are available for the traditional hard copy (exclusively printed materials) environment as well as in digital formats. The well-known Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E) programme is successfully implemented in over 22 countries throughout Africa and over 140 countries globally. More recently AEE has introduced an online solution, Comprehend Africa, that enables schools to maximise the benefits of technology. Comprehend Africa is aligned with CAPS (the South African Curriculum, Assessment and Policy Statement) and can be implemented in schools using a hybrid model that allows for a mix of printed and online work or as an exclusively online solution. Teachers enjoy the programme as it frees them up from onerous administration and enables them to focus on doing what they love – teaching and working with individual children to unlock potential.

“Comprehend Africa came into its own as a solution during the COVID 19 pandemic,” explains Graham Yoko. “Schools suddenly required online solutions that went beyond simply delivering material into homes through digital technology. The programme is supported by a learner management system (LMS) which has been refined for the last 15 years. The platform was available to schools for free during the early shut down period and as we were already well into the development of materials, we were able to offer schools an easy and efficient pivot option. We now offer a full suite of subjects catering for the Grade 4 – 7 phase of education in South Africa.” With regards to catering for schools outside of South Africa, the online nature of the programme makes it adaptable to most requirements.

Since education is constantly changing, AEE offers customisable education solutions from Grade RRR – Grade 12, keeping up with the need for innovation to unlock full learning potential, whilst still maintaining a firm anchor in Christian education that inspires faith, biblical values, and purpose.

Enquiries: 

Bridget Ward : Bridget.ward@aeegroup.co.za

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Image credit @Freepik

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