Ms. Londiwe Ntuli teaches at Ingede Senior Primary School. She first experienced the Jika iMfundo change programme in 2017, where, as the English teacher she was introduced to the tracker that was used in her subject. Ms. Ntuli’s involvement in the programme has been ongoing since then, and she has become very familiar with the tools and methodologies that are used in the programme. More recently, she was requested to conduct a workshop on the Jika iMfundo Campaign for SADTU and presented to teacher members of the union.

Ms. Ntuli notes that one of the big changes she experienced was around the use of teaching time at the school: “We maximize time for teaching, while at the same time making sure that the work is covered properly and that we do not leave learners behind.” She makes an important point here, as we are aware that in many schools, the time allocated for teaching and learning is often lost due to a number of reasons. When the amount of lost teaching time is calculated over a period of months, then we realize that it is an important factor that affects curriculum coverage in schools.

She further notes that the use of teaching time has been made easier by “planning that has improved, especially by using the trackers that give concise guidelines about what must be done and help me teach almost all the skills I used to ignore.” The trackers were also important in that it helped Ms. Ntuli align her teaching plan with CAPS and the other books she was using in her lessons.

As a teacher at Ingede Senior Primary School, Ms. Ntuli also identified the challenge of teaching English as a second language at the school, and requests ongoing support for teaching phonics and aligning it the CAPS document. She believes that the focus and work of the Jika iMfundo Campaign can be sustained if support to the school is “visible” and is continued through coaching. She would also like more teachers to be included in the training.

Ms. Ntuli concludes by pointing out what motivates her to change: “I love the change (brought about by the Jika iMfundo campaign) because it improves our teaching … and this benefits the learners.”