2018: The Year for Education par Excellence
Minda is the co-director and co-owner of Lectorsa, a leading research and development company (based in Mokopane, Limpopo) that supplies solutions internationally to the education and training market. Minda specializes in generating timeous solutions while addressing future challenges and demands in the marketplace. Under her guidance specialist teams deliver first-to-market solutions grounded in scientific research with precision-developed algorithms, embedded in the newest technology available.Her journey in establishing Lectorsa began with a quest to understand and enhance the measurable aspects of the interaction between the eyes and the brain. Minda’s extensive research in this field led to the development of a world-class, cutting-edge, CLOUD-based solution. The solution considers all the factors involved in reading and packages this together with individually focused algorithms to ensure the best improvement on all levels for each user.Under her dynamic leadership the Lectorsa team launched LAB-on-line in 2011 and since then this solution has proven to be an effective intervention to develop the crucial skills needed for academic acceleration. Up to date, LAB-on-line has assisted more than 78 000 users to maximise and improve their skills and to thrive in an ever-changing world.
2018 is going to be the year where we should see an important change in our education system.
Last year South Africa was presented with hard facts: A staggering 78% of Grade 4’s in the country cannot read for meaning and according to Dr. Nick Spaull from Stellenbosch University, “the ‘real’ Grade 12 pass rate for 2017 is around 57% meaning that 43% of the youth in SA still get no qualification whatsoever”.
It is important to realise that quality education is challenge, not only in SA but also globally.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted that robots could replace 800 million jobs by 2030. These facts and predictions can bring us to a rather gloomy view of the future, however, I believe that we should be excited about the changes that are ahead of us.
At the recent WEF Conference business magnate, investor, and philanthropist, Jack Ma, said that as humans we should not try to compete with machines. To clarify, even Usain Bolt won’t be able to outrun a speed train. The changes ahead of us should inspire us to find invigorating new ways of living beneficial and fulfilled lives in the future – and as educators, we should prepare our students for these exciting times.
After attending EduTech Africa in October 2017, I was inspired to see thousands of educators from across the country pursuing the latest in teaching strategies, cutting-edge technology and solutions so that they can shape an educational environment that will be more relevant in the 21st-century and beyond.
This has just proven once again that there are many people that share our passion for improved cutting-edge education - educators who have a heart for children and who want to stay abreast of times. They want to empower the next generation to look ahead with confidence, knowing they are competent to excel in the workplace.
We were in the midst of drafting our 2017 report when the news of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results broke and made numerous headlines: ‘78% of Grade 4 pupils can’t read for meaning.’ “This suggests that the majority of learners cannot read well enough to succeed in subjects across the curriculum in Gr 4 and higher grades,” Prof Sarah Howie, National Research Coordinator (NRC) for PIRLS 2016 South Africa, stated.
Lectorsa are already changing this by bridging this gap and we have the results to prove it: In 2017 alone, we had more than a 1000 Grade 4’s from schools across SA enrolled in our on-line solution, LAB-on-line. Their Cognitive Development Factor (measured in % comprehension) improved by 17% and their Visual Processing Factor (measured in words per minute) increased from 83 to 185 words per minute. Their Action-Interpret and Understand skill levels (combined VPF and CDF multiplied leads to an AIU Factor) improved with five years. This means that when these Gr 4’s did the placement test, their skill level was below the expected Grade 1 level, but after completing LAB-on-line, their skill level had increased with 5 years – a year above the expected level.
I believe that these results are a powerful testimony to what can be achieved through accurate intervention and development.
Thomas Marshall, co-director of Lectorsa, recently said, “There will never be a more powerful and opportune time than now.” 2018 truly is the year of bigger, better – more!
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