Learners share their excitement about #BackOnTrack programme

21 February 2025

The #BackOnTrack programme is gearing up to provide extra academic support to 23 450 learners this year. Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier kicked off the programme's extra Saturday classes for 2025 at Thembani Primary School in Langa.

Who benefits?

15 450 Grade 4 and 7 learners from 223 primary schools will attend Saturday classes focusing on Mathematics and Languages.
8 000 Grade 12 learners will receive academic support, including Saturday classes and revision camps, to prepare for their matric exams.
2 483 teachers will receive professional development support through in-person training and online courses.

Real learners, real results

Grade 7 learners from Thembani Primary School shared their enthusiasm for the programme. "The #BackOnTrack programme helps me with amazing things such as mathematics and speaking fluently in English," said Linomtha Zoya. "I've seen more learners who struggled in Maths saying that they enjoyed the new strategies, and I was like them myself. I got to know how to use the column method on multiplication, and it's easy and accurate."

Inam Mazamisa, another Grade 7 learner, enjoyed the interactive lessons. "Our tutors were fun and made the lesson way more enjoyable and understandable. The Maths tutor made learning fun, as well as my English tutor – she was a cool and lovely teacher."

Lulibo Tshambu appreciated the programme's impact on his learning. "I was struggling in long division in Maths, but the tutor made it very simple and told us many simple methods besides long division. On Monday at school, my teacher gave us sums that included long division, and I was like, 'I'm going to nail it,' because on the #BackOnTrack programme, I was taught about it. I got all the answers correct using the method that I was taught on Saturday."

A proven success

A recent report by the Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) group at Stellenbosch University found that the #BackOnTrack programme has demonstrated significant success in mitigating learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme's impact is also reflected in the 2024 annual systemic test results, with selected grades and subjects surpassing 2019 scores for the first time.

The #BackOnTrack programme is definitely making a positive impact on Western Cape learners. We can't wait to see the progress they make this year!