Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs)
Over the past four years, Vodacom has identified and supported 15 ECDs. Assistance in terms of building and painting, fixing ablution facilities, decommissioning of pit latrines, improving security and providing ICT equipment in the form of tablets, TV, teacher laptop and educational equipment as well as a mobile library was given to all ECD centres. This support gives the learners access to technology and content that they would otherwise not have. The upgrades to the ECD centres also allows the owners to provide a better environment for learning and by so doing increases their chances of attracting more learners and more income. Some of the ECDs also receive support from Vodacom in the form of employee volunteerism, where the volunteers will work with the ECD practitioners and learners in how to use utilise the technology.
Schools of Excellence:
In 2019 the Vodacom Foundation selected 13 schools from the 2598 adopted schools to form part of an education ecosystem, the 13 schools are referred to as Schools of Excellence. The concept of schools of excellence is framed and aligned to the education definition that view these as schools that promote and support academic excellence thus enabling quality education for the previously disadvantaged communities. Within the SOE, the Foundation does not only focus on ICT provisioning but it provides a holistic support that encompasses infrastructure, partnerships, community involvement, provisioning of government approved e-learning content and teacher support. In particular, Vodacom has contributed the following to the 13 schools of excellence:
- A fully equipped, connected computer centre
- Upgrades to the infrastructure, replacing broken windows and doors, fixing collapsing ceilings
- Eradicating the pit latrines and replacing it with appropriate ablution facilities.
- Upgrades to the security of the school, this includes installing a strong room in all the schools.
- Providing ICT support the will offer ICT training and change management
By doing all of the above, Vodacom is responding to some of the most pressing needs that are faced by our young learners. These improvements speak directly to the mandate of the government as well as ensuring an improved and quality education for all. The Foundation also provides onsite support through the placement of ICT coordinators and psychosocial support practitioners. There are currently 20 Schools of Excellence across the country.
Community Hubs (Teacher Centres)
Vodacom Foundation supports 86 centres across the country by fitting out the centres with a computer lab and connectivity. These centres are used by the Department of Basic Education to provide teacher training but it is also used by community members who need to access the internet. The Vodacom Youth Academies are hosted in the Vodacom supported centres and so far, more 3279 farmers have been trained.
Youth Academy
There are 10 Youth Academy centres across the country. Theses academies host accredited Technology programmes for out of school youth who were not able to go to university. Since inception, more than 1500 young people have been trained.
ICT Coordinators In order to support the graduates from the Youth Academy centres, Vodacom recruits and places some of them at the Schools of Excellence, the ECDs and the Vodacom supported NPOs. The purpose is to assist these institutions/organisations with technology but also to provide the volunteers with valuable work experience. We currently have 75 ICT coordinators across the country.
Psycho-social Support in Schools
We will have 36 psycho social support placed at 25 of our schools of excellence by March 2024 in all our provinces. These professionals assist learners and educators in dealing with issues of bullying, gender-based violence and other psycho-social issues. Up to 2023 over 26000 learners in over 42 school were reached.
Gender based Eco-system
The focus is on Prevention, Response and Empowerment.
Prevention: Launched the Bright Sky mobile app in 2020. The zero-rated Bright Sky app continues to assist people to understand GBV as well as access support and help. The Vodacom Foundation established the Gender-based violence Command centre in 2014. This is a 24 hr toll free call centre where victims of violence can access counselling and advice.
Response: In 2021, Vodacom placed 10 psycho-social support professionals to assist educators and learners deal with issues of violence, bullying and GBV in schools. In 2023, we are sitting on 25 professionals in all provinces and we have reached 26 000 learners across 42 schools. During 2023 over 28 000 learners in 35 schools were reached with 414 families assisted.
Empowerment: Vodacom Foundation empowers survivors of violence by providing ICT training to shelters across the country. To date more than 1500 women have been trained.
Vodacom SA ranks No.1 in driving development impact
In an exciting recognition of our commitment to driving positive change in society, Vodacom has secured the number one position as the company perceived to have the greatest developmental impact among South Africa’s top JSE listed companies. The result is from annual research on corporate social investment (CSI) and reputation, conducted by consultancy firm, Trialogue. Vodacom took the top spot for developmental impact in the category of Top Company ranked by other companies for the seventh consecutive year and in the category, Top Company as ranked by non-profit organisations, up from 7th place last year.
Vodacom employees do their bit for food security
Employee volunteerism is another important way in which Vodacom gives back to communities. This year, we decided to pool our resources and efforts into improving food security. On Mandela Day in July, Vodacom employees turned out in their numbers to support the cause. They engaged in food packing activities, food gardens as well as packing and providing soup jars to ECDs. In just one month the number of volunteering participation increased from 4% to 24% which is above the benchmark of 15%. There were more than 20 events across seven provinces. More than 1000 employees participated and 25 communities and 24 NGOs were impacted. This Mandela Month activity was followed by another food security volunteering programme that took place in October for World Word Day. For this event, the staff packed 63 000 meals which equates to 247 learners having 5 meals per week for a year. It is worth mentioning that Vodacom is currently number one on the For Good platform, which is a platform that manages staff engagements for several big corporates including Sanlam, Standard Bank, Old Mutual and Coca Cola.