Education & Youth Development

Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) believes that, as a nation, South Africans need to put the correct building blocks in place to increase the economically active sector of the population. Education plays a pivotal role in creating this enabling environment, and forms part of a sustainable and integrated approach to youth and whole school development.

The company supports education in all areas – from pre-school to tertiary and adult basic education. Moreover, MBSA aims to help build a pipeline of young people with relevant practical skills to join the automotive industry by supporting skills development in the technical fields of engineering and technology. 

The educational projects that Mercedes-Benz South Africa supports are: 

• African Angels Independent School

• Laureus Sport for Good Foundation where Mercedes-Benz is the country patron

• Rally to Read

• School Transformation and Empowerment Programme

Enquiries regarding corporate social investment can be directed to: csrpta@daimler.com

African Angels Independent School

The African Angels Independent School is an independent learning centre situated in the East Coast Resorts area, near to East London, which was established in January 2012.

The main purpose of the school is to provide access to high quality primary school education for vulnerable and socially and economically disadvantaged children.

The school began with Grade R, 1 and 2 classes; with the intention of increasing by a grade every year to eventually include Grade 7. By 2015, the school was educating pupils up to Grade 5, with 83 learners enrolled in total.

It is anticipated that approximately 140 learners and over 45% of all families in the area will have a child enrolled at African Angels Independent School.

For more information, view www.sponsoranangel.org

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation

Laureus comprises the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards, which collectively harness the power of sport to promote social change (and celebrate sporting excellence).

Mercedes-Benz South Africa has partnered as country patron with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, the international Laureus Foundations’ national project which uses sport as a tool for social change. The organisation enables disadvantaged children of school-going age to change their lives by participating in supervised healthy pursuits while being equipped with life skills.

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation forms part of a global, apolitical charitable initiative which was established in the late nineties with Mercedes-Benz as founding partner.

The Laureus YES Programme (Youth Empowerment through Sport) provides young people with training in leadership, community sports coaching, IT and job readiness. The skills gained enable youth to uplift their communities through sport. The YES Programme in particular is supported by Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

For more information, visit www.laureus.co.za

Rally to Read

Over the years, Mercedes-Benz South Africa has joined hands with corporate sponsors, Bidvest and the Read Educational Trust to deliver educational material to identified schools through the Rally to Read initiative in the Eastern Cape.

Rally to Read focuses on improving the literacy of learners; and ensuring the appropriate storage, availability and management of reading materials in schools. The project also focuses on the training, support and monitoring of teachers, as well as entrenching effective teaching approaches and practices.

For more information, visit: www.read.org.za 

School Transformation Empowerment Programme (STEP)

The objective of the School Transformation Empowerment Programme is to improve the quality of teaching at selected schools in the Eastern Cape and in Gauteng. The programme helps and aims to improve the quality and quantity of successful matric candidates, thus equipping learners to continue their studies successfully at tertiary institutions.

Through this programme, which was established in 2008, Mercedes-Benz South Africa provides funding to support the training of school managers, teachers and learners in primary and secondary schools in Tshwane West and South Districts (Gauteng) and the Buffalo City-Border Kei region (Eastern Cape).

The funding also provides:

• Curriculum management support to school management teams (SMTs) in the primary and high schools
• School Governing Body Training (SGB) workshops and Training for newly elected members
• Intensive tuition and revision support in Maths and Physical Science to Grade 12 learners in the secondary schools
• Teacher training/development in Mathematics, Physical Science and Accounting in secondary schools
• Support and training for Intermediate Phase teachers in Natural Sciences
• Career guidance to learners in Grades 9 and 12 on their desired subject and career of choice.
• Provision of Compujectors (Information Communications Technology) ICT equipment to both primary and secondary schools.

All levels of the education hierarchy are included e.g. school managers, middle management, teachers, learners, and school governing bodies.

For more information, visit www.fundaafrika.org.za