Project Mindjoy — a mission to make virtual schooling inclusive
by Gabi Immelman
Meet Shubael. He is 7 years old and lives in Mfuleni, a township 40 kilometres from Cape Town. Of the 52,300 people who live here, only 43% are employed.
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and school closures, Shubael’s education has been disrupted. He and his mom, Janet, had no obvious access to e-learning, an online community or support structure for learning.
“Shubael was really not motivated to learn from the Blue Book (a Grade 1 workbook provided by the education department), and I obviously worried about his education,” Janet told us. “I asked some friends to help me search for a solution, and eventually I heard about Mindjoy.”
And that’s how we met Shubael and joined him on his learning journey.
Mindjoy’s mission for may: Supporting parents with children ages 7–12 with learning at home, in underserved communities.
What would normally take the course of a year, Shubael mastered 68% of his grade maths and 50% of his grade reading from his home in a matter of 5 weeks. We’ve also observed learning mindsets, which matters in coping with life’s challenges and ones perception and ability to adapt. “At Mindjoy we learn together, I never want to miss my class because they make me feel happy,” Shubael said, reflecting on his experience of the past 5 weeks.
How did Shubael manage to learn that much in such a short time?
At Mindjoy, children learn using a combination of adaptive learning software like Khan Academy and Lalilo. They’re also supported by an awesome Mindjoy Learning Coach. We were able to track Shubael’s progress in detail with a data driven approach to guiding his learning. It provides for efficient feedback that indicates exactly where support is needed and where he masters . Shubael has been very disciplined and worked really hard. He did 420 minutes of math practice on Khan Academy, and 150 minutes of reading practice on Lalilo.
His mom has been overjoyed by the experience. “I could never have imagined that Shubael can get this quality of education, using only a smartphone,” Janet said. “I can see how e-learning is the future. He mastered concepts faster than he would at school because the classes are small and he gets to practice with the apps and move onto new work at his own pace. He has been so motivated.”
Shubael shared his proudest moment. “I learned how to read by myself!” he said. “A life lesson I learned from Mindjoy is that reading helps us understand the world around us.”
How Mindjoy Works: https://mindjoy.com/fund-a-child
By funding a child’s Mindjoy education, you can make learning happen for more children like Shubael. For R1000 ($60 or £50) you can fund a child’s enrolment for 8 weeks to attend Mindjoy classes that focus on core-skills (maths and literacy) and real world projects. Children receive support with setting up e-learning tools, how to use them and daily support and practice as well as small group tutor sessions.
Let’s make learning happen for more children like Shubael!
How you can Support:
- Connect with a student who needs support with their learning by visiting https://mindjoy.com/fund-a-child.
- Fund a child’s learning. R1000 funds their 2 months of learning support with the Mindjoy programme.
- Be part of the journey. Receive updates about the student’s learning journey.
- Share this story with your networks :)