Great Commission United - Emerging From The Time Of Covid
As we begin to emerge form the time of Covid we wanted to provide our many supporters with news about what GCU has been doing. We also want to show how we are planning to reinvigorate our programs and the schools we operate in as schools return to a more normal routine. A priority will be to address the literacy and numeracy backlog caused by lockdowns.
Improved Human Resource Management
One of the major successes of GCU over the years has been the volunteer program and the platform it has provided for young people in the Heideveld community to gain work experience and the confidence to pursue more gainful employment or to further their education. A challenge for GCU and the volunteer programs is that most of the people who get involved have never experienced an 8 hour working day five days a week. Most have not had the experience of working in an environment which demands productivity and outcomes which benefit a bottom line. In the NGO sector these are difficult concepts to impart. However, the GCU programs do not demand an eight hour day and they do offer the ability to pursue studies or other income streams or interests in addition to working on the programs. A challenge we are faced with is making the time paid for as productive in terms of the delivery of literacy advancement or physical education as possible.
Creating areas of responsibility and levels of oversight is one step we are actively taking in 2021. Contracts including job descriptions have been drawn up for each of the positions that GCU employs stipend volunteers into.
GCU is registering for PAYE with SARS and is formalising contracts for the senior management ‘staff’, who will now become salaried and responsible for running the programs. For volunteers we have prepared contracts and we are pleased that they are going to be paid at least the minimum wage for the hours that they work.
We are also introducing a time and attendance system which will provide us with the ability to monitor the time spent on each program and by each volunteer. The technology used by the system means that the time and location where volunteers work is recorded. This we expect is going to mean fairer remuneration for effort made but will also provide us with useful data regarding the effectiveness of the hours invested in the different programs offered. A fair wage for hours worked has long been an objective at GCU and we look forward to having the new system produce a robust stipend payroll for volunteers.
Youth lead programs
It remains challenging to make managers out of volunteers who are being paid so little for the work that is required of them when they have little experience or motivation to deal with the difficult parts of management or to squeeze out maximum productivity from the time they invest in what they are doing for GCU. Clear and detailed job descriptions and reporting line definition is key to this and these have been defined. Giving responsibility to the leaders in our team and providing them with the ability and opportunity to manage the programs themselves is the journey GCU is now on.
A “Senior Management Team” has been appointed and each member knows his or her responsibilities and those of each other member and what is expected of them. In addition the number of hours spent constructively is described in new employment contracts. Key performance indicators are described too so that we can hold the staff account on their performance.
At each of the five schools where we run programs, Hub Leaders have been appointed.
In School Literacy
The program offers:
- Paired reading aimed at improving literacy and reading ability to an appropriate reading age.
- The use of the Wordworks literacy material to assist with reading and literacy
- Offering time in the library and access to appropriate reading material
Coordination with school timetables and the material offered during classes is an important and ongoing objective. Better and more regular communication with principals and teachers will mean better use of the time the tutors are paid to be at the schools – like being a teachers’ assistant or a study partner (in other classes) for children who need particular assistance.
The GCU tutors who run these programs do so from Monday to Thursday (four days a week) and between 8h00 and 13h00.
In School Phys. Ed.
The Phys. Ed. program needs to be coordinated across the schools and in regular discussion with the principals. GCU wants to make sure that a Phys. Ed. lesson is something that the school wants to offer and to understand when it will be scheduled on the timetables for each school.
The Health Nuts and other Phys. Ed. programs are run during these lessons.
GCU After Schools Literacy program
It is an objective of GCU’s to regrow the after schools literacy program. Whereas before Covid, the after Schools Literacy program was run at each of the schools and in school classrooms this is no longer the case.
The after schools program uses the Wordworks program and assists with homework or revision.
Challenges that the after schools program faces are the following:
- space for the program to run;
- the fact that a number of learners rely on public transport and the bus schedules to get home after school
- Most learners do not have any food in the middle of the day (directly after school finishes) and before the after schools program begins
- Even if school facilities were made available again, school facilities close at 16h00.
The after schools literacy program runs from Tuesday to Thursday from 15h00 to 17h00 at this stage. (i.e. 6 hours per week). Age groups are staggered so that there is tuition when there is no sport for that age group.
GCU After Schools Sports Program
It is an objective of GCU’s to grow the after schools sports program in terms of number of participants. This involves expanding the types of activities offered with a view to attracting as many young people as possible. The reintroduction of things like:
- rope skipping
- boxing
- chess
is aimed at growing attendance.
Challenges to grow the after school program include facilities and the coordination of multiple programs.
The after school sport program runs from Tuesday to Saturday for 2 hours a day from 15h00 to 17h00 during the week and for the up to four hours in the morning on a Saturday morning. (i.e. 8 hours during the week and 4 on a Saturday).
Feeding
With a view to making the afternoon sessions more productive, consideration is being given to providing food after school before the afternoon sessions. The Mother City Kitchen ought to be able to assist with this next year.
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