Bridging the Gap

With Bridging the Gap, Save the Children worked in partnership across five countries (South Korea, India, Kenya, South Africa and Colombia) to raise skills-based education, including the transformative power of playful learning, up the political agenda and support a shift from commitment to implementation in education systems. This initiative advocated for education systems to equip learners with a breadth of skills to thrive in a fast changing world. Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) in partnership with JET Education Services worked towards contributing to bridging the skills gap in education. The  project focused on building partnerships across the education sector, including government, education experts, civil society organisations, learners, teacher unions, educators, etc.  to identify key levers to equip learners with skills for the future. JET Education Services provided advisory and research support, ensuring alignment with project objectives and outcomes.

Key activities included:

• Conducting a scoping study to identify levers of change for a holistic skills-based education system.
• Convening stakeholders to give input on what competencies are needed to prepare learners for a fast changing world, for example, conducting broad based, national consultations to inform the Department of Basic Education’s development of a competency framework as part of curriculum strengthening.
• Conducting a research study on learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of current and future assessment practices. 
• Amplifying the voices of education stakeholders, in particular learners, to advocate for  the inclusion on holistic skills development across the DBE’s levers for learning improvement: (1) curriculum policy, (2) teacher development, (3) assessment, (4) learning and teaching support materials and (5) the learning environment. 

As part of the Bridging the Gap project, Save the Children South Africa (SCSA), working with Reos Partners, brought together stakeholders in education for an advocacy campaign aimed at the inclusion of skills for the future in the South African schooling system so learners can thrive in a fast changing world. These skills are referred to in different ways in different contexts such as 21st century skills, breadth of skills, holistic development etc. The intention is for the stakeholder group to carry on advocating for equipping learners with a breadth of skills for the future, in a sustainable way. This forms part of a long term goal of enabling the achievement of 21st century skills by every child, through strengthening the education system by intentionally advocating and leveraging the influence of others.