The University of Cape Town (UCT) announced the launch of an online high school, becoming the first university in Africa to extend its expertise and impact to the secondary schooling market through an innovative online system.
UCT has partnered with a Cape Town based education technology company, Valenture Institute, to deliver the UCT Online High School. “We’re delighted and humbled to partner with UCT on this ground-breaking initiative” said Valenture’s CEO, Robert Paddock.
A number of prestigious universities like Stanford’s Online High School have now shown that the level of academic excellence of universities can be extended to high school students while creating new opportunities.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put UCT to the test but the university has shown its capacity to lead with innovative responses and imagination. Bold steps are therefore necessary to bring more solidarity to the education system and provide more access for the next generation of leaders in South Africa.
On the announcement of this new initiative, UCT’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, said that “The University of Cape Town is committed to playing our part in addressing the systemic challenges facing our education system. As a result, we have taken the bold step to launch an innovative online high school in January 2022, where the academic excellence of UCT can be extended to high school learners across the country. The UCT Online High School will create a new opportunity for learners across South Africa to choose an aspirational school and unleash their potential.”
In terms of the curriculum, the UCT Online High School will offer one that’s CAPS-aligned to afford grades 8 – 12 learners the opportunity to study at a monthly fee of R2,095 per month, which makes it one of the most affordable private schools in the country.
The entire curriculum will be made available for free in an interactive online platform called the Open UCT Online High School. Users of the free content will be issued a learner number to save their unique learning path and data, with unlimited logins permitted.
Learners will be able to pace themselves in terms of their learning while benefitting from high quality 1:1 tutoring from expert teachers and support coaches whenever they need it.
Admissions for the UCT Online High School open on Wednesday July 21 2021, with classes commencing in January 2022. Thereafter, learners will be able to enrol at any time.
For more information on the UCT Online High School, please visit www.uctonlinehighschool.com.
Picture: Pexels