FAQ

Homeschooling is a legally recognised like-for-like alternative to traditional schooling. For Grades 1 to 9 parents are required to register their children as “homeschooled” with their Provincial Department of Education. Eduvate will provide you with a portfolio of evidence to support your child’s progress in the CAPS curriculum. 

In 2022 Eduvate will launch the FET Phase (Grades 10 to 12) and out Grade 9 learners will progress to become our first matriculates in 2024. Eduvate has already started with registration with one of three examination boards accredited with Umalusi.  All students in these grades are registered with examination board. This means that learners can not only pass each Grade level but also matriculate and earn exemption into University. 

Yes – Homeschooling is legal in most countries around the world, including South Africa. Despite being registered as homeschooling, each Eduvate learner will receive top quality education and are able to pass each grade year. Matriculants will be able to apply for University as they would from any other accredited institution. This means that learners can move in and out of the traditional brick and mortar school system, as required. 

Please visit this link and follow the instructions on there: https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/HomeEducation.aspx

The Eduvate team is happy to assist with this application, so please feel free to contact us for assistance.

Eduvates fees are dependant on the tier selected. These are broken down below: 

• Distance Learning : R 1 500 per month for 12 months
• Home Schooling: R 2 500 per month for 12 months
• Subject Modules : R 500 per month for the duration of the module

Parents wishing to pay for an entires years tuition up front benefit from a 15% discount in fees.

A one time, non-refundable enrolment fee of R 1 500 is payable on acceptance of a place in a distance learning or home schooling stream. This includes the asset benchmarking test, which is mandatory for all learners entering Eduvate school.

Where traditional schools require school uniforms, backpacks and an often lengthy commute in the mornings – joining the Eduvate family is much simpler. 

At Eduvate we require learners to have access to a tablet or laptop as well as a strong internet connection. While a tablet is sufficient as we use the Blackboard Learn platform it is better to have a laptop, or both a laptop and a tablet. 

Many learners like to use the tablet for reading and notes while they use the laptop for video conferencing and collaboration. 

As a minimum we recommend for laptop / desktop devices:

• A processor of 2+ GHZ processor
• 4+ Gigabytes of RAM
• Webcam and microphone 

It is beneficial to have access to:

• A colour printer
• A backup power source 

Internet requirements are tricky as it often depends on the quality of the router and signal in the area to determine what internet speeds a home truly receives. However, as Eduvate utilises video collaboration as well as well as rich media we would recommend a line speed of no less than:

• 10 mbps download speed and 2 mbps upload speed
• learners will use between 70 – 100gb of data per month

Most LTE, 5G and Fibre connections should provide the required level of connectivity. 

Quality education from the comfort of your own home, with real teachers!

Eduvate provides a complete solution for Grades 4 to 9 and will continue to grow a grade level each year until learners matriculate.

• International Benchmarking assessments
• Established curriculum development by the Department of basic education that is improved to meet global and not local standards.
• SACE accredited, well qualified and trained school teachers
• Continuous assessments and testing
• Diagnostic testing and reporting to understand where gaps exist in learner knowledge and how Eduvate closes those gaps
• Attendance management
• Live, interactive classes with real teachers and the ability for learners to connect, collaborate and build social ties with their peers
• A portfolio of evidence as required by the department of Basic Education
• Adherence to school policies and procedures
• Social and Emotional development opportunities
• Rich content, Virtual reality experiences, Coding, Robotics, Engineering and so much more!

Each grade level is overseen by an assistant principle and administration staff for that phase. That phase is then split into classes with no more that 25 learner per specific subject class attended. Each class is led by SACE accredited and highly qualified school teachers. These teachers work remotely and are responsible for overseeing and managing student learning in the classroom environment using Eduvate schools cutting edge instructional tools. 

Teachers:

• Provide instruction, guidance, mentorship and support
• Facilitate participation and learning during live classes
• Track academic progress along with the Eduvate support team to ensure that each learners performance is monitored to ensure a strong base for learning performance
• Evaluate student work and grade assessments and assignments
• Develop a strong partnership with parents or responsible adults
• Communicate regularly with their students and parents to ensure everyone understands the goals, progress and developmental needs of each learner
• Participate in regular training and professional development

All educators agree that strong parental involvement is extremely important to a child’s academic success, parents encouraged to be active participants in their child’s education, working in close partnership with teachers.

In terms of the Department of Basic Education’s requirement parents are responsible for the child’s education when home schooling. This is a legal definition and learners should receive all the academic support required from Eduvate teaching and support staff. 

Parents should aim to stay actively involved in cultivating a rich environment for curiosity and learning at home. Ask about what your child learned that day, what they like, what they struggle with. Most of all, try to spend quality, engaged time with your child.

Blended learning is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with traditional learning methods. It requires the “physical presence” of both teacher and student, with some elements of student control over time, place, path, or pace.  Eduvate makes use of next-generation technologies to aid online learning, such as VR immersion. 

One of the problems of education as we know it today is that it was designed for the industrial age, yet we left the industrial age a long time ago. The focus on content knowledge and grades is becoming obsolete. The current education system was designed for routine and fixed procedure. Currently, we are taught how to do something once and then we spend the rest of our lives doing it.

While this model worked before, studies show, it will not work in the future.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, by 2030, up to 14% of the global workforce (approximately 375 million people) will have to be retrained to learn new skills that will allow them to adapt to jobs that will emerge due to automation.

This all sounds very bleak, but fear not. Eduvate is amongst a group of forward thinking educational institutions that are forward looking and working to ensure that the learners of today are future ready. 

This means that Eduvate follows the curriculum guidelines in the country of operation, in this instance South Africa, while ensure that all content covered and testing standards are completed at an international level. The benefit of this is two fold – learners are over prepared for Department of Basic Education accredited examinations and perform exceptionally well. This allows learners to gain access to top Universities.

Additionally, learners are exposed to subjects a high level including , science, technology, engineering, mathematics as well as exposure to the arts, robotics, coding and artificial intelligence. 

It sounds like a huge volume, but learners absorb knowledge like a sponge and when engaged correctly have an uncanny ability to learn. This produces well rounded learners that are ready for what the future holds. 

While learners engaging in digital education may not have daily in person contact with their peers, they spend the entire day collaborating with one another and the teachers. The Eduvate blended learning model, combined with a collaborative approach to learning mean that you child will be engaging 1-1, 1-3, 1-8, 1-25 with other learners and educators in the classroom environment. Outside of participative classes, learners are required to complete group work where collaboration is required.

Not only are the children extending during the school day to use social and collaborative skills, but soft skills are included in the curriculum. As a critical skill for the future, these skills are woven into the day to day curriculum. 

Outside of the school day, Eduvate works with parent bodies to arrange and facilitate the sports, culture and social interactions outside of the classroom. This is done using a network of third party service providers, and sports clubs in the child’s area of residence. This ensures that your child develops into a well rounded individual and gets the benefits of digital education while still maintaining the social interaction they would otherwise miss. 

There may be additional fees that apply for these services. 

Parent engagement in their child’s education is a vital component of success and parents can engage with teachers as often as necessary through the provided channels. We do not provide log in access to our LMS for parents for safety reasons. However, through the parent portal on the website you can

• Track your childs progress in real time
• Communicate with teachers, principles or admin staff
• Book appointments
• View and pay bills 
• Manage personal details and administration

Eduvate has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of bullying. While bullying occurs in all types of schools whether online or offline, Eduvate aims to provide a safe learning environment for all. This is done by:

1. Students, staff and parents are required to accept the rules of engagement set out by the institution. These rules set clear responsibility, boundaries and expectations for all parties. These rules outline the procedures that are followed where instances of bullying are reported as well as the sanctions imposed if the rules are found to have been breached.
2. Key staff members that engage with students during the learning journey complete intensive training that ensures they are fully equipped to offer support in so far as is appropriate. 
3. Dialogue regarding the issue of bullying is an ongoing part of the learning community in an effort to further educate each member, and strengthen their will to be an advocate for inclusion.
4. Engagements between individuals on the Online Campus are all held by the system and are monitored and recorded. 
5. Where members of the learning community encounter engagement which is not appropriate, they are able to report the exact piece of engagement immediately.
6. Eduvate is committed to working with a wider community of social services and local authorities where it is necessitated.

All attendance is monitored in real time via the Blackboard Learn platform. The physical log in and log out data is tracked and provides and accurate assessment of time in lesson. Furthermore, teachers are able to mark the learner present, absence or non-participative. 

In instances where a learner is absent or non-participative it is immediately flagged to the phase administration team that then takes steps to resolve the matter and get the learner back online. 

In certain instances the absenteeism is valid ie illness, power outages, connectivity issues and in these instances there is a catch up program that kicks in to assist the learner to catch up any missing contact time.

All textbooks that are required for learning are provided by Eduvate. All learning materials are housed in Blackboard and where a learner would prefer a hard copy they are welcome to print the notes or worksheets for themselves. 

The South African office of Eduvate Group is based at Route 21 Office Park in Pretoria. This office houses the support staff as well as the tutor centre. However, our educators are based around the country as they are able to work remotely. 

Access to the office is by strict appointment only. 

Yes, the learners receive regular breaks during the day to refresh both body and mind. These breaks are integrated into the learning calendar to balance the activity load and keep learners engaged during the school day.  Learners have daily timetables which are uploaded to their calendar and can be viewed in their Outlook calendar or in Blackboard Learn.

Yes, Eduvate has been designed with high contact time in mind. Where learners are working on specialised learning tools like MindSpark Mathematics or doing group assignments, there is still an educator online and able to assist them in the same way a teacher would normally observe in a traditional classroom.

We have various solutions including video, creating pictures or scans of completed assignments or completing the assignment in totality at home and receiving an actual assessment. 

The method changes depending on the subject, however if a family has access to the tools required in the requirements guideline then they will be able to submit.

Technical support is available where needed. 

Formative assessments and preparatory-examinations are taken online. Eduvate uses innovative proctoring and observation solutions to ensure credibility. 

The FET phase (Grades 10 – 12) is mandated to be completed in accordance with the guidelines set by the examining/awarding body. Currently, this is an examination completed at an examination venue. Eduvate will accomodate this requirement in the future when our learners complete the FET phase from 2022 onwards. 

You can log in to the parent portal at any time to see current academic performance. Eduvate takes a data driven approach to learning outcomes and in the event that a learner is an outlier ie ahead or behind where we wish to see them this will be flagged to a  parent immediately. So not only can a parent view academic performance but it will be reported on proactively and regularity. 

Learners are assessed on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. When a new learner starts with Eduvate School they write the Asset Global Benchmarking Test which covers English, Mathematics and Science. This test is used as both a benchmark and a diagnostic tool to guide the teacher in provide the correct, personalised intervention to improve each specific childs academic performance. 

The school year is split into 2 semesters: from mid-January to the end of June & from mid-July to the end of November.

11 weeks into each semester, there is a 2-week, mid-term break before the final 9 weeks commence.

For the 2021 academic year, standard office hours are 08h00 – 17H00 SAST, Monday to Friday.

Eduvate learners will have access to their online learning platform (Blackboard Learn),  and associated learning content irrespective of whether it is a public holiday, weekend or holiday during the academic year.

Applications are always open, but to be included in a certain semester we need to have received your completed Application Form, with payment, by no later than 1 week before the semester start date.

Currently Eduvate is accepting enrolment for the First term of 2021. 

All new enrolments are subject to a non-refundable enrolment fee of R 1500. This fee includes the mandatory benchmarking assessment. 

Monthly fees are inclusive of all tuition, live classes, digital content, and remediation where applicable. The fees cover the core requirements for a given year.

Any resources or activities over and above this are not covered by the fees – by way of example, this would include, voluntary field trips, social events, memberships for sports clubs etc.

Equipment such as laptops, tablets, VR goggles etc are for the clients account unless otherwise indicated. 

Yes, when two or more siblings are concurrently learning at Eduvate, the younger siblings receive a 10% discount.

In order to secure enrolment there is a non-refundable enrolment fee that is processes to secure your child place. This can be paid via credit or debit card online or via instant EFT. The link to the payment gateway is part of the enrolment flow.

Once enrolled, parents can pay monthly via credit or debit card online or via instant EFT. Alternatively, they can sign up for a monthly debit order deduction. 

The application fee covers the entire application process, including the Asset Benchmarking Assessment, the results of which will be shared with the parents. 

Mindspark is a computer-based, online self-learning tool that helps children improve their Maths skills.  It allows each child to follow a learning path that is based on his or her needs and urges children to ask questions, develop conceptual understanding and love the subject.

Mindspark is aligned to the South African CAPS curriculum, while facilitating questions on a global standard, which allows teachers to run it as a complementary learning tool. MindSpark provides educators detailed individual and grade level assessment of learners conceptual (not just rote) understanding of mathematical concepts. The software then adapts to meet the unique needs of each learner to ensure that the learner is able to build the required building blocks to understand mathematics.

Mindspark has massive database of practice questions that allows learners close to unlimited practice practice opportunities to improve should they wish to do additional work. 

Mindspark has been successfully reviewed by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and MIT. 

ASSET is a skill-based test that measures student’s conceptual understanding and benchmarks the school’s performance at international, national & regional levels with actionable insights through easy-to-understand reports.

Asset is used in over 10 000 schools around the globe.