Supporting teachers and Grade 12 learners to achieve language success

AVBOB has recently launched AVBOB STEP 12 – a nationwide language programme for Grade 12 learners, supported by the Department of Basic Education, as an example of a public-private sector partnership – pledging a commitment to the improvement of learner outcomes in South African schools.

Through AVBOB STEP 12, AVBOB is making available thirty-three (33) Examination Preparation Guides – each meticulously compliant with the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) and written in accordance with the most recent Examination Guidelines – for all Grade 12 language teachers, educators and interested parties, at no cost.

Grade 12 is a critical time in a learner’s journey in education. Passing matric opens many doors and offers opportunities, mainly because doing so provides university exemption and access to further education and training, drastically improving one’s labour market prospects. Passing language subjects is critical to obtaining that pass and exemption.   

Mastering a language is a gateway to learning anything about everything: helping one to discover new things and educate oneself in any area of life. Whether a learner wants to become an engineer, a mathematician, a sportsman, a politician, or a blue-collar worker, “the more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” as Dr Seuss says in his book, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

Our learners’ ability to master language lies in the hands of Grade 12 teachers. By making high-quality education materials accessible, AVBOB STEP 12 supports Grade 12 language teachers in communities all over South Africa and particularly in rural areas where there are fewer basic teaching resources.

The initial set of AVBOB STEP 12 Examination Preparation Guides – in all eleven (11) official South African languages – comprises one (1) guide for each of the three Senior Certificate examination papers (covering both Home Language and First Additional Language): Language in Context (Reading, Comprehension, Summary and Language Structures and Conventions), Literature, and Creative Writing.

Each guide covers themes as directed in CAPS and focuses on important aspects of the examination papers. By paying attention to time management in the exams, the AVBOB STEP 12 guides can also assist learners in alleviating anxiety and stress.

The Department of Basic Education encourages Grade 12 language teachers and other educators of Grade 12 students to embrace the AVBOB STEP 12 guides as valuable additional resources within their education toolkits.

The AVBOB STEP 12 Examination Preparation Guides can be downloaded for FREE at www.avbobstep12.co.za.

About AVBOB Mutual Assurance Society

AVBOB is a mutual society and has no shareholders. AVBOB members benefit from profits in the form of special bonuses and enhanced funeral benefits. AVBOB also gives back to the communities it serves through corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives and upliftment projects, several of which are in the space of education and literacy.

Earlier this year, AVBOB launched the second AVBOB Road To Literacy campaign in partnership with Oxford University Press Southern Africa. On 15 June 2023, the campaign gave away 260 trolley libraries, each equipped with 500 books donated by Oxford University Press Southern Africa – representing the 11 official South African languages, numeracy books and other learning resources – to deserving primary schools and educational non-profit organisations (NPOs).

Since the start of the annual AVBOB Poetry Competition in 2017, this online poetry competition has renewed enthusiasm for this powerful art form and generated new poetry to provide words of comfort and beauty to the people of South Africa. The competition is open to all South African citizens in any of the 11 official languages.