Page 36 - MiNDSPACE Issue 1 2022 - Old Mutual Corporate

education expertSPACE
When learning
leads to doing
An educational initiative that started as part of
Old Mutual’s birthday celebrations has evolved into a clear example of shared value in action. School’s in session for Old Mutual’s Learn.Think.Do.
By Mark van Dijk
Kerrie Taylor had always hoped to make a difference with Old Mutual’s Learn.Think.Do programme. Now she can pinpoint the moment during their teacher training when she knew for certain that it was happening. ‘We wanted to
Kerrie Taylor has been Programme Manager of Old Mutual Learn.Think. Do since September 2020. Before that, she worked in customer and digital transformation, legislation and loyalty, and volunteered as
a UK-based NPO’s Head of Strategy & Operations in Africa.
provide teachers with development support to teach key financial concepts in the classroom as well as online. At the end of one of our lessons, we asked the group what they had learnt. A teacher replied: “You know what? I’ve learnt how to do a Zoom call, and for that I’m very grateful.’’ It struck me that if learning to make a Zoom call was seen as a highlight, the need for this programme runs very deep.’
Taylor is Programme Manager for Learn.Think.Do, Old Mutual’s ambitious education initiative that’s bringing financial education to high-school learners – and teachers – across Africa. ‘It kicked off in 2020 as part of Old Mutual’s 175th birthday celebrations,’ she says. ‘But instead of a once-off event, we wanted to create a legacy focused on education.’
GO TO CONTENTS
Initially known as Africa’s Biggest Digital Classroom, the programme was designed to address widespread education exclusion; low financial-literacy rates; vastly uneven teacher- to-learner ratios; and a lack of access to physical and financial resources that enable education delivery on the continent.
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