ADvTECH: Investing in the future through social & environmental commitments



ADvTECH is well on its way to fully implementing its value-add social and environmental programmes in the schools and tertiary division, as part of its commitment to providing students with a competitive advantage while also making an invaluable contribution to sustainability for future generations.

Roy Douglas, ADvTECH CEO, says educational institutions have a particularly important role to play, and that ADvTECH is taking the lead on the educational front in South Africa.

“The education sector’s core role is to educate the citizens of tomorrow, and it would be remiss of any organisation to focus only on academic instruction. This is why we have embarked on a path of creating a blueprint for other institutions to follow, to show how education can make a positive impact through developing future focused ethics in all students.”

SCHOOLS

Respect Diversity and Inclusion (RDI)

On the schools front, ADvTECH has been fast-tracking implementation of its RDI programme across all schools as part of its social investment. In addition, it has partnered with WESSA to build on its environmental programme.

In terms of curricula, ADvTECH has ensured that future-focused teaching and learning is a central pillar of its educational offering. 

“We have global competencies built into the way we present our curricula and as additional skills-based development for all students in all of our schools and tertiary institutions,” says Douglas.

“This is further supplemented with an internationally aligned EdTech framework, where the focus is on tech-enabled education. We teach our students to become global citizens as we promote critical, creative, reflective thinking, multi-modal communication and self-management.”

He says ADvTECH recognises the importance of imparting the essential global competencies required for students’ engagement in their lives beyond school and university, and a world that looks very different to the one that existed less than a generation ago.

“Building global citizens within diverse environments is essential for success now and into the future. Our students need to become thinkers and innovators to adapt to the changing future work environment. We continue to ensure this is an integral part of our work. Our Global Citizen framework is intentional and comprises lessons on our core values of respect, diversity and inclusion while embedding essential global competencies into each lesson.”

The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA),

In a South African first, ADvTECH’s 110 schools have partnered with WESSA, to boost its environmentally-focused value-added curricula and content.

“As part of our commitment to Global Citizenship, in the past three years, ADvTECH have invested heavily in our RDI framework and programme. The WESSA partnership is the next step on this journey, which will focus on raising awareness to imprint the impact of environmentally solution-based thinking for future generations,” says Douglas.

WESSA have also committed to developing a value-add programme framework focused on the environment, similar to ADvTECH’s RDI programme.

The framework will focus on delivering strong, coordinated and comprehensive action that will assist every student to acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to address climate change and to promote sustainable development.

TERTIARY

“At ADvTECH, we are deeply aware of our responsibility, as an employer and educational organisation facilitating the development of tens of thousands of young people across the continent, to put in place programmes and measures to ensure a positive future for society and the planet,” says Douglas.

“We recognise that our natural capital is the foundation of business and society. While investing in environmental sustainability over the past several years, our mission is ongoing, to create value for all stakeholders and contribute to the global goals of sustainable development.”

ADvTECH, through its higher education division, The Independent Institute of Education, is committed to supporting graduates to continue research in social and environmental disciplines. In addition to making a contribution to future sustainability, this focus is also part of its journey to attaining full university status.

“We are particularly focused on renewable energies and water research, as these are key areas where higher education institutions and researchers should be taking the lead,” Douglas says.

Apart from researching solutions of the future, ADvTECH is also implementing changes on the ground, to make an immediate difference. As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability, ADvTECH can report:

• 36% reduction in water consumption across its sites in 2022
• The implementation of water efficiency measures including real-time water consumption measurement, waste-reduction and efficiency-improvement installations with rapid-response capacity for water leak detection and repair,
• The integration of environmental awareness across all educational curricula
• 1 156 new trees planted at ADvTECH sites in 2022, bringing the total to an impressive 253 943, and
• The provision of support to a total of 72 environmental projects through CSI.

RESOURCING

ADvTECH is investing not only in ensuring greater access to the highest quality of education, but also into ensure that the continent’s human capital secures gainful employment in the finance, ICT, engineering, supply chain management, logistics, freight, payroll management and contracting sectors and fields. Therefore, ADvTECH’s strategy is to attract, develop and place the best talent across the continent into the career opportunities and workplaces of the future.

As such, ADvTECH’s resourcing division has been increasing its footprint on the continent, with its strategy of entering alternative markets and growing additional business segments.

“We are proud to report that we are having a positive impact on the environment and the communities within which we operate through our group operational footprint of 143 sites and campuses,” says Douglas.

And this impact also makes a difference on a human-to-human, community level, through ADvTECH’s CSI projects, he says.

One of the most effective ways to develop global awareness in students, is to first connect them to their communities beyond the immediate confines of their own families and social environments. This is why ADvTECH aims, in their strategic community engagement initiatives, to lay the groundwork for awareness of interconnectedness through meaningful and relevant service to the community, that enable students to learn from experience while making a contribution to the wellbeing of others and the environment.

“We are developing a new vision of what it means to make a significantly positive impact on what the future might look like. The results from our environmental sustainability programmes and interventions, our future-focused curricula, and community engagement programmes are clear testament to the fact that we are progressively leaving a lasting legacy as a future-focused organisation,” says Douglas.