Bringing Positive Change To After School Programmes | Western Cape Government

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Bringing Positive Change To After School Programmes

17 February 2017

Improving participation and ensuring regular attendance of after school programmes are the goals of the Western Cape After School Game Changer.

This was the message to the more than 250 international and local guests who aim to make a difference in the lives of children and who attended the first day of the After School Game Changer Symposium held at the Century City Conference Centre on 16 February 2017. The event was hosted by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport. Guests included academics, government practitioners, after school programmes, NGO’s, as well as donors and strategic partners.

Brent Walters, Head of Department at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport welcomed everyone to the first day of the symposium. Mr Walters said this was an opportunity to put after school programmes on the map, and highlight the project that the Western Cape Government is leading. The aim of the symposium was to create an exciting space where guests could participate in discussions and to also build a strong professional After School Programme sector. ‘All of us have a passion to contribute and invest in our children. We want to encourage them to aspire and succeed, to ensure that we do not have a lost generation’ said Mr Walters.

Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, was the keynote speaker at the symposium, and set the tone and framework within which the After School Game Changer must be understood.  Premier Zille said that the symposium was taking place to facilitate collaboration amongst people involved in the after school space and to solve the problems of social exclusion and social disintegration experienced by our communities.  ‘The best way to ensure that young people have a better chance of enriching their lives and using their opportunities is to ensure that those opportunities are organised’ said the Premier.

Guests of the symposium took part in various panel discussions, ranging from sport and recreation, to life skills and eLearning. Stakeholders also had the opportunity to display their work in a marketplace at the event, which encouraged potential partnerships.

Through the After School Game Changer, the Western Cape Government, in partnership with its stakeholders, aims to provide quality, safe after-school activities in our communities - BETTER TOGETHER.

Media Enquiries: 

Tania Colyn
Head of Communication Service
Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport
Tel: 021 483 9877 / 076 093 4913
E-mail: Tania.Colyn@westerncape.gov.za