KPMG has put its weight behind a grade 11 and 12 maths, science and physics programme, benefiting over 100 pupils from the Kudung and Kgoro ya Thuto Secondary Schools, situated near Heidelberg.

The pilot project, which consists of Saturday classes, started out as one of KPMG's employment initiatives and has progressed as a partnership with the Gauteng Education Department (GED). Two hours are allocated to each subject in order to cover the challenging aspects of the three syllabi.

Molefi Madisakwane, National Development Manager, explains: "It is our contribution of adding value to the educational system. We want a child of a farm worker to aspire to being a chartered accountant or engineer. This is our way of making it within his or her grasp. "

He says that choosing the right school was important. "Together with the GED, we found a rural school that needed assistance and had the right amount of pupils to make reasonable impact, " he says.

KPMG's support has come in financial assistance - the firm will pay the teachers' salaries - together with project management and other expertise.

Classes got off to a start in mid-April and will continue into October.