The phrase 'People are our greatest asset' is often heard, and the fact rings true that skilled labour is vitally important to organisations - and to any nation. AEL Mining Services’ ongoing commitment to people investment in the field of Mathematics ensures a ready supply of appropriately skilled and empowered labour not only for the organisation but for the improvement of the common human resource market place.

The Maths Centre, which is a non-profit educational organisation that is sponsored by. AEL Mining Services with respect to eight Tembisa schools, realised an overall performance percentage increase of 45 percent.

Peter Jordan, human resource manager at AEL comments , "South Africa experienced poor pass rates among students in 2009, most specifically in the areas of Science and Maths. We believe that it is the tireless dedication demonstrated by tutors at the Maths Centre that has played a major role in assisting students to achieve a positive percentage increase.

“Last year saw student pass rates increase from an average of 23.3 percent, garnered from pre-test results, to 68.3 percent for 2009 final exams.”

AEL has partnered with The Tiso Group, one of South Africa's leading black-controlled and managed principal investment companies, to form the Tiso AEL Development Trust.

This trust focusses on several CSI initiatives, including the company's efforts with The Maths Centre, that serve various personal and professional causes both within AEL's walls and within the community it serves.

“AEL actively promotes education in the fields of Science, Maths and Accounting,” says Jordan. “And we do so because we understand that the students that excel in these fields today could ultimately be the leaders in the mining and explosives industry of tomorrow.

“We believe it was the recently introduced Saturday classes, held at four schools, that have helped raise the averages among students at the centre and look forward to seeing even better results from them in 2010.”

Jordan says AEL and The Maths Centre have realised substantial improvement at the various schools, including:

• Masiqhakaze and Thuto-ke-Maatla are two project schools that showed the most improved results despite the countrywide drop in learner performance in these subjects.
• Thuto-ke-Maatla went on to join Zitikeni Secondary school in improving the number of quality passes (between 60 and 100 percent).
• At least 95 percent of the students obtained University Endorsement Certificates last year.
• All 10 recognised distinctions, or Level 7 passes, were awarded to students in the 2009 group.

The Maths Centre field trainer responsible for these students, Moloko Malahlela, has been monitoring the students for some time now and is pleased to report that should student performance continue in this vein, an achievement made possible due to support from AEL, the Centre could very well realise a growth in the number of distinction passes (80 – 100 percent) in 2010.