The Learning Bridge Programme is a social outreach initiative that provides free Occupational Therapy to children in Cape Town, South Africa. Currently, many children are unable to access public/ private Occupational Therapy, which puts them at a great disadvantage for their future success.

Reality bites…

For many parents, circumstance dictate how much time you are able to spend with your child, what school you are able to send your child to and ultimately the amount and type of stimulation the child will receive.

Unfortunately, for most public pre and primary schools in Cape Town, over-crowding is the reality. This, to a large degree paralyses the teacher?s ability to provide individual attention to scholars in their foundational years. As a result there has been a rapid increase in the number of learning difficulties.

A child with a learning difficulty is best supported by a team of therapists who can target specific barriers to learning.

However, many parents cannot afford the services of private therapists and do not have access to therapists in the public sector.

As a result, children in need of supportive therapies tend to fall through the cracks and experience many problems in the formal school years. Unfortunately, these children often experience issues related to low self-esteem such as dropping out of school, compromising/risk taking behaviour and delinquency.
By addressing the problems during the early stage, a child is able to lay a more stable foundation in order to explore a much more promising and successful future.

Therapy provided at the schools, alleviates time/travel pressures for the parents.

Therefore therapies are essential support at pre and primary schools.