Sage Pastel has developed a Sage One curriculum for the Sage Pastel Certified School Programme, its longstanding and successful initiative for teaching basic computerised accounting and bookkeeping to learners in grades eight to 12.
Sage One is online accounting software that users can access 24/7 via the Internet. It is easy to use, with no accounting jargon and an intuitive interface. By introducing the Sage One Accounting cloud-based application into its curriculum, Sage Pastel is helping to keep learners fully up to date with the latest technology. Because it is a cloud-based application - used as an online service and paid for by a modest monthly subscription - Sage One Accounting also makes the latest software more affordable and accessible to schools and their learners.
The Sage Pastel Certified School Programme aims to teach learners how to use a computerised accounting solution in line with the accounting curriculum.
There are additional tasks and assignments set to challenge learners and ensure they are able to use accounting software in real-world scenarios.
Schools can choose whether to add the programme into the daily curriculum, or offer it after school hours. Students are awarded a Sage Pastel Certified School Programme Student Competency Certificate on passing the assessment.
Says Gerhard van der Berg, Technical Writer at Sage Pastel Accounting: "Our educational programme is one of the most widely adopted and successful of its kind in South Africa. Though we have had a great deal of success providing MyBusiness Desktop as the product supporting this initiative, we have seen growing demand from schools and universities for a cloud-based alternative.
"We are happy to respond by creating a curriculum for Sage One Accounting - our next-generation cloud-based accounting solution for small businesses.
"For schools, the benefits of the cloud are numerous. In addition to lower upfront costs, using Sage One Accounting frees schools from the hassles and costs of installing and managing software on school computers. Instead, each student can log in from anywhere they have an Internet connection simply by using the Web browser on their tablets, desktops or notebooks."
About 250 schools nationwide as well as many tertiary institutions use Sage Pastel products to teach computerised accounting and bookkeeping, and the list of institutions on the programme is growing by the month, says Van der Bergh.
"Accounting is a life skill, and schools should not only be teaching learners to pass the grade 12 exam, but should also be giving them basic skills that provide them with the opportunity to take their place in the economy.
"Sage Pastel Accounting has been providing computerised accounting software to businesses for over 20 years, meaning that our programme exposes learners to software used in the real world," he adds.
"Our school programmes are fully aligned with the Department of Education's accounting curriculum and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement principles. At the end of the course, learners have acquired practical skills in accounting and in using computerised accounting software."
For schools that do not have Internet access or prefer to use the desktop software, Sage Pastel will continue to support the My Business Desktop curriculum.
Share