IkamvaYouth seeks to appoint a Branch Coordinator based in Cape Town. S/he will be based in a township location, and must be a social entrepreneur who is passionate about the power of education to transform lives and communities, and wants to make a difference. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in a by-youth for-youth educational movement that empowers young people to take their futures into their own hands.
Responsibilities:
- Work closely with the Directors of other branches in a coordinated and
- collaborative way to ensure alignment of policies and processes, and programme delivery;
- Recruit, coordinate and support volunteer tutors and mentors;
- Community liason; with the schools, community centres, CBOs and NGOs;
- Fundraise to build and sustain the branch (meeting with funders, writing proposals
- and reports, reporting, Monitoring & Evaluation);
- Manage an office and ensure accurate and up-to date data collection and
- administration for monitoring and evaluation;
- Budgeting, financial management and reporting;
- Coordinate the organisation’s communications (social media, website, group e-mail
- discussion lists, newsletters, etc.) together with other ikamvanites;
- Lead a team of volunteers to implement the supplementary tutoring,
- career guidance and mentoring and holiday programmes.
Requirements:
- Organised and efficient; impeccable time management skills, data collection and reporting must be accurate and timely;
- Must have a passion for working with young people and a pro-active energy;
- Must be able to work alone and take initiative;
- Must be adept at using computers (Excel, word, social media and internet, power-point )and able to work virtually (many discussions, meetings and document development occur collaboratively online);
- A “Can do” attitude and belief is very important
To apply please send a cover letter and CV to zoe@ikamvayouth.org
IkamvaYouth Brackground
IkamvaYouth is a township-based non-profit organisation, established in 2003 and formally registered in 2004, with branches in three provinces, operating from Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Masiphumelele in the Western Cape, Ivory Park in Gauteng, and Cato Crest in KwaZulu-Natal. While learners enrol at IkamvaYouth when they are in grades 8, 9, 10 and 11, the programme’s success is ultimately determined by the number of grade 12 learners who access tertiary institutions and/or employment-based learning opportunities when they matriculate.
As we continue to collect all the individual results from the IkamvaYouth Gauteng learners, three stories in particular stand out so far:
Shelton Chadya – 5 Distinctions
Shelton first joined IkamvaYouth during 2010’s protracted Public Servants strike as he sought out a place to continue studying while his teachers weren’t teaching. His determination and commitment to his school work has paid off handsomely in that he has jumped more than two symbols in 3 of the subjects he ultimately received distinctions for. Earlier this year Shelton also won his region’s Accounting Olympiad and with these skills he intends to study a BCOM at either WITS or UJ this year. Shelton has already been working with younger learners helping them improve their understanding of their school subjects and he is now looking forward to officially joining the IkamvaYouth volunteer team this year to help others follow in his footsteps.
Nombuso Ndala – 4 Distinctions
Nombuso has been part of the furniture at IkamvaYouth this year as she has used every opportunity to work on improving her understanding of her school subjects. Often Nombuso (sometimes with fellow Ikamvanites) could be found working in the matric room trying to solve difficult problems. Nombuso has made ample use of the tutoring sessions, the learning channel and the Answers Series booklets. On discovering how she had fared on the matric exams she had this to say, “I was so over the moon to receive my results and so happy. I immediately told my mom and she started crying. I worked so hard and practiced and practiced and practiced to get these results. I am so happy.” During her time with IkamvaYouth, in addition to her 4 distinctions, Nombuso also lifted her maths mark from 32% to 62% and intends to study a BCOM at Wits this year, her mother is unemployed.
Tshepo Lesejane – 1 Distinction
When Tshepo first joined IkamvaYouth he had 39% for Maths Literacy but after two years of intensive hard work and tutoring he managed to score a distinction (over 80%) in his matric exam. This means that Tshepo has more than doubled his Maths Literacy result in the two years that he has been with IkamvaYouth – a notable achievement indeed. Tshepo hopes to work in the media industry and to study media and journalism in 2012.
There are also further notable achievements from the individual results we have collected so far:
Masabatha Rambuwani scored a distinction in Life Orientation, 73% for English (second language) and went from 30% in Accounting to 72%. Thabang Simelane also scored a distinction in Life Orientation and went from 31% in Accounting to 56%. He also went from 14% in Pure Maths to 49% (which will be submitted for a remark in search of that elusive 1%).
IkamvaYouth Gauteng learners celebrate with Joe and Zamo on receiving their results.
IkamvaYouth learners from township and rural schools achieve 85% pass rate; 42% of which are bachelor passes.
“Today my life begins and I’m so happy” – Anathi Malindi, Grade 12 learner from Nyanga.
Speaking on SAFM on 4th January, Graeme Bloch said that “you have to go to a model c school if you want to do well in matric”. And although the country is celebrating the 70.2% national matric pass rate, analysts agree that this figure masks the inequalities in achievement and access to tertiary study. With learners at township and rural schools severely under-performing, it appears that the higher the school fees the better one’s chances of academic achievement.
Yet IkamvaYouth’s volunteers and learners have once again shown that excellent results are possible, irrespective of which school one attends. There were 100 Grade 12 learners enrolled at IkamvaYouth in 2011, and of the 85% that passed, 42% obtained bachelor passes. This is remarkable given that only 24.3% bachelor passes were achieved nationally; the far majority by ex-model c schools. Two Western Cape branches with their first grade 12 classes did particularly well (Masiphumelele achieved 96% pass; Nyanga 93%), and the Ivory Park branch led the pack with a 100% pass rate). Overall, 70% of learners have achieved the bachelor or diploma passes they need to access tertiary education.
Matriculants at Makhaza Branch, Khayelitsha
IkamvaYouth sets no academic pre-requisite for enrollment in the programme. Most learners join with abysmal academic results and are from impoverished homes with unemployed caregivers. During their time with IkamvaYouth, learners dramatically improve their results, access tertiary education, and as Portia Dlamini’s mother in rural KZN hopes, will be able to “carry the family out of poverty”. Many ikamvanites excelled (25 distinctions overall) and – most importantly – many showed significant improvement. “When I joined IkamvaYouth, my third highest mark was 64%, and today I’ve achieved 5 distinctions”, said Shelton Chadya from Ivory Park. Tshepo Lesejane effectively doubled his maths literacy result (39% when he joined; he matriculated with distinction).
Gauteng Branch celebrating Matrics with Branch Coordinator Joe Manciya
Although celebrating the results, IkamvaYouth’s work with the class of 2011 is far from over. 80% of the learners who failed are eligible for supplementary exams, and tutors will ensure that they’re ready to succeed in these exams in March. While many of those who passed have already been accepted by the country’s top universities, there is still work to be done to ensure that none of the class of 2011 become unemployed. The next step is ensuring that all these learners access tertiary education, training, internships, learnerships or employment. “IkamvaYouth will continue to support all our 2011 matrics as they access quality post-school opportunities and become tutors; enabling the following years’ learners to do the same,” says director Joy Olivier.
The tutors who help the learners to reach these heights are all volunteers. Most are university students and many are ex-learners from IkamvaYouth. They’re also the organisation’s greatest benefactors: next year, ikamvanites will be delivering the equivalent of over 3 million rands’ worth of tutoring time to learners in seven communities in three provinces. The result of this phenomenal investment is an intensive, high quality programme that offers ongoing individual attention and support to learners for under R4500 per learner per year.
As well as our volunteers gratitude must be extended to our funders and donors. In particular IkamvaYouth is especially grateful to the DG Murray Trust, EMpower, the Raimondo Trust, the Potter foundation, the Answer Series, ABI, Hatch, African Bank, Cato Manor ABM, AME Africa, the Anglo Chairman’s Fund, SEF, TSiBA, UWC, DUT, Department of Libraries and Information Science, Learning Trust, Bertha Foundation, Dietschweiler Stiftung, the Foschini Group, iKineo, Education Without Borders, World Teach, Zonke Monitoring Systems, and Capitec Bank for their vital contributions this past year. A great shout big shout out also goes to the countless individuals whose time and money has ensured that IkamvaYouth not only continues to operate in challenging economic times, but can grow and expand its reach and impact.
When announcing the results, the Minister of Basic Education pronounced the eradication of inequality a national priority. IkamvaYouth invites everyone to get involved in transforming our nation, one shining future at a time. IkamvaYouth has branches in the Western Cape (Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Masiphumelele); KZN (Chesterville and a new branch opening in Umlazi) and Gauteng (Ivory Park, and a new branch opening in Ebony Park). IkamvaYouth has maintained a matric pass rate of between 83 and 100% each year since 2005, and true credit for these results must go to the learners, volunteers, the branch teams, and the donors.
Congratulations Class of 2011!
It is with much excitement that we can report on the results of our 2011 IkamvaYouth Gauteng matriculants. In particular, we are especially pleased to report a 100% matric pass rate for the first time in this branch’s history. Perhaps more importantly though it pleases us to report that half of these passes are Bachelor level passes, 40% are Diploma level passes and the remaining 10% are Higher Certificate passes.
Among the many happy success stories, two stand out so far: Shelton Chadya achieved a monumental 5 distinctions (his 3rd highest mark was 64% when he joined IkamvaYouth). Tshepo Lesejane also scored a distinction in maths literacy which is particularly impressive in that his maths literacy mark when he joined IkamvaYouth was only 39%. Tshepo has effectively more than doubled his results in 2 years with IkamvaYouth.
Shelton Chadya who scored 5 distinctions in his matric exams.
True credit for these results must go to our awesome learners, volunteers and donors and the branch team for pulling this all together. The learners have put in countless hours of hard work and study, the volunteers have continuously poured their hearts and souls into assisting our learners and the donors have provided the means for this to take place. In particular we are especially grateful to ABI, Hatch and African Bank for their contributions to the programme this past year.
All that is left is for us to toast the success of the IkamvaYouth Gauteng matrics and to celebrate these achievements in the days ahead. The next task is to ensure all of these learners get access to quality post-school opportunities in the next few months while we also officially open our new Gauteng branch to assist more learners.
Busy but exciting days in store.
Lloyd Lungu