On Saturday the 21st of January, the Nyanga branch hosted a Matric Orientation Day for all 2017 Matric Parents and Learners. The purpose of this event was to welcome the Matric Class of 2017 and to orientate both parents and learners about how the Matric year looks for an Ikamvanite. The programme for the day started with a Parent Information Session: This session included a discussion of the 2016 Matric Challenges; an introduction to the mentoring programme and important milestones such as tertiary applications and NBT’s (National Benchmark Tests). The 2017 Matric Calendar was also shared and explained to the parents and learners. The parents were given a copy of the calendar to take home and use as a reference during the course of the year.
After the Parent Information Session, the branch introduced its motivational speaker for the day: Kamvalethu Willie. Kamvalethu Willie is an Ikamvanite from the Matric Class of 2016. He shared his journey with IY and how the programme has benefited him. Kamvalethu also shared that he is the first person in his family to pass Matric and the first to go to University. He has been accepted at UCT (University of Cape Town) to study B.Comm Financial Accounting with a full bursary. He advised the Class of 2017 to stay focused and to set clear goals for the future. He also shared a vision board he used in 2016 to keep himself motivated and to not lose sight of his goals. Kamvalethu’s speech left some parents with tears in their eyes. Kamvalethu plans to return to the branch as a volunteer in 2017. The Nyanga branch wishes him all the best in his studies.
[Kamvalethu Willie addressing the meeting]
Head Tutor in 2016, Sihle Sosanti, also addressed the Matric parents and learners. She addressed the parents and learners from the perspective of a tutor at the branch; outlining what is required from learners in their matric year. She also stressed the importance of parental support at home for learners. She completed her address by requesting that parents, tutors, branch staff and learners work together in order to make this year a success.
The session with the parents was then closed and the learners stayed behind for a meeting with the branch staff and tutors. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the tutoring schedule for Matric learners and to find out the needs of the learners, such as extra resources or extended tutoring hours. The learners were shy at first, but they gradually started to voice their opinions. The meeting was the beginning of paving a way forward for 2017.
[Nyanga Branch staff, tutors and learners]
[Gifts for Matric 2017 Learners]
We are grateful to all those who attended this first event for the Nyanga Branch in 2017! We look forward to many more successful events.
Seven tutoring programmes achieved remarkable collective impact in the recent matric exams, achieving a 92% pass rate. 97 matric learners from organisations participating in the Community Collaboration Programme (CCP) wrote their exams last year, and 84 learners achieved either bachelor or diploma passes; ensuring their eligibility for tertiary studies.
Maobi Phakwago
Moabi Phakwago joined the Tarenteraaland after-school tutoring programme in Cullinan, Gauteng at the end of grade 11 and has been diligently coming twice a week ever since. He managed to secure himself five distinctions and has been accepted to study medicine, electrical engineering, and astrophysics at some of the country’s top universities; UJ, Wits, and UCT. He describes his results as ‘just amazing and I couldn’t have done it without the tutors.’
Maobi’s message to the new class of 2017 is to ‘Start early and work hard. I remember quite well that I was told this, but I didn’t listen. So really guys, start early, work with past papers, listen attentively in class, and get help from wherever you can…but don’t forget to have a little fun as well.’’ The world is now Maobi’s oyster! Wherever he ends up, he promises to continue to pay forward the help he received by tutoring younger grades to achieve similarly inspiring results.
It is especially encouraging to see new collaborating partners achieving incredible success. My Career Corner (MCC), an organisation based in Mabopane, Gauteng helped 11 grade 12 learners to pass matric; six of whom achieved bachelor passes. One of the main feeder schools that MCC is working with achieved a pass rate of 58%. Boipelo, from My Career Corner, also recognised that ‘it is rare to see this level of commitment from learners, especially from the community and context in which they live. Generally, young people don’t value education and that is why I have been so impressed with this group’s level of dedication – that was number one for me. I am very proud of them.’ We need more people like Cheryl and Boipelo, who are stepping up to support learners and can now enjoy the amazing feeling that comes with seeing learners turn that support into tangible, life-changing achievement.
My Career Corner Coordinator, Cheryl Maepa (4th from left) with her matric class of 2016
CCP’s primary funder and capacity building partner, The Learning Trust, are ‘immensely proud to be associated with the CCP initiative and the sterling outcomes produced in 2016.’ It is thanks to the funders, and to the tireless efforts of the staff, tutors, mentors, and partners, that these learners, unlike many of their peers, could access the additional support needed to succeed.
Zoe Mann, Coordinator of the CCP, says that “After-school programme practitioners, youth workers, parents, peers, teachers, and ordinary people, all have the extraordinary power to expose young people to future possibility, and begin undoing the limiting beliefs that hold young people back. These organisations are not giving learners’ unrealistic dreams, but are showing their learners that it is possible because, with solid, ongoing support, and hard work it is happening in community-based tutoring programmes all over the country.”
Congratulations to the class of 2016 – your determination is inspiring!
About
In collaboration with The Learning Trust, IkamvaYouth established the CCP in 2014. The programme provides training, support and space for peer-to-peer learning to social entrepreneurs running tutoring programmes. The seven organisations who had grade 12 learners in 2016 were; Sozo, SALT, Just Grace, Tarenteraaland, My Career Corner, Kliptown Youth Program, and Boys and Girls Club of South Africa. In 2017 IkamvaYouth is working with 12 partner organisations across Gauteng and Western Cape, listed on the website.
IkamvaYouth is a non-profit organisation, enabling disadvantaged youth to pull themselves and each other out of poverty through education. The organisation provides free after-school tutoring, career guidance, mentoring, computer literacy training and extra-curricular engagement to learners in grades 8-12. The organisation is currently operating 16 branches in townships across five South African provinces. To find out more, go to www.ikamvayouth.org or call Zoe Mann on 074 476 7965.
The Learning Trust (TLT) is a thriving South African non-profit organisation which supports individual, emerging organisations and education clusters over a five year period. TLT increases and improves learning opportunities for young South Africans growing up in conditions of poverty and exclusion. It does this by funding and building the capacity of outstanding grassroots education initiatives, the education clusters they develop and by championing the co-ordination of the After School sector in South Africa. TLT works alongside local partners to strengthen governance and improve quality and impact, taking young, community-based organisations that demonstrate significant potential towards self-reliance.
The Ivory Park branch staff and matriculants celebrating a 100% pass rate
285 learners enrolled in IkamvaYouth’s after-school tutoring programmes in ten branches across five provinces have achieved an 85% pass rate; 69% of which are either Bachelor or Diploma passes, ensuring their eligibility for tertiary studies.
In South Africa, a major predictor of academic performance is the location of one’s school. When comparing results between leafy suburbs and tin-roofed townships, it appears that we have two different education systems operating in parallel. For most learners in township and rural schools, even reaching matric is a feat; only 58% of the grade 2s from 2006 made it to write matric last year, and so, as Nic Spaull explains, the actual pass mark for the matric cohort of 2016 is an abysmal 42%.
Unfortunately, the quality of one’s matric pass has a major bearing on the kinds of post-school opportunities one can access, and thus heavily influences an individual’s potential earning capacity.This is good news for the Ikamvanites who have managed to defy their context, and have leveraged the power of peer-to-peer learning and support to achieve great academic results. They’ve made an important step up the path towards earning a dignified living, and the organisation looks forward to reporting on the Class of 2016’s placements in a few months’ time.
“IkamvaYouth is especially proud of the Ivory Park branch, which achieved a 100% pass rate, and the branches in KZN (Chesterville and Umlazi), which hauled in an accumulative 41 subject distinctions”, says Programmes Manager Patrick Mashanda.‘’It is because of such results that IkamvaYouth continues to assist township youths, against all odds! We remain determined to see many more township youths breaking the cycle of poverty through education. The challenges the learners face are many, but the desire for a dignified living continues to inspire Ikamvanites to take the future into their own hands through hard work, and peer to peer learning. Well done to the class of 2016!’’
Vuyolwethu Zumani is a member of the Joza branch in the Eastern Cape. He achieved a Bachelor pass with 5 distinctions (in Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Geography and Life Orientation). IkamvaYouth is proud to report that he is one of the top achieving learners in the district! Vuyolwethu cleared hurdles including a shortage of teachers at his school and financial instability at home, and has been accepted to study towards a BSc, majoring in Maths and Statistics at the university currently known as Rhodes this year.
Vuyolethu Zumani was awarded for being the top learner in the district.
The Ikamvanites are tutored and mentored by volunteers, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Most of the tutors are university students, and many are ex-learners from the programme, who pay-forward the help they received by supporting younger learners. Many of the volunteer mentors are professionals who assist grade 12 learners to figure out their post-school options, and assist with their applications. We look forward to welcoming members of the class of 2016 as volunteers.
Tanyaradzwa Chiyambiro, the Chesterville branch’s top achiever, says “I am currently feeling relief and am very happy since I received my results; hopefully Wits University will approve my application to study Biomedical Engineering which is what I really really want to do. IkamvaYouth has been amazing; a combination of learning and fun. Being a part of this organisation has been awesome and I’ve learnt the importance of helping others and giving back.”
We are particularly proud of those learners who will be studying to become teachers. Thabisile Mfeka, a top achiever from the Umlazi branch, achieved a Bachelor pass and plans to pass on her love of education and learning by studying a B(Ed) and teaching Maths, Science and English to learners in grades seven to nine.
Thabisile Mfeka speaks about her IkamvaYouth experience and her plans for the future
These great achievements are the result of years of hard work and strong collaborative partnerships. IkamvaYouth enrolls learners in grades 8 to 11, and works closely with the feeder schools, many other NGOs and CBOs, tertiary institutions, municipalities, Government departments, corporates and foundations.
“We are so proud of our learners and tutors, as well as the team behind them, and thank our donors for their ongoing support that enables results like these, year after year,” says Leigh Meinert, chairperson at IkamvaYouth. The organisation’s work is made possible thanks to generous support from many donors; most of which provide multi-year funding. Supporters of the Class of 2016 include Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA), the Omidyar Network,The ELMA Foundation, the Montpelier Foundation, Capitec Foundation, Cargill International,EMpower and The Learning Trust amongst many others.
About
IkamvaYouth is a non-profit organisation, enabling disadvantaged youth to pull themselves and each other out of poverty through education. The organisation provides free after-school tutoring, career guidance, mentoring, computer literacy training and extra-curricular engagement to learners in grades 8-12. The organisation is currently operating in 16 townships in 5 provinces across South Africa. To find out more, go to www.ikamvayouth.org or call Hetile on 062 105 1707
The North-West Province saw a notable increase in its matric results this year. Matriculants in the Province managed to achieve an 86.2% pass rate, which represents a 9% from 2015. The IkamvaYouth branch in Ikageng (situated at the Thembalidanisi Primary school) saw the latest cohort of Matriculants achieving an 80% pass rate, with 70% attaining Bachelor passes or Diploma passes, ensuring their eligibility for tertiary education. This is the third cohort of Matriculants that has gone through the Ikageng branch, making a big step towards earning a dignified living.
Access to learners is one of the challenges that come with running an after-school programme. Learners often find themselves caught between attending tutoring at IkamvaYouth or attending sessions at their schools which can sometimes be mandatory. To overcome this hurdle, on the 23rd of February 2016, IkamvaYouth and the
North-West Department of Education and Sport Development signed a Memorandum of Agreement which stipulates that “The Department and the NPO have a common objective to ensure learners pass and access post-school opportunities in relation to access to tertiary education and/ or formal employment.” Working together, we are able to “enhance and maximise the use of scarce resources”. This collaboration has definitely had an impact on the outcome of our Matriculants in 2016 and we hope this is a relationship that will last long into the future.
Isac Sithole is a learner from the Ikageng branch’s class of 2016, and obtained a Bachelor pass. He said that “IkamvaYouth has helped me realise that there’s a chance for me to make it in life no matter what. All I have to do is work hard and stay determined… I have learned that this life is for me to live independent of my circumstances. IkamvaYouth really helped me because it’s where I could get extra time to cover my school work because I was always behind and it also provided internet access which really helped in many ways. I am really thankful for that”.
IkamvaYouth’s tutoring programme is available to learners from grades 9 -12, three times a week and for two weeks during the winter holidays. The tutoring programme is made possible thanks to the hearts and smarts of the amazing volunteer tutors; most of whom are university students and many of whom are ex-learners from the programme. The organisation operates in the North-West thanks to collaborative partnerships with its feeder schools, and supporters including
Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, in addition to tertiary institutions in the region, and schools which provide branch venues free of charge.
About
IkamvaYouth is a non-profit organisation, enabling disadvantaged youth to pull themselves and each other out of poverty through education. The organisation provides free after-school tutoring, career guidance, mentoring, computer literacy training and extra-curricular engagement to learners in grades 8-12. The organisation is currently operating in 16 townships in five provinces across South Africa. To find out more, go to www.ikamvayouth.org or call Hetile on 062 105 1707.
Ivory Park achieved a 100% pass rate!
The matric cohort of 2016 had the “highest enrollment of learners in the history of the basic education system of South Africa” as announced by Minister Angie Motshekga in her speech on Wednesday evening. Gauteng remains in the top three nationwide, with matrics having achieved a soaring pass rate of 87%. Ikamvanites in the Province did particularly well, achieving an impressive 94% pass rate!
IkamvaYouth currently has 3 branches in Gauteng; the class of 2016 comprised 87 matrics in Ivory Park, Ebony Park and Mamelodi. We are very proud of each branch’s great results:
Aaron Raphadu is one of the learners from Ivory Park who received his matric results this week. “I joined (IkamvaYouth) in 2014 as I wanted to improve my academic results, especially mathematics as I struggled with it before”. Aaron matriculates with a Bachelor pass and scooped four distinctions with incredibly high marks: 99% in Business Studies, 97% in Economics, 91% in Accounting and 91% in Life Orientation. Aaron comes from a family of five and would like to go to Wits to study towards becoming a Chartered Accountant. “Never doubt your dreams. Always keep in mind that you can achieve whatever you want” is the message Aaron would like to pass on to the next group of Matrics.
The Mamelodi branch achieved a 94% pass rate this year
Our Community Collaboration Programme (CCP) also yielded some impressive results in Gauteng. My Career Corner learners managed to come out tops with a 100% pass rate. Boipelo Modibane from My Career Corner puts their success down to their “Willingness to learn – we didn’t have to try hard to retain or motivate them as this is what they wanted. They chose to come to tutoring sessions and even organised additional time. I honestly expected them to do this well as they have worked extremely hard.” IkamvaYouth launched CCP in 2014, with an aim to connect with, train, and support other after-school organisations who share the same goal of enabling young South Africans to pass matric, access post-school opportunities, and secure gainful employment. We are thrilled to see our partners achieving such excellence, and hope that this is just the beginning of many more organisations and communities working together to ensure bright futures for learners across the Province
IkamvaYouth’s tutoring programme is available to learners from grades 9 -12, three times a week and for two weeks during the winter holidays. The tutoring programme is made possible thanks to the hearts and smarts of the amazing volunteer tutors; most of whom are university students and many of whom are ex-learners from the programme. The organisation operates in Gauteng thanks to very supportive partners, including Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, SA Airlink, Deloitte, Nedbank, The Education Agency, COMENSA in addition to the schools which provides access to branch venues free of charge, and the feeder schools and other tertiary institutions in the region.
About
IkamvaYouth is a non-profit organisation, enabling disadvantaged youth to pull themselves and each other out of poverty through education. The organisation provides free after-school tutoring, career guidance, mentoring, computer literacy training and extra-curricular engagement to learners in grades 8-12. The organisation is currently operating in 16 townships in 5 provinces across South Africa. To find out more, go to www.ikamvayouth.org or call Hetile on 062 105 1707
Lloyd Lungu