Hear from the Ikamvanites themselves:
Beauty Komone: “I grew up in an Ivory Park Township in a disadvantaged family of seven where no one including my three siblings (who are out of high school) have gotten into tertiary. Tutoring and other programmes that are run by IkamvaYouth have boosted my performance and the way I perceive life. I am now going to University to study IT.”
Benny Matlou: “IkamvaYouth is not just an educational organisation, it is also an organization of personal growth and empowerment, which takes youth through a journey of self-discovery where one gets to build their personal values and learn the importance of respect, loyalty, dedication and self-discipline. IkamvaYouth has truly lifted me off the ground to new and better heights.”
Jabulile Khoza: “IkamvaYouth went the extra mile by organising winter school, educational trips, career guidance events at the convenience of our branch. Another amazing thing that IkamvaYouth did for me, my life and my career was to link me with an amazing mentor who now is still awesome. It is a blessing and a huge privilege to be an Ikamvanite.”
Nokukhanya Mdlalose: “I would like to thank IkamvaYouth for helping me. Because of them I have achieved a bachelor pass and now have a chance to go to university.”
Mapule Molebatsi: “I joined IkamvaYouth in grade 10 and since then my marks have improved. I now have a bachelor pass and I know that if it was not for the help and encouragement of IkamvaYouth, I would have never gotten this far.”
Nereth Vuma: “IkamvaYouth gave me help that I couldn’t get anywhere else; they did it with willingness and encouragement. I am grateful for the help I have received from IkamvaYouth.”
Mrs Mpangane (Mother of Tiyiselani who achieved 7 distinctions): “Thank you IkamvaYouth, I hope you continue to do the same for other children this year, next year and many other years to come.”
Shelton Chadya (tutor): “I feel very, very happy because seeing these learners do better than we did, we can’t celebrate enough. Most of the learners are people that I tutored. Well done guys!”
Cheryl Nzama (IkamvaYouth Staff Member): “We are very excited about the results coming out of IkamvaYouth. The standards have been set and we hope that IkamvaYouth Mamelodi will achieve the same standards to give learners the best possible opportunities and education.”
Felicia Mpande (Grade 12 learner 2014): “IkamvaYouth assisted me greatly by exposing me to career workshops, computer literacy and creative expressions and has been a second home to me. Thank you for all the help you gave me.”
IkamvaYouth’s first rural branch celebrates an incredible 86% pass for its inaugural matriculating class, with 50% achieving the bachelor passes they need to access university. These results are particularly impressive compared with the provincial pass rate of 65.4%, and 31% bachelor passes. With the Eastern Cape the country’s worst-performing province, and Joza schools notoriously low-performing within Grahamstown’s highly unequal education system, these results mean more than just brighter futures for the 18 matriculating Ikamvanites and their families.
That after-school peer-to-peer learning and tutoring can yield results in this challenging context means hope to many schools and communities plagued by an education system in crisis. It also means that redressing the inequalities that plague Grahamstown is possible, and achievable. These results have been achieved through peer-to-peer learning and tutoring, where volunteering university students facilitate small group learning, where learners drive the agenda themselves. There is no teaching — only learning — and the results are remarkable!
Although Rhodes University is just down the hill from Joza, tiny numbers of learners enter the doors of this top institution on their doorstep. IkamvaYouth is thrilled to announce that this year, seven Ikamvanites have been accepted to study at Rhodes.
95% of IkamvaYouth’s Joza branch’s learners attend Nombulelo High school, where the branch is based. This is the biggest school in Grahamstown, and had 215 matric learners writing in 2013; just under 40% of these passed. As Dr Ashley Westaway from Gadra pointed out in his analysis of Grahamstown’s matric results last year, more than double the number of candidates that wrote at any other school in the City wrote at Nombulelo, and “as can be expected, the Nombulelo predicament had a massive bearing on the overall performance in Grahamstown. If one entirely removes Nombulelo from the City statistics, its pass rate increases by over 10%, up to 71,6%.”
This year, 75 matric learners at Nombulelo passed, with 32% attaining bachelor passes. Ikamvanites contributed 38% of these bachelor passes; a testament to what can be achieved through partnerships between schools and community-based after-school programmes. Nombulelo principal, Mr Mthuthuzeli Koliti, noted that “those learners who do not connect with the teachers are inspired by the younger tutors who inspire them to work hard. Some of these slept at the school as they could not study at home and their commitment has paid off.” Nomfusi Phamela Mgqobele, a parent of a very proud grade 12 learner, thanked IkamvaYouth and said that the organisation has “not only helped with his performance at school but shaped him to become a responsible young man”.
Establishing the Joza branch has not been easy, and it is a testament to the hard work and support from a range of individuals and partner organisations. IkamvaYouth greatly appreciates the efforts of all involved, including the tutors, parents, the schools, Rhodes’ Centre for Community Engagement, the Claude Leon Foundation, the Joza Youth Hub, the Learning Trust and the Eastern Cape Department of Education. “These results are amazing”, said branch coordinator Bulelwa Mangali. “It’s also not the end as the three learners who failed are eligible for supplementary exams and so we are shooting for 100% pass by March”.
Dear IkamvaYouth’s incredible tutors and mentors,
You are the key to IkamvaYouth’s success; you embody the spirit of IkamvaYouth and have proven that volunteerism is in fact sustainable and scalable.
Thank you for your inspiring dedication and for being a tremendous example to our learners, and the country at large.
Without you we would not be able to help as many learners as we do. We hugely appreciate the sacrifices you make when you give up your time to tutor, mentor or to help us in other ways.
We want to thank you with this message as our personal round of applause. The credit for our work rests with our dedicated volunteers:
It is you who inspire and enable our learners to achieve these amazing results. You guys are also our BIGGEST benefactors.
We hope to see you continue to lift as you rise and wish you all the very best in everything that you do.
Thank you!
On the afternoon of Friday, 28 November 2014, celebrations were underway in Makhaza at the Desmond Tutu Hall. Where the annual prize giving event was held, in which we recognize and celebrate the achievements of learners, volunteers and stakeholders who have performed well and been a great support throughout the year.
The prize giving was well attended by learners, their families, partners and supporters and IY staff. They bore witness to the great work and sacrifice the learners have made and how these sacrifices were converted into achievement. The categories of the prizes that were given included; academic achievement, most improved learner, outstanding leadership and best attendance (learners above 75%). More than 50% of our Ikamvanites had an average attendance of over 90%. This is a great feat as we have tutoring 6 days a week and this dedication just shows how special this programme is to the learners. Our amazing tutors were also recognised and awarded with certificates.
Our partners who work closely with our learners also gave out certificates of participation on the various programmes they hold with these young motivated individuals. Numeric, hosts a mathematics programme, Khan Academy, for grade 9s which is run by Yanga Zukelwa a Maths tutor. Creative Code hosts workshops every Friday afternoon specializing in programming and is run by Marion Walton who is a lecturer from UCT. The facilitators from EWHOZA were also in attendance, they facilitate life skills workshops and have a created a documentary which was directed and produced by the Ikamvanites.
We would like to thank the following people who attended the prize giving and those who made this day possible; Desmond Tutu Hall, Tamara Stelma (Mentorship Programme), Nazeema Isaacs Library, Old Mutual, Khwezi Bonani (UCT), Marion Walton (Creative Codes), Kristen Thompson (Numeric), Olga Ganta (Capitec Bank) and Tasha Koch (EWHOZA) and IkamvaYouth Makhaza Tutors.
Saturday 29 November was a day of fun and celebration at the Masiphumelele branch. Learners and tutors had their end year prize giving ceremony at Masiphumelele Library. The prize giving is a year-end function that is done every year to appreciate learners and tutors for the great work their done throughout the year. The function was well attended by learners, tutors, family and friends, IkamvaYouth partners and IkamvaYouth staff. The prize giving is where the learners get to be appreciated and acknowledged for their commitment to their own education, as evidence by their presence in the program at the end of the year. Learners received certificates of attendance based on their commitment on the IkamvaYouth values where learners have to make 75% attendance or more to keep their place at IkamvaYouth, and some learners received certificate of excellence for various achievements such as most improved in academics. There were also certificate for the learner of the year based on his/her behaviour, academics, arriving on time and being prepared for tutoring sessions and this category was voted by learners per grade. Our tutors and volunteers also received certificates of recognition for their tireless efforts, helping the learners with their school work throughout the year. A total of 113 certificates and 56 prizes were issued on the day and the learners were excited to be the centre of all this attention.
The parents were happy to see their children awarded with certificates of excellence, appreciation or recognition of their great work throughout the year. The parent of the year(Ms Jonas) a mother of grade 12 learner who always attends our parents meetings and have valuable input at meetings, motivating other parents to commit to their children’s education and applaud IkamvaYouth staff for such good work they’ve done at Masiphumelele community. The mother of a grade 12 learner was very happy to receive an acknowledgement by IkamvaYouth staff for her support.
We would like to thank all our partners and supporters, notably Pick ’n Pay family store at Fish Hoek, Masiphumelele Library, Masiphumelele Community hall, World Teach, Masi Corp, and Desmond Tutu foundation.
IkamvaYouth – The future is in all our hands.
Lloyd Lungu