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.
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.
With Wednesday 4 January 2012 fast approaching, hundreds of thousands of 2011 matriculants are anxiously waiting for their final results to be revealed. Last year we predicted we’d see an increase in the overall matric pass-rate despite the disruptive public servant strike and it is therefore too much of a temptation to resist the urge to stick our neck out once more and see if we can call it right again this year. So, although part of this is fun, we must warn you if you’re still in holiday mode that most of this still makes for thoroughly depressing reading (except for the IkamvaYouth results of course which will make you smile).
We’ll start again then with two predictions for the 2011 matric results:
- The first prediction (and one we make with a reasonable degree of confidence based on 5 years of consistently good results) is that Ikamvanites will once again excel despite the incredible obstacles they encounter in their schooling careers. The IkamvaYouth Matric group will once again be an inspiring example of a group of township-based individuals taking their futures into their hands though hard work, collaboration, dedication and commitment. As a result, many more township school learners will access quality post-school opportunities and many more will return to IkamvaYouth as volunteers to help others do the same.
- The second prediction (and this is once again mostly a hunch) is that, at worst, the overall matric pass-rate will stay roughly the same but is likely to improve by a percentage point or two or more. There are a number of reasons for this, not least of which is that the department is getting better at teaching matriculants to write exams (the merits of which is highly debatable) but perhaps most significantly there are very nearly 50 000 fewer fulltime learners writing matric this year than last year. Yes, thats right, FIFTY THOUSAND!!! The mind boggles and it seems the best answer to the question of where these learners have disappeared to is, “Goodness knows”. Straight into thin air it would appear.
There is, however, one possible answer (albeit somewhat cynical) in that this is really a bit of a pattern. There is more than enough evidence in the township schools that IkamvaYouth works with to suggest that these schools routinely inflate their matric results by excluding learners from matric if it appears they are unlikely to pass their final exams. As a case in point: at School A, nearby our Gauteng IkamvaYouth branch, 400 learners are accepted into Grade 8 to begin their high school careers but only 134 learners make it to write their matric exams (and of these just over 50% pass each year). Or, worse, at School B, also very near our Gauteng branch, 350 learners start Grade 8 but only 90 learners make it to matric and of these only 62% pass each year.
Nationally, the situation is even worse. Approximately 1 million learners start Grade 1 around the country each year but only 512 000 full-time learners registered to write matric in 2011. So, even though the class of 2011 is likely to achieve close to a 70% matric pass rate, the real matric pass-rate is actually 38%. Now if that doesn’t spoil your holiday mood then nothing will. Or wait, we could also go further to consider the stupendous tertiary level drop-out rate (roughly 2 out of every 3 students fail to complete their degree) or the FET pass rate (between 10-12%) but the true magnitude of this would probably cause our brains to melt or explode. All of which is fuel for Jay Naidoo’s prediction of an SA “Egyptian moment“.
The bottom line is that in 2011 we have continued to shuffle deck-chairs while the titanic is sinking – no wait, SUNK – the SA schooling titanic has never ever actually been sea worthy and we’re doing ourselves a massive disservice to assume that it has (outside of former model-C or private schools of course). We really have to stop asking the salvage question that goes, “How do we fix education in South Africa?” and instead take a step further backwards and ask the desperately more urgent question “How do we make it fixable?” because right now it isn’t fixable and it isn’t working for 73% of South Africa’s youth.
While IkamvaYouth offers part of a solution it remains only a small part and making the inroads we so urgently need is not something that a handfull of NGOs and individuals can achieve on their own. We can however start in the meantime. All of us who have been priviledged to receive a decent education can make a real, lasting and tangible difference in an individual’s life by investing in their education (and time is at least as good as money). There is no better moment to start than now. We’ll even send you all the pointers you need to get started if you just drop us an email.
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As for this Wednesday 4 January 2012, on the one hand we will wildly celebrate the SUCCESS of our amazing Ikamvanites, yet at the same time, we will continue to be moved by the annual loss of learners who leave school with limited future prospects and be inspired to do all that we can for as many as we can each year. Why don’t you join us in 2012 if you haven’t done so already?
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Want to make a difference or help us expand? Then sponsor a learner or IkamvaYouth branch today? Or Volunteer.
December 16th. It’s a public holiday in South Africa – Day of Reconciliation. It’s also holiday time, and the streets of Makhaza are filled with people making ready for their Christmas festivities or their annual pilgrimage to the Eastern Cape. The small children are playing in the streets, the older kids are heading to the beaches, but seven of Makhaza’s inhabitants get up this morning and go to the office.
These seven remarkable individuals (pictured below) are part of a very exciting project called Khan Academy. With a library of over 2,700 videos covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 253 practice exercises, Khan Academy is on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace (www.khanacademy.org).
Project X Team – Top Left: Unathi Smile, Mandisi Gladile, Patrick Zangwa, Andrew Einhorn, Ayanda Gladile. Bottom Left: Athi, Ayanda S, Yanga Zukelwa
This team, however, has a more specific goal: To translate the Khan Academy videos into Xhosa. At present, the videos are being subtitled into 47 different languages around the world in a Wikipedia-style open collaboration. Of these 47, 16 are in the process of being dubbed. The reason? Khan Academy is not truly open to the world until it has been translated into the languages that make it accessible to the world.
When scouting about for a name for the translation project, we discovered that Xhosa is the only official language on the globe that begins with an ‘X’. It followed naturally that we name the operation “Project X”. This is the name that has stuck, and Project X is now well and truly under way.
It is a momentous task, but our translators have so far shown themselves to be up to the challenge. In the space of just two weeks, they have fully translated and edited the first 40 videos, which address topics in arithmetic. This equates to roughly 8000 lines of Xhosa, or 64,000 words. The videos are translated by individuals and then edited as a group to gain maximum simplicity and clarity in the translation. The goal for December is to complete the Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra playlists – two of the three core sets of videos in the Khan Academy math library. So far the team is well on track.
Project X is not only about bringing Khan Academy to the seven million Xhosa speakers in South Africa. It is also about leading the way for other African countries and language groups to follow suit. At present, Xhosa is one of only two African languages into which the videos are being translated – the other being Swahili. Ironically, while of all the continents Africa has perhaps the greatest need for learning tools like this, it is also the continent that has the lowest Khan Academy penetration. Project X is one way we are trying to rectify this imbalance.
If you are interested in getting involved with Project X, or setting up a parallel project for another language group, please contact Andrew by email on andreweinhorn@gmail.com.
Translation in Progress: Khan Academy’s online translation tool (and coffee!)
IkamvaYouth Ivory Park held their Awards Ceremony at which learners were required to vote (per grade) for the iKamvanite that they believe bests excelled in a specific category. With the Motto for the day being: The Future is in your hands, Grab it!”
The categories were:
- Leadership,
- Commitment to Ikamva,
- Confidence,
- Creativity,
- Most Improved and
- Intelligence.
Each category was playfully represented by famous cartoon characters such as Shrek and Boondocks and iKamvanite Shelton Chadya cleaned house with prizes and awards, accepting them with inspirational words filled with gratitude, humility and memoirs into the journey he travelled with IkamvaYouth Ivory Park.
Then it was the tutors’ turn! The tutors were also given a spot in the limelight as they were acknowledged for the self-less work they put into the organization. The learners had their say in three fun categories:
- Strictest tutor,
- Friendliest tutor
- Coolest/funniest tutor”.
The tutor awards were in collaboration with the cartoon characters theme for the day who epitomized a category value. The tutoring department also handed out awards in recognition of the individual efforts made by tutors at Ikamva. Those awards were “Soul Provider” to volunteers Samuel Suttner and Nthabiseng Mokoena, who have dedicated their efforts to starting up an Ikamva library with book and shelving donations. Kihisha Suleman was recognized for her hard work in co-ordinating the Career guidance and mentoring efforts and was also awarded the “Die-Hard” award for being the longest-standing tutor to date. Other awards handed out were for Most dedicated tutor and Stamp of approval.
In addition, the University of the Witwatersrand commended all volunteers from the university for being part of the Wits Volunteers’ Programme (WVP). The learners and tutors were commended with amazing prizes.
A BIG shout out to those who sponsored prizes: Jetline Wits, Ninos, Spur, Linobe Productions, 7-Eleven, Albeit, Wits Stationers and Wits Cellulars. Together with great entertainment from our very own idols and poets, the event left everyone inspired with a complete sense of achievement and ready to grab the future!
Written by: Talent Mzili and Kihisha Suleman
Editors note: A big shout out also to Kihisha and Talent who organised the event including the prizes, certificates and the presentations. Awesome day well spent and an excellent way to bring an end to a busy year.
On World Aids Day, December 1, 2011, the Cape Town Information Resource Center invited Ikamvanites to a trans-Atlantic Skype dialogue session to create awareness of HIV/Aids related issues with American teen journalists from Boston University.
The catalyst before the Skype session was the screening of Susan Walker’s film entitled “A Tale of Two Teens” (2005). Walker is Boston University’s Professor of Journalism and a documentary film producer. The documentary follows Margaret, an American teenager, as she travels to South Africa to meet Sine, a 16-year-old girl orphaned when both her parents died of AIDS. Sine lives with her grandfather in the Pholela district, Kwazulu-natal, South Africa, the unofficial epicenter of the pandemic. Through the girls’ friendship (they bond over the music of American Dave Matthews, who was born in South Africa), the film explores how AIDS has been able to ravage an entire continent, while a dangerous complacency has developed in America. It looks at the disparities in the girls’ lives, from access to education and health care to their thoughts on boys, sex, and HIV/AIDS.
Infused with a resilient spirit, A Tale of Two Teens offered an accessible and meaningful appreciation of the global AIDS crisis as well as a powerful tool for discussion, awareness and prevention to kick start the dialogue session.
Guest facilitator, Garrett Rhodes, a major in Film from Penn State University and currently a Peace Corps Response Volunteer working with PEPFAR based at the Western Cape Dept. of Health in Cape Town, excelled at engaging both trans-Atlantic teen audiences in the Q&A sessions with his experience as a Life Orientation Coach and HIV/Aids Peer Group Educator.
Phumza Kibi, explained to the American teens that Ikamva Lisezandleni Zethu means “The Future is in our Hands” in Xhosa and the IkamvaYouth non-profit organisation focuses on the empowerment of youth through education, e-literacy training and career guidance.
After the program, Professor Susan Walker wrote about this initiative: “We are all just amazed at what we can do with the new technology and efforts of dedicated educators. Students were blown away by this experience and I would love to consider this, again, maybe next year during World AIDS Day.”
Results:
By highlighting World Aids Day and in support of the U.S. Mission to South Africa goals in partnering with the South African Government, this IRC program focused on HIV/Aids Education and awareness is moving forward towards an Aids-Free generation of South Africans. The dialogue session was a fun and creative way to carry the message home and to foster mutual understanding among global youth audiences.
Text is taken from Susan Dymond’s report of the event.
To view the Youtube clip of the conversation click here
Lloyd Lungu