Gauteng | IkamvaYouth

PRESS RELEASE: IkamvaYouth celebrates 2013 matric results

IkamvaYouth celebrates 2013 matric results – 89% pass, 94% eligible for tertiary

Hailed as the class that has achieved the highest pass rate since the birth of the democratic government in 1994, 2012’s matriculants across South Africa achieved a pass rate of 78.2%.

With an 89% matric pass rate – 64% receiving a bachelor pass and a further 30% qualifying for diploma study – and 70 distinctions amongst its 154 matriculants, IkamvaYouth, an organisation that enables learners from poor communities to improve their marks, is proud that their class of 2013 has made a substantial contribution to the record.

The organisation’s director, Joy Olivier, is “simply thrilled” with the learners’ achievements. “IkamvaYouth is continuing to improve on its results while scaling”, she says. “With 60 more matrics than last year, we’ve managed to not only meet last year’s pass result, but more than double the number of bachelor passes achieved. This is very encouraging as we work towards achieving Vision 2030; which has every learner in South Africa reaching and passing matric, and then going on to access the post-school opportunities that set them on the path to earning a dignified living.”In 2013 seven branches had matriculants, with both Ivory Park (in Gauteng) and Umlazi (in KZN) producing their first matric cohort. IkamvaYouth’s Ivory Park branch marked this milestone with a jaw-dropping 100% pass mark, with 83% achieving a bachelors pass. Ivory Park branch ‘s top pupil, scored three distinctions in his final year of high school for Maths, Physical Science and Accounting.

Abongile Jojozi, from Chris Hani Secondary School, a learner at the Makhaza branch, said that aside from improving his results and achieving a whopping four distinctions, in Mathematics, Xhosa, Economics and Life Orientation, and narrowly missing out on distinctions in the rest of his subjects, the organisation taught him leadership and commitment.

“I knew I would get distinctions in Maths and Life Orientation because they are stuff that I practice everyday, I wanted to get good results but I was shocked at some of the results I got and I was even recognised as the top learner at my school.”

He plans to do a BSc at UCT, and is looking forward to volunteering as an IkamvaYouth tutor.

In congratulating the class of 2013, national co-ordinator Zamo Shongwe noted that “Ikamvanites have responded to the challenge to improve the pass rate in townships by showing that with extra work and focus, it can be done. We look forward to learners returning as tutors to give a hand up to other learners going through their paces at branches”

This has all been made possible by corporate, in-kind and individual donors who have invested in township youth and the spirit of IkamvaYouth: ABI, Capitec Bank, the TK Foundation, African Bank, Empower, the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, DGMT, the Raimondo family trust, the Learning Trust, the Potter foundation, GDF Suez, ABSA; the many in-kind donors that avail space (municipal libraries, schools, community centres and universities) and learning resources (the Answer Series, Fundza) and countless other organisations, companies and individuals. It is thanks to these and many others, and the hundreds of committed volunteers, that IkamvaYouth is able to offer programmes in tutoring, career guidance and mentoring, computer literacy and lifeskills education. IkamvaYouth equips learners (the Ikamvanites) from disadvantaged communities with the knowledge, skills, networks and resources to access tertiary education and/or employment opportunities once they matriculate. IkamvaYouth aims to increase the collective skill level of the population, to grow the national knowledge base, and to replicate success in more communities.

The IkamvaYouth model draws from a large and growing pool of volunteers made up of students (from nearby universities) and local professionals. The organisation’s sustainability is driven by ex-learners who gain entrance to tertiary institutions and return to tutor. More than half of the volunteers at longer-established branches are ex-learners. Ikamvavanites are thus driving change as they develop from beneficiaries into benefactors.

BREAKDOWN OF IKAMVAYOUTH 2013 MATRIC RESULTS:

GAUTENG

Ivory Park (first matric cohort!): 100% pass, 83% bachelor, 17% diploma, 12 distinctions

Ebony Park: 94% pass, 62% bachelor, 34% diploma, 16 distinctions

KWAZULU-NATAL

Chesterville: 82% pass; 44% bachelor, 48% diploma, 23 distinctions

Umlazi (first matric cohort): 83% pass; 40% bachelor, 47% diploma, 3 distinctions

WESTERN CAPE

Makhaza: 83% pass; 64% bachelor, 28% diploma, 12 distinctions

Nyanga: 93% pass; 85% bachelor, 15% diploma, 3 distinctions

Masi: 89% pass; 88% bachelor, 1 distinction

MORE ABOUT IKAMVAYOUTH

IkamvaYouth is a non-profit organisation (established in 2003) that provides a volunteer driven, low cost and highly effective model of after-school tutoring and mentorship in resource-poor communities. It has branches in five provinces in South Africa: in Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Masiphumelele in the Western Cape, Ivory Park and Ebony Park in Gauteng, Chesterville and Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal, Joza in the Eastern Cape, and Ikageng in the North West Province.

IkamvaYouth recently received the highly prestigious international STARS Impact Award for Education in Africa.

IkamvaYouth received this award while mindful of their Vision 2030, which sees all learners who start grade 1 in 2018, attaining a matric pass or the equivalent, and accessing the post school opportunities that set them on the path to earning a dignified living.

Issued by IkamvaYouth

For More Information Contact:

Media & Communication: Lorelle Bell, lorelle@ikamvayouth.org, 082 5201545

Director: Joy Olivier, joy@ikamvayouth.org

National Coordinator: Zamo Shongwe, zamo@ikamvayouth.org, 084 885 0004

Congrats to the class of 2013

2013 was a big year for IY, and it is with great pride (and relief!) that we can report, once again, our matrics’ excellent achievements. It is thanks to the superheroes who work or volunteer at IY, and those who support and enable this amazing team of people, that IY continues to deliver while growing significantly.

Overall, we achieved an 89% matric pass, and incredibly, 94% of these passes are diploma (30%) or bachelor passes (64%). With sixty more matrics than last year; two brand new branches established; a comprehensive survey of our alumni completed and all that went into our big ten year bash; the ikamvanites really pushed ourselves in our tenth year. And while having our work recognised by many accolades (including the STARS Impact award) is a great affirmation of all we put in, nothing makes it feel more worthwhile than sharing the excitement and joy with our learners as they celebrate the beginning of their shining bright futures.

But (as always at IY), there’s more to come. We still have two big hurdles to clear: the supplementary exams in march (all learners who failed and many of those who fell just short of the diploma or bachelor passes they were aiming for will be spending the coming weeks back with their books), and the all-important post-school placements. The next few weeks involve a lot of time on the phones and in queues at tertiary institutions, as we aim to ensure that all our learners enroll in the post-school opportunities that will set them on their career paths.

Our results by branch and province are as follows:

Gauteng

Ivory Park (first matric cohort!): 100% pass; 17% diploma & 83% bachelor

Ebony Park: 94% pass; 34% diploma & 62% bachelor

KZN

Chesterville: 82% pass; 48% diploma & 44% bachelor

Umlazi (first matric cohort): 83% pass; 47% diploma & 40% bachelor

Western Cape

Makhaza: 83% pass; 28% diploma & 64% bachelor

Nyanga: 93% pass; 15% diploma & 85% bachelor

Masi: 89% pass; 88% bachelor

Well done to everyone who made this happen!

Tutors Appreciated in Gauteng

60 tutors from both Ivory Park and Ebony Park branches came together on Saturday the 16th of November to be appreciated by IkamvaYouth. The day started off with normal tutoring from 9am to 12pm, thereafter , all the tutors were transported to the tutor appreciation venue called Wild Waters in Boksburg.

The day was filled with loads of fun, laughter, conversation, eating and drinking. Many tutors mentioned that they had never seen such a beautiful place and they had no idea that a place like this existed in Johannesburg. This venue was full of different types of water fun activities and the tutors could not pull themselves out of the refreshing water. Patrick Mashanda, the District Coordinator, also addressed all the tutors expressing how important they were to IkamvaYouth, reiterating that the work they put in has made a huge difference to many lives. It was a memorable day with many tutors saying that they felt very appreciated for the hard work they put into tutoring the learners.

Eventually we marked the end of the day by handing out certificates of appreciation to all the tutors. We appreciate all our tutors and we are already looking forward to starting 2014 with an even bigger bang!

GP Tutor Recruitment Drive: Midrand Graduate Institute

The Gauteng team was out in full force at the Midrand Graduate Institutes Career Fair in early October. As an opportunity to, not only advertise the most democratic organisation to work in, we also got the very talented and driven students to sign up as volunteers at the nearby branches in the area.

MGI, like many of the higher learning institutions IkamvaYouth continues to grow partnerships with, jumped at the opportunity to get involved with us and came out in large numbers to support our drive. Many had never heard of IY before, but were very interested to find out how they can volunteer their time and become part of such a winning superhero team.

IY relies on the many committed tutors from all over South Africa’s Higher Learning institutions and if you are looking to become part of this amazing opportunity visit our website and sign up online or wait for a tutor drive coming to your varsity soon!

ABI Wishes GP Matrics Good Luck for the Exams

As the hectic exam season went underway, our funders and good friends from ABI decided to throw a good luck braai and cake day for all the grade 12 learners in Gauteng. It was a much needed break from the current pressure our learners are facing in preparing years of hard work and achievements into one busy month. Our learners have been hard at work, studying at home and attending workshops both at school and those organised by IY to make sure that all this work culminates in good results for their futures.

From all the Ikamvanites around South Africa here’s to wishing all our grade 12s the best of luck.

Keep soaring superheroes !

Annual Report 2012

To mark IkamvaYouth’s 10th Anniversary, we’re celebrating the Superheroes who’ve helped us to achieve the landmark successes worth celebrating. Read all about them and our super achievements in the latest IkamvaYouth 2012 Annual Report.

If you want to download the file, click below

Annual Report 2012

Among superheroes, lessons learned and our vision for 2030, you’ll find a board game where you can play the highs and lows of IkamvaYouth’s first decade. Download the Game tokens here.