81% access to post-school opportunities for IkamvaYouth’s class of 2010 More than half return as tutors and mentors for the next generation
Above: Happy matrics from the Gauteng celebrate their registration
Less than 10% of all South African youth access tertiary education (SAIRR study, 2009), and 41.6% of 18-24 year olds are not in education/training or employment (CHET,2009). It is no doubt largely those children living in poverty and attending under-resourced schools, as opposed to middle class children, whose reality is largely reflected in these statistics.
Yet 81% of IkamvaYouth’s passing matriculants have accessed post-school placements in 2011. This is despite the fact that the far majority of IkamvaYouth’s learners’ caregivers are unemployed, disabled or deceased. They have not let poverty and challenging home environments prevent them from enrolling at institutions including UCT, Wits, UKZN, UNISA, DUT, UWC, CPUT, to study fields such as Environmental Science, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Business, Nursing, Computer Science, Social Science, Journalism and Physiotherapy.
68 learners from Khayelitsha, Ebony Park, Cato Manor and Molweni sat the examinations at the end of last year and 59 passed. Here are the matric results per province:
· 85% pass in Western Cape (of whom 48% achieved bachelor and 39% diploma)
· 85% in KZN (of whom 50% achieved bachelor and 45% diploma),
– 94% in Gauteng (of whom 63% bachelor and 25% diploma).
42% are now at university, 38% at colleges, 6% at technikons, and 6% have been awarded learnerships. These figures exclude the learners who failed and one learner who we are struggling to make contact with. Each of the 9 learners who failed will remain in the programme and retake their grade 12 exams, together with an additional 3 learners who have chosen to retake and improve their results.
IkamvaYouth instills a culture of learning which fuels the desire to achieve. It also encourages these learners to pay-it-forward and 51% will be volunteering at their branches to inspire the younger learners to emulate their successes. “IkamvaYouth has instilled a sense of determination and self-belief, and young people from township communities are truly being the change”, says Thobela Bixa, an ex-learner who is studying for his Masters in Chemistry at UCT. He pays-it-forward at the Makhaza branch and now sits on the organisation’s board of directors.
Ikamvanites all over the country are taking their future into their own hands. A person with a degree can earn almost five times more than someone without matric (CHET, 2009), and Mandela was spot on when he said “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.”
IkamvaYouth is thrilled to report that this year its two newest branches – Nyanga and Masiphumelele – will have grade 12 cohorts for the first time, and is looking forward to achieving similarly excellent results with many more learners in 2011 and beyond.
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NATIONAL FIGURES
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Number of students
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Percentage
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Students who sat matric
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68
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Number of passes
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59
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86.76
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Number of fails
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9
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13.24
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Students that can’t be traced
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1
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1.47
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Students retaking at the end of the year
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13
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19.12
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No placement
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7
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10.29
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Placements
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47
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81.03
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Matrics excluding un-tracables and failed matrics
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58
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Post-school placements exc non-traceables and failed matrics
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81.03
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Of those students who have post-school placements
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University
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20
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42.55
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Technikon
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3
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6.38
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College/ institutes
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18
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38.30
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learnership
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6
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12.77
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Paying-it-Forward
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Students returning to volunteer
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35
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51.47
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Matthew Mhlaleki speaks to SABC 2 programme TalkSA about how IkamvaYouth helped him improve his marks and get into university.
When Matthew joined IkamvaYouth he had 45% for maths and 43% for physics and needed to jump at least three symbols to pursue his desire to study engineering in 2011. After two years with IkamvaYouth and countless hours of tutoring and midweek sessions, Matthew achieved Bs in both maths and physics in his final exams.
In recognition of his achievements, he has also been awarded a bursary from Schneider-Electric to study Electrical Engineering at Wits this year.
Watch the clip below for a brief insight into how Matthew and ikamvaYouth made it happen.
[youtube]m3CwUwjumEA[/youtube]
PS. Schneider-Electric also donated kit-bags to our new 2011 IkamvaYouth cohorts in the expectation that there will be many more Matthew-type-stories in the years to come. Once again a big thank you to Schneider-Electric for their continued support.
More than 350 learners accompanied by their parents, volunteers, NGO representatives and friends of IkamvaYouth from Ivory Park, Ebony Park, Rabie Ridge, Kaalfontein and surrounding areas filled the IkamvaYouth Centre hall to its capacity and listened attentively to increase their chances of being selected to become Ikamvanites in 2011.
The sad reality is that of the 300+ learners who have expressed an interest in joining the Ivory Park branch we only have the capacity to admit 120 learners in 2011.
Those who don’t make it are encouraged to join the Thandulwazi Academic Support programme hosted by the St Stithians Foundation on the St Stithians College school grounds. We will be happy to assist with additional information in this regard.
Of course, if government and corporates have keen ears and interest to impact where it matters the most, this is an opportunity to invest financial resources to IkamvaYouth to increase its capacity to take more learners and be part of this life-changing opportunity. IkamvaYouth literally changes the lives and future prospects of our learners but also of the as-yet-unnamed learners to come who will benefit from successful ikamvanites returning to pass on their knowledge gained.
It gives us great pleasure to report on the 2010 matric results for the Ivory Park branch of IkamvaYouth. Our first ever matric group benefitted tremendously from the collective efforts of a great group of volunteers through the countless hours of tutoring, career guidance and mentoring. The end result is that these Ikamvanites achieved a remarkable 94% Matric Pass Rate and 82% of the class of 2010 are eligible to access tertiary education this year.
We’re celebrating these results for so many reasons not least of which is confirmation once more of the replicability and effectiveness of the IkamvaYouth model. But perhaps even more importantly, these results show what is possible when a group of dedicated individuals intent on making a positive difference get together with minimal resources but bucket-loads of commitment and enthusiasm. Hats off to all of you who contributed last year and especially to our regular volunteers as your contribution will be felt for many years to come.
There are also individual achievements to be celebrated, and we congratulate Brighton Dube for scoring an incredible 5 distinctions and being awarded the KPMG Bursary for his Accountancy studies this year. Equally impressive is Matthew Mlahleki who arrived at IkamvaYouth with 43% for Maths and 45% for Science but matriculated with 5 B’s (including Maths and Science). We expect Matthew to be studying electrical engineering at Wits this year (we are awaiting final confirmation from the university). Overall it is not just the pass-rate that pleases us but also the quality of the passes with 59% of our group attaining bachelor level passes and 23% diploma level passes.
Once again, thank you to all of you who played a part in this success (big or small) and we hope you feel proud of what you have helped to make a reality. We’re especially grateful for the contributions from our supporters: Datatec, Transnet, Hatch, Resolve, Nashua Mobile, Schneider-Electric and Calvary Methodist Church and we look forward to what 2011 has in store.
We will be holding an Open Day for interested learners and parents on 22 January with final applications due on 5 February. The first tutoring sessions are due to begin again on 12 Feb. Sign up here to receive weekly schedule updates from the Ebony/Ivory Park branch.
For the full results of our other branches, click here: https://ikamvayouth.org.www518.jnb1.host-h.net/blog/2011/01/07/wow-we-did-well-ikamvanites-achieve-excellent-results-yet-again
The award is a joint project of the Mail & Guardian and the Southern Africa Trust – a non-governmental organisation that supports public policy development to overcome poverty.
I regard myself as being fortunate to have been one of the few invited to the event.
I had the opportunity to interact with and be exposed to individuals as well as organisations that are qualitatively confronting the developmental challenges that the Southern African region continuesto face.
Among the winners was a community-based youth organisation called Ikamva Youth. Ikamva means future in isiXhosa.
Ikamva Youth is a township-based nonprofit organisation with branches in Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Masiphumelele in Western Cape, IvoryPark in Gauteng and Cato Crest in KwaZulu-Natal.
The organisation runs after-school classes for pupils from under-resourced schools. It is run by volunteers – including students from nearby universities and local professionals who offer their time to assist pupils from grades 8 to 12 in navigating all their school subjects.
Asked why he got involved in the project, IkamvaYouthIvoryPark branch coordinator Joe Manciya said: “We are driven by the dire situation prevailing in our schools.”
According to Manciya, of the 30000 schools in the country only 1500 are “good schools”. That is, they have all the necessary resources and facilities, including libraries and laboratories.
Manciya says an estimated 24000 throughout the country are “bad schools”. That is, they are badly under-resourced.
A South African Institute of Race Relations survey released last year showed that only 10percent of the South African youth access tertiary education. Only a fraction of this comes from the townships.
“As Ikamva Youth we do not believe in folding our arms and pointing fingers. We assist the youth who come from poor communities like IvoryPark to take their future in their hands.”
The project’s success is measured by the number of Grade 12 pupils who access tertiary institutions and-or employment-based learning opportunities when they matriculate.
So far (according to the organisation’s records) Ikamva Youth’s matric pass rate has been between 90 and 100percent each year since 2005. More than 70percent of the last two matric groups gained access to tertiary education (compared with the township average of about 5percent).
Manciya says what makes the project unique is the fact that it is run “by the youth for the youth”.
The call from Manciya is that the country needs “an education revolution where all sectors of the community are involved”.
Parents must play an active role in supporting their children, while teachers must show their commitment to providing quality education.
Ikamva Youth is just one of the initiatives with which ordinary people in the region are making a contribution to bringing change to the lives of the poor and marginalised.
Having a youth-driven project winning such an award is an indication of the role they can play in overcoming the obstacles created by the unequal societies they find themselves in.
The awards must in general also serve as a clarion call for all sectors of the society to be involved in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment.
But it is important that those who do get involved do not do so because it is good public relations but because they are committed to changing the society they live in.
They must do so also driven by their commitment to social justice, and the belief that such justice will only come when those who do not suffer injustice are as angry as those who do.
Wits Volunteers Programme – giving credit where it is due
Wits Volunteers programme honoured with certificates students that are making the institution proud
in the nation building projects in and around Johannesburg.
“Are you the change you want to see in your community?” – Moipone
“Volunteering is changing the future by making a difference today – act upon what you think is right.” – Peter
IkamvaYouth volunteers had an awesome evening.
Lloyd Lungu