IkamvaYouth Ivory Park and Ebony Park were invited to this year’s careers indaba. As we are an organization that has academics at heart; we accepted the invite and took along our grade 12s. We arrived at the career affair in the morning, with our volunteers and learners. We were given bags to put all our goodies in, books, pamphlets and all the essentials that one can use to enhance their career choices.
After the formalities, the fun began. Many exhibitors from different countries, institutions and also the SABC Education were there.
Exhibitors, like the University of Russia were there giving learners’ insight on the process of studying at their institutions and what their countries could provide for them and also the process of applying to the different institutions in Russia. The South African Defense Force was also there to answer and advices those who wanted to take a career in the defense force. Our volunteers also received an opportunity to talk to people from organizations like, Careers24,Chilli Adventures, Careers Focus and also the National Development Agency and it was clear that they were more than satisfied. Most of the international institutions such as the China Medical University, Southwest University, Education USA and Peking University of Health Science gave our learners opportunities to ask questions. Some were also displaying their power points, while others where explaining to Ikamvanites and other learners the opportunities that they countries can offer them. Bursary sponsors like the Anglo American, Eskom, Johannesburg Stock Market Exchange and Auditor General were also explaining to the brightest kids about their bursary selection process.
It was day filled with entertainment, excitement and information, fun was had by all.
On the 22nd of March, both Ebony Park and Ivory Park branches came together to plan for 2014. This years’ Strategic Planning Weekend (SPW) was held at The Barefoot Backpackers, a perfect spacious venue. The volunteers were met with some early morning tea and refreshments to wake everyone up to the busy day ahead.
To start off the day volunteers from Ivory Park, Emmanuel and Richard, introduced the SPW meeting and outlined firstly what IkamvaYouth is and facilitated the setting out of ground rules to guide the day. They laid out their expectations of what they wanted to see as the outcomes of the SPW. Mr Mashanda, the Gauteng District Coordinator took the stand and outlined what will be taking place and he emphasised that he expected all branch related issues to be addressed during the meeting.
Both Ebony Park and Ivory Park branches gave a brief overview of branch activities throughout 2013 and immediately after that the branches broke away into 2 separate groups. The task for the larger part of the morning was to discuss the challenges faced and devise ways to solve the challenges. It was interesting because the volunteers themselves facilitated these sessions and highlighted personal observations and the sessions were very interactive. Specific action points were decided upon and recorded and feedback will already be expected from the first branch committee meetings at the branches.
The last half of the day was dedicated to branch targets and electing a new branch committee for 2014. The enthusiastic vounteers now knew what was needed at the branches and became pro-active in choosing the right candidates to fill the different portfolios.
Overally, it was a very insightful day and it is amazing to see how much support the branches have. Both Ebony Park and Ivory Park volunteers have taken ownership of IkamvaYouth in their communities!
On Friday the 11th of April, University of Witswatersrand opened its doors to aspiring high school learners. 35, Ebony Park Grade 12’s came together to see what university life looks like as well as to decide on their tertiary options. With the help of our very committed volunteer Hlengiwe Radebe, the learners were divided into 3 specific groups upon arrival. The humanities groups was led by Nyasha Zvomuya, the Ebony Park Branch Coordinator. The commercials group was led by Michael Thema, the Ebony Park Branch Assistant, and the last group of aspiring scientists was led by Hlengiwe Radebe.
The open day was very organised with 30 minute seminars being hosted by different faculties in different lecture rooms. The facilitators explained what programmes were offered in their faculties, what the minimum admission requirements were and what career opportunities students could look forward to after completing their studies. The learners’ then had ample time to ask questions and meet the lecturers who teach in those faculties. It was a very exciting experience for our learners and has given them an even added push to do well in their final exams.
“I now know what is required for me to follow my dream to be a doctor, if I get accepted at Wits,” said Quintress Sefala, one of the Grade 12 learners. Another learner, Virginia Sibanda, could not express how grateful she was to get the opportunity to attend such a spectacular open day. She said, “Thanks to IkamvaYouth, we know that all things are possible”
As application season draws closer for our grade 12s, choosing the right courses to jump start ones career can be difficult and even more so when you don’t know who you are and where your strengths lie. This last Saturday, 15th of March our grade 11s and 12s were treated to a career planning workshop that went to the heart of knowing who you are so you can get to where you want to go. As a necessary component of academic readiness, career guidance is a vital step needed in making sure that learners are guided into suitable and realistic tertiary paths where their strengths can best shine through. These decisions, we all know can impact their future careers and even life choices, and at IY we recognise the need to expose them to the best career decision making tools out there.
The introductory workshop by the renowned youth career coach Khanya-on-the-job did just the trick as our Ivory Park learners were treated to one of these motivating and awareness building exercises to help them get in touch with themselves and their true career paths. The message was simple and potent, find out and work hard to know what you love so you can do it. As the saying goes, “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” – Here’s to all the ikamvanites making the right decisions in 2014.
The mentorship programme has been a great success since its formal inception 2 years ago at the Ebony Park Branch. There have been many success stories with many of the mentorship relationships going beyond the agreed time frames becoming real life long relationships.
Saturday the 8th of February was the start of our mentorship programme for 2014. About 40 Grade 12s waited eagerly to get introduced to their new mentors. The branch was overwhelmed with the positive response from professionals around Gauteng who were also eager to get started. The programme started at 10am, with Lewis Mash, the Alumni Coordinator taking the mentors through what mentorship at IkamvaYouth means and how long a commitment it should be. This was followed by a question and answer session where all the mentors could get clarification on concerns or questions they had.
One mentor, Lindani Lufu, who holds a Masters in Civil Engineering could not hold her excitement after beeing paired with a young Grade 12 learner who is an aspiring civil engineer.” All roads lead to success,” she said, with a big smile on her face.
We are excited to start the year with a BANG and the call for mentors still continues as we would love for all our Grade 11 Ikamvanites to have mentors walking with them too. Starting the relationships out early in the year will give the mentors enough time to work and encourage their mentees success.
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, Happy Vangile, scored three distinctions in his final year of high school for Maths, Physical Science and Accounting. Vangile said he would not have been able to achieve the high marks he now has, had he not been introduced to the organisation.
“I come from a financially difficult background and there was not much support at home. Before Grade 11 I was not doing very well at school. I joined IkamvaYouth and that is when things started to go well. I received a lot of help from the IkamvaYouth tutors and they kept me motivated till the end.”
Vangile will be studying towards a BCom at the University of Cape Town.
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
Lloyd Lungu