Pupils get ahead
NPO celebrates success with extra effort and achievements
GETTING Ahead – that’s what 35 pupils from disadvantaged township schools in Cato Manor are doing thanks to a local support programme.
The Umkhumbane Schools Project helped pupils prepare for and be accepted by top universities.
The programme, which began in 2012, provides extra lessons for pupils, with the focus on maths, and nurtures those with potential to qualify for university entrance.
Martha Bishai, director of the Umkhumbane Schools Project, said this was the highest number of pupils from the programme that were accepted to tertiary study.
The successful pupils secured seats at institutions including the University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in fields such as medicine, engineering and accounting.
Bishai said one of the initiative’s best successes was the number of learners in the Ahead programme which provided career and university applications guidance and support to pupils to gain admission to tertiary study.
“We help with the Central Applications
Office application and Nsfas applications and for those learners who need to take the National Benchmark Test (NBT) exam, if they are applying to a programme, we have a partnership that allows them to go to a free preparation course for the NBT and we provide all the fees and transportation,” said Bishai.
Among the top pupils was Amahle Mboyiya, 17, who was accepted to UKZN’s School of Medicine and will be funded by Nsfas.
“They helped me with choosing the right career for me because I just thought ‘go to school, then finish high school and go to varsity, and just earn money’,” said the ex-Wiggins Secondary
School pupil.
The non-profit organisation said there had been a huge change in the numbers being admitted to tertiary institutions, since it first came to Cato Manor in 2012 and some pupils had been awarded scholarships.
Luthando Zulu, 18, was also accepted by UKZN’s School of Medicine and received a scholarship.
“They helped me with a lot of things, especially with my admission to varsity. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think I’d be here today,” said the medical student.
Nkosingiphile Dlamini, who was accepted at UKZN, thanked programme coordinator, Tracy Khuzwayo.
“I’m coming from Transkei, so I had no one to help me with the application process. Ms Khuzwayo helped me a lot; she helped me apply to university and I was accepted for law,” said the 19-year-old Bachelor of Laws student.
The NPO’s Friday and Saturday maths classes also attracted local pupils who were not enrolled at the participating schools.
“The numbers of pupils in these schools, as in township and informal settlement communities across South Africa, who can achieve at the level required for university admission, and also navigate the challenging and costly application process, remains extremely limited,” Bishai said.
Vukile Nkwanyana, who received six distinctions in his matric pass last year, said the programme helped him significantly.
“They promised us good things which they did give us, like bursaries and scholarships. I just had to study hard,” said the 17-year-old.
Although the programme functions to serve five schools in the area – Bonela Secondary, Chesterville Secondary, Mayville Secondary, Umkhumbane Secondary and Wiggins Secondary – the reputation of the drive led to the formation, last year, of “Career Bridge” to serve external pupils.
This year, 96 Grade 10 pupils and 95 Grade 11 pupils have been accepted on the programme.