LEAP Science and Maths Schools
Teach With Africa has established an affiliation with the LEAP Science & Maths Schools in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, to support the schools’ mission to provide a solution to one of South Africa’s key problems: the acute shortage of skills, particularly in science and math, among the children of economically and socially challenged communities.
As the only privately funded MST (Math, Science and Technology) schools in South Africa, LEAP has a clear focus to create and maintain a structured learning environment for students in grades 8 through 12 that will allow each young person to develop fully as a human being and to develop a positive, caring lifestyle and an appropriate work ethic.
The schools’ aim is to enable students to gain access to tertiary study opportunities, to increase their potential to be successful in their chosen career paths and to develop as socially responsible citizens of South Africa. LEAP prepares students to attain these goals by enabling them to graduate from the school with a university exemption in science, math and English.
In addition to supporting students academically, LEAP schools aim to establish an environment where positive role models are created and where successes are shared and celebrated, counteracting the negative influence of lowered expectations common in disadvantaged communities. This is reinforced by LEAP’s unique relationship with its students and use of specialized technology training for all.
The six campuses of the LEAP Schools, In Cape Town, Diepsloot, Ga-Rankuwa, Johannesburg, Limpopo, and Pretoria, have had remarkable success in educating the most socioeconomically challenged students from Gugulethu, Langa and Alexandra. LEAP’s mission is to provide a solution to South Africa’s acute shortage of science and math skills among high poverty students. LEAP has graduated 142 students in the last 3 years—126 of whom are currently enrolled in university or other tertiary study programs. Since its first matric class, LEAP has achieved a 92% average Grade 12 pass rate on the exit exam. In March 2010 LEAP’s first university graduate, Bonisanani Mtshekisa, was awarded a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of the Western Cape and is now working for Allan Gray Asset Management.
Global Teachers Institute
The Global Teachers Institute (GTI) is a non-profit organization based in South Africa whose mission is to shift the way children are taught by transforming teacher education both in South Africa and globally. We aim to develop reflective, empathetic, socially responsible master teachers for high-need African schools through school-based initial teacher education programs, projects and interventions for replication and scale.
To solve educational inequality, the GTI believes that teachers must not only focus on instructional practice and skills acquisition, but also on facilitating personal transformation and setting a deeper meaning for their practice. Our programs, workshops and learning experiences develop global teachers who can create learning environments for learners that are liberating, emotionally supportive, culturally relevant, and academically challenging.
GTI was formed out of the teacher development work originated by several partner-organizations (LEAP Science & Maths Schools, the South African Extraordinary School Coalition and Teach with Africa). The GTI flagship program, the Future Leaders Programme (FLP), is a teacher development program that provides school-based mentoring, workplace experience and professional development to pre-service teachers called Future Leaders. Future Leaders are also enrolled in a B.Ed. or PGCE degree through UNISA which they complete as part of the program.
The South African Extraordinary Schools Coalition (SAESC)
SAESC is a community of practice for independent and public schools in South Africa known as “impact schools,” which are focused on providing high-quality, affordable education to disadvantaged populations in South Africa.
These schools are committed to creating, implementing, and sharing innovative, appropriate, and affordable educational practices, with ultimately the aim of integrating effective practices into broader national education policy decisions. Supported by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Coalition is self-regulating and self-organizing, operating on a set of self-identified objectives. The coalition fosters collaboration among schools, serving as an opportunity for peer learning. Activities include frequent content-based workshops, school peer reviews, collaborative assessments, and independent and collective monitoring and evaluation.
Team4Tech‘s mission is to advance the quality of education for underserved learners around the world. Team4Tech partners with strong community based education nonprofits and amplifies their impact through technology grants and training to build capacity over three to five years. The ultimate goal is to advance progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.4: to substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills. Since 2013, Team4Tech has supported more than 30 nonprofits in building capacity through technology and training to improve education and economic opportunities for over 80,000 underserved learners in 19 countries.
The Hidden Genius Project
The Hidden Genius Project was founded in 2012 by five Black male entrepreneurs/technologists who were unnerved by the dramatic juxtaposition between the high unemployment of Black male youth and the plethora of career opportunities within the local technology sector.
To address this challenge, the founders established a program to connect young Black males with the skills, mentors, and experiences that they need to become high-performing entrepreneurs and technologists in a 21st century, global economy.
Our U.S. Host School Partners
