Featured Partner – Ikamva Youth
What they aim to achieve
IkamvaYouth aims to reduce the school drop-out rate- and provide support to youth in impoverished communities, enabling them to complete their secondary education allowing them to access opportunity and to lift themselves and others out of poverty.
How they got started
IkamvaYouth was established in Khayelitsha in 2003 and has since established four additional branches in Nyanga, Masiphumelele (Western Cape), Ivory Park (Gauteng), and Cato Crest (KwaZulu-Natal). The service started in the reaction to need and grew organically into an organization. Founder Joy Olivier wanted to assist young people less privileged than herself and she offered her tutoring services at the local library in Khayelitsha. Her services became so popular that she enlisted the help of friends and in time the formal organisation developed in order to assist more young people in a systematic and standardised way. The organisation recently won the civil society category of the prestigious Mail & Guardian and Southern African Trust’s 2010 “Drivers of Change” Award.
Their track record
986 learners have been tutored From 2004 to 2010 . They doubled the number of learners from 2004 to 2008 and doubled it again from 2008 to 2010. In 2011 they will accommodate 590 learners. For the past three years the matric pass-rate for Ikamva Youth learners has not been less than 90% and between 60-70% of learners have gained access to tertiary education/employment (township average is approximately 12% access to tertiary institutions). Close to 50% of the volunteers are ex-beneficiaries of the programme who have returned to pass on the knowledge they gained.
How they do it
After schools open in January young people in Grade 9 to 12 apply to be part of the programme by completing an application form. In order to keep their place in the programme learners must maintain a minimum of 75% attendance requirement for all sessions. Learners do peer-to-peer homework, three days a week and on alternate days (including Saturday) they attend a tutor class where they are assisted on areas that they struggle with.
The learner-tutor ratio is capped at 5:1 and the session last approximately 2½ hours. Tutors are mostly volunteers from nearby universities- more than half of them are ex-learners who participated in the programme.
Ikamva Youth learners receive intensive tutoring and activities through a winter school programme and are assisted to gain access to tertiary education.
Learn More About Ikamva Youth
Read more how we aim to help prevent school drop-out and create new links to further education and employment.