Students help fight educational inequalities in Ikageng

The Ikageng branch of Ikamva Youth in Potchefstroom is determined to fight against educational inequalities. Enrolling over 80 high school students annually, they have managed to achieve an astonishing 100 percent matric pass rate last year.

Ikamva Youth is a nonprofit organisation that is aimed at improving the livelihoods of disadvantaged young people. Their objective is to enhance learners’ overall examination results so that they can meet the admission requirements to enroll at tertiary institutions. They achieve their goals by offering services such as tutoring, career guidance, mentorship, health and life skills. 

Ntombi Mahlangu, the Ikageng branch coordinator, said the Ikageng community is surrounded by available resources, particularly the North-West University (NWU), and multinational firms.

Ikamva Youth have signed a memorandum of agreement with the provincial department of education and Coca Cola Beverages South Africa to facilitate after-school programmes as a game changer in the area of Ikageng. Families South Africa (FAMSA) actively participates in some of the activities that take place at Ikamva Youth.

Mahlangu continued by saying that their initiative is limited by resources, particularly funds.  “It is a challenge to get the buy-in of the corporates around, to support our operation by contributing monetary support towards the work that we do, which makes it difficult to supply the learners with all the learning materials,” she said.

Despite the challenges faced by Ikamva Youth, they have managed to produce exceptional students, some of whom are now enrolled at the NWU.

Karabo Masilo (21), a BSc honours student in actuarial science at the NWU’s Potchefstroom campus, said after acquiring impressive results during his high school years he has decided to give back to the community of Ikageng.

“Ikamva Youth took me from being just an average learner to becoming the best learner in my years of high school. I managed to finish my matric with five distinctions and today I am an actuarial science graduate at the NWU, I think it is safe to say Ikamva made it possible. I benefited from Ikamva Youth while I was still in high-school, so I am simply returning the favour, and making sure that other learners get to benefit like I did,” Masilo said.

Lawrence Ntsimane (23), a final year education student at the NWU, said: “I see myself as an example of the goodness of Ikamva, it gave me broad exposure to knowing what I wanted to study. It also taught me independence and discipline. Ikamva is not only about empowering learners academically but also equipping learners on how to interact with different people and always being open minded,” Ntsimane said.

Lawrence Ntsimane (23), talks to threestreamsmedia. (Video: Winnie Chirwa)

According to Sonja van der Westhuizen, an academic advisor from the NWU’s Centre of Teaching and Learning, factors influencing student academic success within Higher Education (HE) environments are multidimensional and complex. 

“These programmes help first-year students to enter HE with a set of background characteristics, individual attributes, prior educational experiences and achievements which may have an impact on their academic performance. Moreover, these first-year students are transitioning from adolescence to young adulthood, they experience many other personal and interpersonal challenges. These programmes encourage and motivate learners to persist, have hope and embrace growth,” van der Westhuizen said.

Boitumelo Monyele (26), an education student at the NWU who is also a tutor at Ikamva Youth, encourages high school learners around the community to attend these lessons, because they present life changing opportunities. “Free study guides and assistance from tutors might be the only ingredient missing for you to start doing well in your academics,” he said.

Dr Karen van der Berg, the director of FAMSA in Potchefstroom, said that they provide psychosocial support to the learners attending after care programmes, as part of curbing the surge of violence in families and by facilitating educational anti- domestic violence group work with the learners at the centre.

This map shows Ikamva Youth branches in South Africa. (Map: Winnie Chirwa and Google Maps)