A very exciting partnership is brewing between Zero Carbon Charge and the Sumbandila Scholarship Trust on their upcoming Mobile Education Hub Initiative.
In a country with innumerable socio-economic problems, perhaps the biggest challenges that we face are the dismal state of our education system coupled with the shocking rate of youth unemployment. Sumbandila is a scholarship trust that is working towards a solution.
This is their story
When she moved to Louis Trichardt in Limpopo province, Leigh Bristow started a Cambridge curriculum school called Ridgeway College, attended by students in the town. Then in 2007, a girl from a village, the daughter of a labourer, walked three hours to see Leigh to talk about her academic prospects. When she arrived and found that Leigh was not there, she walked all the way back again. Upon hearing about this, Leigh drove to the village to find her. She discovered that this girl who had passed Matric with flying colours didn’t have a proper grasp of the content or a high enough level of English to attend university.
This led her to become enormously frustrated that she had created an amazing school, Ridgeway, that only served a middle-class population and not the children who needed it most.
And so, Sumbandila was born. It started off with 9 girls. There are now 400 students in the program.
In South Africa, we have no shortage of academically brilliant, highly motivated students from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds who just don’t have the resources to get the education they need to fulfil their potential. Sumbandila’s goal is to identify these students and support them on their educational journey in a personalised holistic way to meet their unique needs. Their stated vision is “not to generate graduates in quantity but to cultivate individuals who understand the harsh realities of extreme poverty and appreciate the importance of leadership as service”. The long-term goal?
“These individuals, equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset, are intended to become influential leaders in their respective fields, driving essential transformations in their communities, our society, and our economy.”
So, what does this mean in practical terms?
Sumbandila consists of a number of programs, the most intensive being residential. Children in the residential program receive full tuition to attend Ridgeway College and live in a dedicated hostel close to the school. In this safe, nurturing environment, everything from food, clothing, books, medical care, psychosocial support, and computer access is taken care of. The children are encouraged to return home on weekends so as to remain rooted in their communities and continue to partake in their youth groups or churches, and maintain their friendships and family relationships.
To make it into the residential program, the children undergo Maths and English testing and, if they excel, an interview process. But not every child that makes it to the interview round is able to join the residential program (due to financial limitations). Sumbandila feels that having gotten so far in the application process and having received this glimmer of hope, these students should not be turned away empty handed. This is where the Outlier Program comes in. These students, the Outliers, are funded to come to Ridgeway College on Saturdays and during school holidays to receive extra academic support and access science and computer laboratories, textbooks, and sports facilities that aren’t available to them at their schools. They are also provided with meals, stationery, transport costs and counselling wherever possible.
The third part of Sumbandila’s program is Holiday School, attended by the Residential, Outlier and University students. During the winter and summer holidays, the school curriculum is broadened to include an amazing and broad array of activities including photography, fine art, android and computer coding, capoeira, dance, yoga, music, sport, mindfulness, drama, basketball, creative writing, and motivational talks. Students from both the Residential and Outlier Programs develop, rehearse and present group productions in drama, poetry, music and dance. Holiday school culminates in art and photography exhibitions, dance and drama performances, public speaking, and on occasion a street festival. Holiday School is an invaluable time for the students, especially those in the Outlier program from village schools, to build their confidence and social skills through activities that are entirely new to them. They are given a space to express their creativity, discover new talents, and learn tools for self-regulation and relaxation—vital given that so many of the children come from highly stressful home environments.
In matric and after finishing high school, the Residential and Outlier students enter the University Program. They are given practical and financial assistance to apply to tertiary institutions and to a variety of bursary and funding schemes, and are then helped with getting to university and setting up their lives there—i.e. finding accommodation, and buying basics like bedding, cooking utensils and stationery. The transition to university can be difficult both psychologically and academically so the goal of the University Program is to make this process as easy as possible both practically and emotionally.
After graduating from university, Sumbandila students enter the Work Placement Program. During this stage they are given any support they might need to enter the job market. This includes interest-free loans to get driving licenses, help with professional dress codes, interview preparation, and assistance finding accommodation near their workplace along with loans for deposits and signing of leases.
The next step
The thing with Sumbandila is that the support they provide is so comprehensive and all-encompassing, giving their students the best possible chance to thrive, that it is hard to replicate. It’s not a one size fits all solution. But the problem of millions of African children having poor access to education still remains. This is where the Mobile Education Hub Initiative comes in—and where Charge enters the picture!
Sumbandila, with the collaboration of Charge, is planning to build a micro-school prototype. The idea is to give as many children the tools to unlock their education as possible with the minimum viable infrastructure necessary. We live in remarkable times where the whole world of knowledge is available to anyone with internet access. There are innumerable resources online that provide a huge array of tools for self-teaching.
Against this context, the goal of the Mobile Education Hub is to create a space with internet connectivity, solar power, and handheld Android devices for students to undergo self-directed learning. It will not require all the equipment, infrastructure, and personnel as a traditional school, just a tech-savvy adult, ideally with teaching experience, and the proposed system. In other words, the focus will be on providing educational opportunities and resources, not capital improvements.
The first stage of the project is a six-month trial which will take place at both Masuwe Primary and Hudini School of Science and Technology. The educational focus will be on maths and computer science, and some broader STEM opportunities when the time permits, using the program’s portable equipment. These children, aged 4-13, face unimaginable challenges daily to receive the most basic education, walking as much as 7km to and from school. Sumbandila will repair and paint a classroom at the school to be used for the hub. All the equipment, except solar and aircon, will be transported to the school daily (in an EV of course!).
Hudini School is serving 114 students. Their garage will be converted for the hub. These students already have smartphones and will be connected with Sumbandila university students via Whatsapp who will provide them with mentoring and academic support.
Students at these schools will use a variety of online platforms at the hub, such as Khan Academy which offers recorded online lessons, and Exam Solutions which offers extensive video tutorials on a number of topics. For computer science education, they will make use of programs such as Scratch, a platform developed by MIT to teach children basic programming, and Codester, an online coding platform with lessons for students and some training material for teachers. Another amazing program they’ll use is Mindjoy, a platform that provides AI tutors to help the students with their work.
A crucial aspect for the success of the project is the training of local teachers and staff. The teachers will require support to integrate digital tools into their teaching methods, a process they may not be familiar with. Sumbandila will empower local teachers with professional development resources and access to reputable curricular platforms. In this pilot phase of the project, regular check-ins will be needed to keep up to date on any challenges the teachers are facing and get feedback from them on the effectiveness of the online tools.
Perhaps the most vital goal for this project is replicability. Sumbandila explains that the goal is develop a model that can then serve as a blueprint for other institutions or regions facing similar educational challenges. This has the potential to be truly revolutionary:
“There is the potential for this model to be replicated across Africa, transforming the educational landscape for countless children without access to basic education”.
Zero Carbon Charge’s role is expected to develop as the project is rolled out. We are thrilled to have this chance to play a part in Sumbandila’s revolutionary venture. Charge and Sumbandila share a vision of a greener, more equitable future with opportunities available to all, not just the lucky few.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Josie is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at King’s College, London. Her dreams for a greener planet include conserving the Western Cape’s tidal pools and the world’s bee population.
