Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Just for a Change

S4, Ep.8 What does owning a minibus have to do with the matric pass rate?

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In South Africa in 2023, only 55% of the learners who had started school in 2012 finished grade 12. Let that sink in. That’s only just more than half. What kind of future are early school leavers facing in a country where the unemployment rate is already at 32.9%? Could there be a solution? With more support and another go at writing their matric exams, are young people given a better opportunity to succeed? Our guest on this episode, Sandiswa Gwele, seems to think so. She would know – she didn’t get her matric the first time either.

Sandiswa is an entrepreneur and founder of Ukhanyo Foundation, an NPO that offers learners a second chance at finishing grade 12. The Ukhanyo Foundation offers academic support in the form of classes at Philippi Village, as well as personal development sessions and parenting dialogues. It really does take a village to help a learner pass matric. We also hear from Ntsiki Sackey, Marketing and Communications Officer at the Solution Space at UCT’s Graduate School of Business, who highlights the importance of innovative and entrepreneurial development programmes.

The Bertha Centre is the first specialised centre in Africa dedicated to advancing social innovation and entrepreneurship and focuses on researching, educating, convening, catalysing and advocating for social, environmental and economic justice. Find out more at https://gsbberthacentre.uct.ac.za/. This podcast is produced by 2stories in collaboration with the Bertha Centre, UCT Graduate School of Business, and the Bertha Foundation.
28 Aug English South Africa Business · Non-Profit

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