Unlocking the Power of Education

At Different.org, we want to be problem solvers. We want to enable you to help tackle some of the seemingly-insurmountable problems keeping South Africa from reaching its full potential. Admittedly, this may seem a little over-ambitious – deluded, at worst. But little by little, with strength in numbers, we believe that change is possible.

We’re particularly passionate about making an impact in the field of education. We agree with Nelson Mandela’s view of education as “the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world”. So now how do we raise up a nation of world-changers through education?

It seems that the spectre of the damage wrought by the apartheid-era “education” policies is difficult to shake. More than two decades after the end of the apartheid era, systemic inequality is still rife. But strides are being made to bring change. In the NGO sector especially, there are organisations doing remarkable work. The fact that the provision of education is a priority issue has also not escaped government’s notice.

The National Development Plan (NDP), adopted by national government in 2012/13, aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. One of the focus areas of the plan is education (see here for a detailed infographic). Whether or not the NPD’s goals will be achieved cannot be said but what the NDP has done is set out a framework which will help focus efforts on addressing the key challenges.

With this in mind, we have tried to partner with a range of organisations whose respective activities address a broad number of education-related issues so that you can choose the area in which you want to help.

Some of the key action areas identified by the NDP are:

• Early childhood development (ECD) – this includes the provision of adequate nutrition during these formative years;
• Basic education: (1) increase/ improve human capacity; (2) improve school management; (3) provide more district support; (4) improve infrastructure; and (5) implement results-orientated mutual accountability between schools and communities.
• Higher education: (1) improve and expand the further education and training (FET) system; (2) provide more support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to increase graduation rates; and (3) facilitate increased research and development at universities.

If you want to be part of the change, you can support the following organisations:

ECD (pre-school age)

• We are currently partnering with Cotlands, to support an ECD centre in the Eastern Cape;
• We hope to implement a feeding scheme project at an ECD centre in Diepsloot with the Lunch Box Fund, in the near future (watch Different.org for updates).

Basic education

• Improving school management: we’re currently partnering with the Foundation of School Leadership and Management to equip executive staff at a school in Meadowlands, Soweto, with essential school management skills.

We’re also meeting with new potential partner organisations on an ongoing basis, so that we can help you maximise impact in South Africa. As we grow, we hope to expand our reach in the education space. Thank you for being part of the change!