Khulani Schools

Empowering the youth of today
for a brighter tomorrow

KSP is Trevor Noah Foundation’s flagship intervention and was launched in 2018. KSP seeks to provide primary and secondary school youth with access to inclusive and equitable access to quality education. “Khulani” means “grow” in IsiXhosa.

What The Programme Does

Psychosocial Support

Teachers’ mental health is not frequently considered. Teachers face a considerable amount of stress because most learners come from communities faced with serious socio-economic challenges. Through our Partnership with My Online Therapist (MOT) and the Johannesburg Parent and Child Counselling Centre (JPCCC), we provide workshops that create a safe space for educators to address and confront their psychosocial needs, so that they are not only better teachers to learners, but also so that they can navigate personal challenges. The workshops also include capacitating teachers to start and follow through on a referral system for learners experiencing psychosocial issues.

Career Guidance

Navigating the pathway from secondary school to further education or employment opportunities is confusing for youth. For learners to be able to dream big, extending their knowledge and exposing them to multiple careers, is essential. Gradesmatch to expose grade 8 to 12 learners to various careers and assist with higher learning and funding applications. This year we will host to have our 1st annual career expo to expose grade 9 and 11 learners to various professions. These two grades are critical because a learner is required to choose subjects at the end of grade 9, and in grade 11, the journey to post-school education begins. We hope that the career expo assists in making choices in these two phases of a learner's educational career.

Leadership Development

Awarding top performance cultivates a culture of goal-setting, leadership, and excellence. Trevor Noah Foundation supports Term Awards by sponsoring prizes for merit-based achievements of learners and teachers.

Teacher Training

In addition to school leadership development training, the empowerment of educators through psychosocial support and digital literacy is incorporated into every school-based project because we recognise teachers are vital to sustaining change.

School Leadership Development

School excellence is driven by passionate, capable, and capacitated school leadership. Within schools, we work with the School Management Team (SMT), School Governing Body (SGB) and Representative Council for Learners (RCL). The RCL is a group of elected school learners, representing and acting on behalf of learners within the school. We are committed to establishing and maintaining close working relationships with Khulani School leaders, therefore, offer workshops such as project management, governance, assisting with the formulation and implementation of new or existing school policies. Through workshops, we aim to capacitate RCLs into active participants within the SGB. By capacitating various school leader groups, we aim to create a healthy, conducive functioning culture within the school community.

Digital Skills

We speak about preparing learners for the 21st century, although a barrier to development is created if teachers don't have the skills to aid preparation. Through our partnership with Edunova, we aim to help teachers with basic computer skills and encourage them to use these newly learnt computer skills in the classroom. The importance of digital skills and literacy is two-fold. Firstly, to prepare youth for the global world of work, and secondly, to enhance the classroom learning experience. Whether coding or exploring careers, exposure to a digital world is undeniably critical for an excellent education. Through our partnership with Edunova, we aim to expose learners to this digital world by hosting afterschool programmes where learners are taught how to code. This culminates in a annual coding competition at the end of the year.

AI Coding and Robotics

The AI Coding and Robotics initiative is part of the Khulani Schools Programme, implemented by Sifiso EdTech. This program is designed to deliver comprehensive, turn-key solutions to schools by establishing Robotics Centres, providing educators with robotics kits, and offering essential teaching materials, training, and ongoing webinar support. This ensures that schools are equipped to sustain and advance the robotics curriculum.

The programme aims to enhance students’ understanding and future prospects in STEM education by leveraging robotics kits that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics principles.

A key focus is recruiting educators proficient in STEM fields. These teachers integrate the robotics curriculum into regular classroom sessions or, as seen at Willow Crescent Secondary School, offer it as an after-school program.

Programme Milestones

Launch: The program was officially launched on 21st September 2023 at Moses Kotane Primary School in Braamfischerville, targeting Foundation, Intermediate, and Senior phase learners.
Expansion: Since the launch, the program has extended to two additional primary schools and reached a third community in Ivory Park.

Completed Activities: Teacher Training: September 2023

10 teachers (Grades 4–6) from Moses Kotane Primary School participated in the training.
7 teachers (Grades 8–9) from Willow Crescent Secondary School also took part.
Gender representation: 9 female and 8 male educators, emphasizing the growing presence of women in tech.

Completed Activities: Ivory Park Expansion: June 2024

50 educators from two primary schools (PS Tsosane and Mikateka School) completed the training, covering Foundation Phase to Grade 7 teachers.

Empowerment Through Education

The Khulani Schools Programme (KSP) is the Foundation’s flagship intervention and was launched in 2018. KSP seeks to provide primary and secondary school youth with access to inclusive and equitable access to quality education. Trevor Noah Foundation establishes partnerships with the Provincial Department of Basic Education, the custodian of primary and secondary education provincially.

Through KSP, the Foundation partners with various implementing partners and the broader geographical community to enhance schools’ capacity for educational excellence. Trevor Noah Foundation invests in schools by implementing teacher training, learner skills development and education infrastructure.

The Challenge

According to Hendrik van Broekhuizen, in the Higher Education Access and Outcomes for the 2008 National Matric Cohort, the challenge faced in South Africa is:

Of students write 12th grade exams

of students pass 12th grade exams

Of Students will earn a degree

Our Approach

It’s clear that education is a significant challenge faced by our South African youth. We address education access and quality in collaboration with communities, government and partners. There are currently ten partners in our Khulani Schools programme.

Although the selected schools face financial, physical and human resource constraints, each school was hand-picked because they demonstrated purpose-driven leadership and a commitment to excellence. IsiXhosa is one of South Africa’s mother tongue languages, and “Khulani” means “grow” in IsiXhosa.

As such we collaborate closely with each Khulani School to increase their capacity for educational excellence. Since each school faces unique challenges, we understand a one size fits all approach does not exist.

Together, we identify and invest in priority needs in teacher training and support, learner skills and development, and infrastructure. In doing so, we ensure young people have access to the educational foundation and opportunities needed to emerge from school with the best possible chance of succeeding in life.

The Programme In Action

KSP Schools per area are:

Braamfischerville

Siyabonga Secondary School
Nkone Maruping Primary School
JB Marks Primary School
Khulanolwazi Primary School
Julius Sebolia Primary School
Khulanolwazi Primary School
Nomzamo Madikizela Mandela Primary School
Moses Kotane Primary School

Ivory Park

Eldorado Park

Willow Crescent Secondary School
Boekenhout Primary School
Delrado Primary School
Freedom Park Primary
Heerengracht Primary School
Kliptown Primary School

Hear About Our Impact

"In you guys we are led and we move forward with a positive mindset."

School leader during the time of COVID-19.

"The psychosocial support made a lot of changes in my life. I could not concentrate in class and I did not cope with my school work. I was always upset and angry at everyone. The counselling helped me cope, I became motivated, and I realised I had to finish school in order to bring change to the situation at home"

Learner

“I see the Trevor Noah Foundation taking us to greater heights with the building revamp and teacher support. Our learners now have a sense of belonging in the schools”

Primary School Teacher