LEAP Science and Maths Schools

Last updated

LEAP Science and Maths Schools
Founded1987
FounderJohn Gilmour
TypeNonprofit organisation
FocusEliminate Educational Inequity
Location
  • South Africa
Key people
John Gilmour – Founder and Executive director
Grant Nupen – Board chairman
Grant Clark – Member of the Board
Leon Glanvill – Member of the Board
Joe Kainja – Member of the Board
Mackie Kleinschmidt – Member of the Board
Heidi Raubenheimer – Member of the Board
Ben Rabinowitz – Member of the Board
Crispin Sonn – Member of the Board
Jasper Walsh – Member of the Board
Website leapschool.org.za

Langa Education Assistance Program (LEAP), also known as LEAP Science and Mathematics Schools, is a collection of six free secondary education schools located in three provinces in South Africa. The first LEAP school opened in 2004 in rented premises in Observatory, Cape Town and mainly served the township of Langa. [1] LEAP is an independent school mainly founded by South African Corporates with limited subsidies from the Department of Basic Education.

Contents

History

Langa Education Assistance Program (or LEAP)

John Gilmour was a teacher at Pinelands High School [1] in Cape Town in 1987 when he decided to respond to a call from the South African business community, to contribute to the redress of the devastation of the Bantu Education Act, [1] a segregation law imposed in the education sector by the Apartheid system in 1953.

“Africa Week" was then introduced by a team led by John Gilmour to bring black learners under the "Bantu Education" system to spend a week at Pinelands High School, which was then a whites-only school. The program became the precursor for the Langa Education Assistance Program (or LEAP) which aimed at providing one hundred black students from the Langa township with support tuition from Pinelands High teachers in English, Mathematics, and Science three afternoons a week.

The prohibitive transport cost of bringing learners from the township schools to Pinelands High School forced the model to be revised. In 1996, it was then decided that instead of learners being bussed in to Pinelands High, teachers will be transported to meet learners in township schools. [1]

Community members in Langa perceived the new model of LEAP as an attempt of white teachers to "save" black children. Teachers from the community felt that they were as able as other teachers to provide extra lessons that would address the inadequacies in the students' educational foundations. The uneasiness within the community obliged the leadership of LEAP to change the model and include community teachers in the program.

When John Gilmour realised that there was no increase in the proportion of black learners entering university, especially science-based disciplines, he sought for an alternative model. LEAP Science and Maths school was the alternative model.

LEAP Science and Maths School

LEAP Science and Maths school aims to increase the number of black learners who take science and maths-based modules at high school to increase the chance of being accepted at university, particularly in disciplines where these modules are a prerequisite. [2]

Gilmour resigned as headmaster of Abbot's College in 2004, where he had been since he left Pinelands in 1997, to focus on LEAP Science and Maths School. In January 2004, the first LEAP Science and Maths School opened its doors in the suburb of Observatory, Cape Town, with seventy-two learners, seven teachers and one administrative staff member. [1]

Expansion of the LEAP model

LEAP 1

The LEAP Science and Maths School, which started in Observatory, later moved to Pinelands and become known as LEAP 1. It is now located in Langa itself, in the St Francis Centre. It serves Langa Township. It is the first and oldest of the LEAP Science and Maths schools. [1] The school is headed by its operation leader Lindelwa Mini, an alumnus of LEAP.

LEAP 2

LEAP 2 opened in 2007 in Pinelands. It serves learners from the townships of Gugulethu, Delft, Philippi, and Crossroads. In 2013, the school opened satellite classes to serve grade 9 and 10 learners from the township of Delft. Learners of the school are taught in English and isiXhosa. The head of the school is Waleed Isaacs, who also assumes the role of operations leader. [1]

LEAP 3

The school opened in 2008 to serve learners from the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg. Learners are taught in English, isiZulu, Sepedi and Sesotho under the operations leader, Asanda Sigigaba, alumnus of LEAP. [1]

LEAP 4

This school is situated in the township of Diepsloot just outside Johannesburg. The school opened in 2011 through a partnership with the South Africa corporate Aveng Group. [3] LEAP 4 teaches learners in isiZulu and Sepedi as home languages, along with English. Joame Malope, alumnus of LEAP, is the operations leader and head of LEAP 4.

LEAP 5

In 2012, LEAP 5 opened its doors in Jane Furse, Sekhukhune in Limpopo province. The school is under the leadership of its operations leader, Raphael Mukachi.

LEAP 6

LEAP 6 is situated in Ga-Rankuwa near Pretoria. The school opened in 2012 to respond to the request of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria, concerned with the community's poor educational results and high unemployment rate among young people. The school is led by its operations leader, Wilhemina Motileng.

Focus

LEAP schools focus on maths and science and emphasises on the emotional development of learners. [4] John Gilmour acknowledged the importance of the emotional development in a country where "eight million children come from single-parent households and a further 4.3 million reside with neither biological parent". [5]

Success stories

. [7]

Graduates

Bonisanani Mtshekisa [8] is LEAP's first university graduate. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of the Western Cape. In its 2012 annual report, the school reported to have over 30 university graduates including physiotherapists, engineers, and accountants.

Celebratory adverts

In 2014, LEAP launched a series of celebratory adverts to celebrate the achievements of its past students. Qondisa Nxganga, a Master's graduate from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is featured in these adverts alongside other LEAP alumni. [9]

Partnerships

LEAP's model is based on engagement with the broader community and building partnerships and collaboration with other organisations, particularly schools. It is a three-way collaboration approach where each LEAP school partners with a more privileged school as well as a less privileged school (a township school) in the community where it operates to promote a culture of shared resources and cultural exchange. [10]

LEAP has also built partnerships with both commercial and non-profit organisations. Most of its funding comes from South African corporates, trusts and foundations.

LEAP is "Teach with Africa's" partner on the continent and together they have established the Teacher Institute which seeks to develop teachers and supports individuals wanting to enter the teaching profession [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Sotho language</span> Sotho-Tswana language spoken in South Africa

Sepedi, formerly known by as Sesotho sa Leboa, is a Sotho-Tswana language group spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is commonly referred to in its standardized form as Pedi or Sepedi and holds the status of an official language in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Fort Hare</span> Public university in Alice, South Africa

The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Reitz is a small maize, wheat and cattle farming town located in the east of the Free State province of South Africa.

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a tertiary education and research institute in Muizenberg, South Africa, established in September 2003, and an associated network of linked institutes in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Rwanda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khayelitsha</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Khayelitsha is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for New Home. It is reputed to be one of the largest and fastest-growing townships in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langa, South Africa</span> Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Langa is a township in Cape Town, South Africa. Its name in Xhosa means "sun". The township was initially built in phases before being formally opened in 1927. It was developed as a result of South Africa's 1923 Urban Areas Act, which was designed to force Africans to move from their homes into segregated locations. Similar to Nyanga, Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and was the location of much resistance to apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in South Africa</span> Overview of education in South Africa

Education in South Africa is governed by two national departments, namely the Department of Basic Education (DBE), which is responsible for primary and secondary schools, and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which is responsible for tertiary education and vocational training. Prior to 2009, both departments were represented in a single Department of Education. Among sub-Saharan African countries, South Africa has one of the highest literacy rates. According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2019, 95% of the population age 15 and over can read and write in South Africa were respectively literate.

Pinelands Regional School District is a regional school district in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students from Eagleswood Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton Borough along with the Burlington County municipality of Bass River Township. Both schools are accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the New Jersey Department of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gugulethu</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s.

The Little Egg Harbor Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Little Egg Harbor Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinelands Regional High School</span> School district in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States

Pinelands Regional High School (PRHS) is a four-year regional public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Eagleswood Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton Borough in Ocean County and from Bass River Township, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Pinelands Regional School District. The school is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1986.

The Eagleswood Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Eagleswood Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.

The Cape Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology, often abbreviated to "Cape Academy", is a co-educational public boarding school, situated in the Constantia Valley of Cape Town, South Africa. The Cape Academy was founded in 2004 by the Western Cape Education Department to offer quality instruction in the sciences to students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, as part of the government's strategy to fill the skills gap present in South Africa.

Joe Slovo Park is a township located between Milnerton and Montague Gardens near Cape Town, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Education</span> Equal Education (EE) is a social movement

Equal Education (EE) is a member-based, mass democratic movement of learners, post-school youth, parents and community members striving for quality and equality in South African education system through activism and research. Equal Education builds understanding of the education system, while drawing attention to problems faced by schools and their communities. EE offers a new way to participate in the democratic system and bring change to education and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jozi FM</span> South African radio station

Jozi FM is a local radio station that started in 1995 as Soweto Community Radio. In 1999–2000, Soweto Community Radio and Buwa Radio merged to form Jozi FM, to form the largest community radio station in South Africa, broadcasting in several languages including: English, isiZulu, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana and Xitsonga. The station's radio format is 50 percent music and 50 percent discussion. The studios are based at Khaya Centre in Dube, Soweto in South Africa and covers regions all across Soweto, Kagiso, Lenasia, Krugersdorp, Randfontein, Kempton Park, Germiston and Alberton.

Jane Furse is a town in the Sekhukhune District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa, surrounded by the villages of Ga-Moretsele, Madibong, Marulaneng, Mamone, Mokwete and Riverside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinenjongo High School</span> Public high school in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa

Sinenjongo High School is a high school in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Isaacson High School</span> Government school in Mphuti Street, Central Western Jabavu, Soweto

Morris Isaacson High School is a government secondary school in Soweto. Founded in 1956, the school took an important role at the start of the Soweto Uprising in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book fairs in South Africa</span>

Book fairs and literary festivals are held throughout South Africa each year to promote literacy among children and adults. A country's literacy rate is often a key social indicator of development. In 2005, UNESCO Institute for Statistics reported a literacy rate of 94.37% among the population aged 15 years and older. The literacy rate among the male population in this age group was 95.4% and 93.41 for female counterparts. According to Statistics South Africa, functional illiteracy among those aged 20 years or older, was recorded at 15.4% in 2005. This has improved from 2002's 27.3%. Women are more likely to be functionally illiterate across all age groups, apart from those aged between 20 and 39 years old.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "History of LEAP". LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Terblanche, Barry (19 August 2009). "A leap in the dark". Mail and Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Aveng Group Projects". aveng.co.za/csi-trust/projects/leap-science-and-maths-school. Aveng Group. Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Dugger, Celia W (8 September 2010). "New Schools in South Africa Serve the Underserved". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Gilmour, John. "A tale of two systems". leapschool.org.za/. LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Success". leapschool.org.za. LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "LEAP Annual Report 2013" (PDF). leapschool.org.za. LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Mtshekisa, Bonisanani. "Never Give Up". leapschool.org.za. LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Celebrating LEAP Alumni". LEAP Science & Maths School. Retrieved 10 November 2014– via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "Schools". leapschool.org.za. LEAP Science and Maths Schools. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Teach for Africa". teachwithafrica.org/what-we-do/our-in-country-partners/. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.