Empowering South African Youth Through Education

Back in 2012, when the USP began, our doors opened with an after-school math program made available to all math learners in the five high schools in the Cato Manor township area of Durban.  This program was our first seed, planted at a time when pass rates in math in our schools ranged in the single digits, and when the number of learners from our five schools who were gaining admission to Bachelor’s degree study could be counted on one hand.  We soon added science enrichment as our other early seed, planted to help overcome the other deepest deficit in learning (itself dependent on math!) in South African township schools.

Thanks to you, our GlobalGiving donors, those seeds are still bearing lots of fruit! 

Our 2026 school year started off this January with enrollment in our Grade 10-12 weekend math program numbering 462 learners, including learners not only from our five partner schools but also from surrounding schools where word-of-mouth has spread awareness of our programs.  So far this year we have delivered over 103 hours of after-school teaching time through our weekend and weekday lessons, all at no charge to learners or their schools.

Our math teaching team is stronger than ever, as another of our weekend math mentors has earned her post-graduate teaching certification since our last report to you, with sponsorship support from the USP.  We are also proud to announce the hiring of our new Math Program Coordinator, Ms. Simphiwe Mkhasibe, who comes to us with a BSc (Honours) in Applied Mathematics and experience as an instructor with the Science and Technology Education Center (STEC) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).  Welcome, Simphiwe!

Speaking of the STEC, this is the community partner that provides one of the most vibrant and durable branches of our continued science offerings.  Through this partnership, the USP brings the STEC Science4U Mobile van to all Gr 10-12 physical science classrooms in all five of our schools -- with lesson plans, equipment, and teaching staff -- to deliver the curriculum-required practicals to Cato Manor science learners throughout Terms 1-3 each year.  Without this support, many of our learners would miss the experience of completing these practicals, due to under-resourcing of teaching staff, time, and materials at our partner schools.

Math and science were our first seeds, but the branches are many!  So far in this 2026 school year, the Umkhumbane Schools Project has been busy with its wide range of programs, including:

• Girls and Boys Clubs teaching life-skills to our Grade 8 learners as they start high school
• a vibrant and growing Chess program across our partner schools
• a caring team of social workers to help learners navigate personal and family challenges
• expert counseling for learners who are survivors of sexual assault
• eye exams and glasses at no cost for any learner who needs them
• staff and teacher salaries for our partner schools facing shortages
• university admissions guidance resulting in over 250 USP higher ed enrollments since 2013

We are proud to report that 25 learners in the USP’s AHEAD tertiary access program successfully enrolled in higher education programs at universities across South Africa for 2026, including the University of Cape Town, UKZN, Wits University, University of Johannesburg, and the University of Pretoria, just to name a few.  These 25 learners earned a record number of 72 Distinctions (A's) on the South African national high school exit exams.  Because poor math and science results are often the sole barrier to college admission in South Africa, our learners’ success in gaining access to higher education is surely a fruit of their improved math and science performance, achieved with the help of USP’s longest-running programs. 

 All of this is what continues to grow from the first USP seeds first planted back in 2012 and consistently nurtured thanks to you, our GlobalGiving donors -- since the very first GlobalGiving donation to the USP in 2015.  We are so grateful to each of you for making our work  possible.

Thank you for your ongoing support for The Umkhumbane Schools Project.  We look forward to sharing further updates in the months and years ahead.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Martha

Martha Fitzpatrick Bishai

Director, The Umkhumbane Schools Project