Education South Africa Project #69979

Be Strong Be Wise South Africa

by Ubuntu Partners Trust

Project Report | Sep 1, 2026
BSBW Data Shows Learner Retention Over the Long Haul

By Amy R Carpenter | Founder/Lead Educator

Recent Graduates Celebrate in Winterton

BSBW is currently in full swing with its latest round of classes for the year. All five teams have school relationships they have fostered and cultivated. Currently, each school is either receiving the benefit of the course in various stages of course delivery, or plans are being made to start or complete the course soon.

Our most exciting news centers around the positive outcomes being yeilded by our new data measuring tool. This tool takes the form of a long term survey given to learners at least three months after they’ve completed the course. The questions reflect the core elements of the course and are meant to determine the level of retention over time.

Our Durban team delivered the long-term survey questions this past week to the 9th graders at Bonela Secondary school who had completed the BSBW youth course in February. The results were astounding, primarily in the area of communication and consent, where the data shows a 96% retention rate.

The additional bonus centered around the post-survey discussion where learners were invited to talk with each other about all they learned in the BSBW course. One of the survey questions was: "Is it considered consent when a partner says yes, but then changes their mind and says no?” It raised a debate among the learners. There was a learner who believed that “Only the original ‘yes' counts.” The facilitators observed several boys push back on the boy who said this, declaring “You can’t do that! It’s rape!” And a robust discussion among the learners ensued that the facilitators were able to use as a teaching tool to further integrate the concept of true consent according to the law.

These conversations could not happen without a solid relationship with the school, and between the learners and facilitators who have taught them. We are pleased to know that the most important components of the course are being integrated and retained over time. Our new data capturing dashboard allows all data to be visible in graph form which will aid us in fine-tuning course delivery so there is “no learner left behind”. In this particular case, the boys who pushed back on the boy who was confused, won. They were able to convince him that only a sustained and voluntary “yes” counts!

As part of our data requirements, each learner (currently over 1,500 young people have received the course) fills out both a pre-course and post-course survey. Results include a doubling of awareness scores and learner testimonies that reveal the course is having significant impact on their thinking, especially in the realm of mutual respect and gender relations.

Here are a few examples:

"This programme helped me to understand sexual boundaries. Before, we allowed people to touch us in whatever way they liked, but now we know that we have sexual boundaries that others need to be aware of. Our bodies are very special, and you must never allow someone to touch you in an inappropriate way.”

"My name is Samkelo Ntshingila. This programme helped me to learn about people's rights. Before this, we simply did as we liked, without knowing that it was wrong. Now we have learned that it was wrong, and we have also learned about sexual assault, that you must never touch someone without his or her permission. With the knowledge I now have, I will share it with others who still do not know about it.”

As these learners indicate, they have a hunger for knowledge that is contagious. We continually hear statements from young people centered on the theme of “passing it on”. At BSBW, we share this feeling as we plant seeds of truth for the benefit of youth and their future relationships.

Links:

Our Website includes more learner testimonies

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