Kazimla Mfikili | 7 August 2024
Shaping tomorrow’s mathematical minds is the mission for the Izibalo non-government organisation, a local extra tuition programme that aims to help more Buffalo City pupils matriculate with pure maths as a subject, especially in under resourced schools and communities.
Izibalo recognises that pupils, especially those in underserved schools tend to drop mathematics when they transition from the senior phase into the further education and training phase (FET), as they have a lack of confidence in their mathematical skills.
The Izibalo programme and its pupil-centred tuition style assists those who cannot afford extra classes for maths, giving them the opportunity to gain confidence and grasp knowledge without the burden of a cost that is unaffordable to pupils from financially challenged backgrounds.
Co-founders of the programme, Lynn Glover and Edumisa Mtoli have a combined 35 years’ experience in maths tutoring and started Izibalo to make extra tuition accessible for disadvantaged pupils.
Their offices are set up at Greenpoint Secondary School in Buffalo Flats, however they are open to applications from financially challenged pupils from across the city.
Glover said: “We offer tuition on a pupil-centred basis.
“In other words, the child is the centre of the teaching rather than the teacher being at the centre,” Glover said.
Glover says that one of the most important aims of the nonprofit organisation is to increase the number of pupils who matriculate with pure maths as a subject.
The programme does not only assist pupils to achieve their goals but also helps young, unemployed mathematical minds make a living from sharing their knowledge.
The Izibalo maths programme has also contributed towards skills development of young unemployed graduates, such as Zukisa Misani, a civil engineering graduate at the Walter Sisulu University who, while waiting for an opportunity within his field, is earning experience at Izibalo through tutoring and educating the pupils who are assisted by the programme.
Misani said: “I love teaching.
“If there’s anything that I enjoy doing, it is teaching. I love sharing information with the pupils.
“If I knew better, I could’ve chosen teaching as my career from the onset,” Misani said.
Misani’s colleague, agricultural sciences master’s graduate, Itumeleng Phasela, said the programme meant a lot for her, despite not being directly aligned to the field she studied for.
She is grateful for the opportunity to use some of her knowledge and to contribute towards supporting local youth who are vulnerable to many social ills.
She said: “It is exciting for me. It quenches my hunger for sharing my education and knowledge to the community and pupils from underprivileged communities face severe challenges that have made it easy for them to not only stay away from maths but become dropouts.
“It gives me satisfaction that my responsibility, as a teacher in the programme, decreases the number of school dropouts and keeps children in school,” Phasela said.
‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’.