Education

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world..

– Nelson Mandela | Liberation Hero, Humanitarian, Ex-President

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world..

– Nelson Mandela | Liberation Hero, Humanitarian, Ex-President

Education Programmes

The impact of supporting school-going learners is recognised by the National Department of Basic Education as a way to fight inequality, poverty and unemployment in the country. To this end, we support many learners in the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality from grade 8 to grade 12 to help them achieve excellent grades in matric.

Our Learner Support Programme At A Glance

South Africa has a dire shortage of school leavers with appropriate educational achievements in mathematics and science. Without these competences, it is impossible to pursue the careers our country needs most, such as in science, engineering, technology, mathematics and accountancy.

We support about 700 learners per annum in the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality from grade 8 to grade 12 to achieve excellent grades in matric. We do this through the following programmes:

General learner support programmes
Master Maths programmes
Master Science programmes
Technokidz and Protec programmes

rior to the Palabora Foundation launching its learner support programmes, only a handful of learners from the Phalaborwa district in South Africa’s Limpopo Province used to obtain the necessary symbols annually to proceed to tertiary education to pursue scientific and engineering careers.

There are many reasons for this poor performance. Some are to do with a lack of resources like science laboratories. Other challenges are large numbers of learners in classes and educators struggling to give learners’ individual attention. What’s more, some schools don’t have qualified educators to teach maths and science subjects. In addition, learners face social issues; child headed families, teenage pregnancy and HIV prevalence.

Since 2004 however, there has been a gradual improvement at national level in the overall pass rate in mathematics and science thanks programmes such as ours.

Our Learners

Our work runs over a five year period, with children from local primary feeder schools starting a journey with us in grade 8, continuing through until grade 12 and then enrolling in tertiary institutions.

Technokidz

This supports learners from Grade 8-9. They attend lessons in maths, the natural sciences and learn how to use the internet.

PROTEC

Grade 10 -12 lessons in maths, science, biology, English and more. Learners attend a vacation camp, vacation school, gain work experience and career guidance and have access to library and internet facilities.

Master Maths

This is a computer assisted maths learning programme. Those enrolled in it also have internet and library access.

Master Science

This is a computer assisted science learning programme. Those enrolled in it also have internet and library access as well as access to a well-equipped laboratory.

Technokidz

This supports learners from Grade 8-9. They attend lessons in maths, the natural sciences and learn how to use the internet.
Protec

Grade 10 -12 lessons in maths, science, biology, English and more. Learners attend a vacation camp, vacation school, gain work experience and career guidance and have access to library and internet facilities.
Master Maths

This is a computer assisted maths learning programme. Those enrolled in it also have internet and library access.
Master Science

This is a computer assisted science learning programme. Those enrolled in it also have internet and library access as well as access to a well-equipped laboratory.

Our Achievements

n analysis of matric results from 2008 to 2016 shows that more than an average of 95% of the participants in our programmes passed matric.

The Bachelor pass rate is the percentage of matriculants who achieved a university entrance certificate. Statistics on the overall Bachelor pass rate against provincial and national averages shows that in the 2016 academic year, the national Bachelor pass rate was just 24.9% whilst that of Limpopo Province was only 18.4% In the same academic year, our matric pass rate was 100%, of which the Bachelor pass rate was 85%!

Schools We Work With

Name Of School	Category	Location
All Saints College	Combined	Makhushane Camp
Meridian College	Combined	Phalaborwa
King Fisher	Combined	Phalaborwa
Majeje	High	Lulekani
Nkateko	High	Lulekani
Ntshuxeko	High	Majeje
Lepato	High	Makhushane
Matome-Malatji	High	Makhushane
Lebeko	High	Mashishimale
Maphokwane	High	Mashishimale
Baranuka	High	Matiko-Xikaya
Relebogile	High	Namakgale
Sebalamakgolo	High	Namakgale
Vuxeni	High	Namakgale
Frans Du Toit	High	Phalaborwa
Makikele	High	Selwana

FOSKOR (Pty) LTD
Department of Education
The South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA)
Department of Science and Technology
Eskom Expo For Young Scientists
Palabora Copper
Dust-A-Side
Schools, teacher and learners

Palabora Foundation has the distinction of some of its students having participated in nationally recognised events and expos, whereby they have won prestigious awards and recognition. We encourage and our support students in preparing and participating in these events.

Awards Received For Palabora Foundation

NAME OF ORGANISATION	TYPE OF AWARD	WINNER
Siemens	1 x Laptop and 1 x Science kit for the school	Desmond Kutullo Mmola & Temogelo Thami Mokgotho
Siemens	Two Engineering Bursaries to the value of R120 000 each over 4 years.	Harrel Mdaka & Joas Paradis Shilowa
South African Environmental observation network (SAEON)	Binoculars, Framed Certificate and a book to the value of R1700	Joas Paradis Shilowa

palabora-foundation-bursary-management-0001

We administer and manage bursaries and provide mentoring and support to help students thrive academically and personally. Our programmes complement students’ technical and academic skills, preparing them for meaningful employment and to become active contributors to the economy. We assist young people to access tertiary education, acquire professional skills and gain employment.

We currently have a staff complement of more than 40 people, consisting of 3 managers responsible for client accounts and student contact and several financial and administrative support staff. Although we are based in Ba-Phalaborwa, we operate in all nine provinces to recruit and visit students, clients, institutions and employers.

Key Aspects

We specialise in the following:

Establishing and managing purpose fit bursary and scholarship programmes (including policy formation).
Improving and enhancing existing bursary & scholarship programmes.
Recruitment of candidates for bursary & scholarship programmes.
Providing full administrative and support services (payments, contracting, budgeting, reporting, student counselling, recommendations to clients etc.).
Monitoring and Evaluation of student results
Providing a similar range of services for learnerships and internship services.
Graduate recruitment services.
We provide detailed reports to the funder.

We also issue Section 18A tax certificates for donations and provide records for BBBEE verification purposes.
We currently have more than 300 students under our administration, most registered at public and private tertiary institutions in South Africa. They represent a range of disciplines, with the majority registered in the ‘scarce skills’ fields.

We are so proud of our role in successfully cultivating a pool of capable learners who can go on to further their studies in scientific and technological careers at tertiary institutions.

Our Learners