A short video showcasing Ithuba Wild Coast Community College
ITHUBA is the isiZulu word meaning ‘opportunity’.
Our mission is to provide the opportunity for quality education to members of disadvantaged communities, both urban and rural, at our schools, skills and community centres. To us, education is critical to enable learners to work towards the futures they have reason to value.
ABOUT:
We are a South African-Austrian organisation focused on school education, skills training (TVET) and entrepreneurship education. Our programmes are freely disseminated to the South African public education system and non-profit providers.
For 20 years we have developed infrastructure and trained unemployed youth in construction. This was done in collaboration with European Architecture and Design schools who planned and built these institutions while growing valuable skills within the communities.
In 2008, Ithuba Community College Johannesburg (Gauteng province) was built and boasts a primary school and skills centre.
In 2010, an additional primary school, Ithuba Wild Coast Community College (Eastern Cape), was established.
OUR MOTIVATION
70% of young South Africans are unemployed due to historical inequality which resulted in under-resourced schools and limited access to quality vocational training (TVET) or higher education.
While quality education alone does not guarantee a move out of poverty it betters the chances for individuals and their families. We seek to empower the youth through quality education.
SUSTAINABILITY and GROWTH
Our approach defines our impact
Our focus is on entrepreneurship education. https://www.instagram.com/spro... Through project-based learning, children engage with real-life challenges. This strengthens them to enquire and navigate an increasingly complex and dynamic world - a preparation for life.
While facilitating the education of 600 learners per annum, we as education professionals, have observed the steady development of resourceful and confident young people who are eager to learn and understand the world.
Fees and funding
For 10 years Ithuba was entirely funded through donations from Austria and subsidies from South African Department of Education. Economic challenges have forced us to implement fee paying of ZAR 10/day (EUR 0.50) per learner = ZAR300 (EUR 15) p/m. This covers a fraction of the running cost and will prove a challenge for many parents/guardians.
MAKE THE DIFFERENCE:
Additional support is necessary and to enable local community children to continue benefitting from this innovative and stimulating learning experience.
These vulnerable communities run the risk of remaining economically depressed and dependent.
Together we have the power to change tomorrow by educating our youth today.
GO AHEAD...YOU can be one of the game changers! Visit us on Facebook
PARTNERSHIPS
Our partnerships offer opportunities for our learners and staff through professional exchange and transfer of best practises which creates a systemic and sustainable impact beyond the local level.
Programme development and implementation at Ithuba is led by two permanently seconded education experts of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF).
In co-operation with the BMBWF we support a partnership with the provincial education departments of Gauteng and the Eastern Cape in the development of entrepreneurship education approaches.
In Gauteng we co-operate locally with the public Katlehong School of Specialisation.
The resources of our community centres are open to members of the local community and promote social and cultural initiatives.
In Austria we co-operate with the independent secondary school W@alz as well as the public technical college HTL Mödling, the largest academic TVET school in Europe.
Through Building.Ithuba we have collaborated internationally with several architectural faculties at tertiary institutions.
Building.Ithuba
We provide education architecture and construction for non-profit organisations in education and social developments. Our model: buildings are planned in collaboration with students of architecture through university-based projects. Construction of buildings is done jointly by students and unemployed young people of local communities. Through work-based learning youth is trained in construction and carpentry. Funding is jointly raised by Building.Ithuba and its project partners.
Become a partner
Work with us: learning approaches are best developed in dialogue. We are interested in sharing our programmes, in offering your programme at one of our colleges under your name or in your expertise as a volunteer.
Donate to support young people:
South Africa - 100% of our beneficiaries are black. More than 50% are female. We are B-BBEE level 1 supplier and donations to us are tax deductible under Section 18A.