In order to address these difficulties the I Can Help Africa Foundation (ICHAF) has embarked on a practical solution that will offer a solid support system to both students and teachers.
Established in 2001 in Benoni, Gauteng, ICHAF started off as a small confidence, communication and life skills programme for school children. ICHAF's Training and Development director, Devan Moonsamy's passion for teaching and developing skills in others is what prompted him to start coaching young children in the areas of communication and confidence.
Today ICHAF, a fully accredited FETC provider, as well as a registered Section 21 company, now operates nationally. It offers vibrant scholar training programmes in both Gauteng and in KZN with a vision to penetrate the Western and Eastern Cape uplifting and inspiring the youth toward a prosperous future.
Aware of the urgent need to address pressing education challenges faced by many South Africans in rural and lower income segment schools, the ICHAF Training Institute has implemented a tutoring and teacher programme, designed to assist both struggling students and strained educators.
"Currently, we have five permanent teachers and three contract teachers," says Moonsamy. "Being an accredited FETC provider, allows us to run learnership programmes and other advantageous training within corporate South Africa. With a dynamic team of corporate trainers who are equipped with a clear understanding of current training needs and national trends, we position ourselves as one of the best providers in the country.
"Having never been funded by any corporate or government, we rely solely on the revenue generated from our corporate training division to self-sustain the charity segment of our business. With these funds, we are able to dispatch student teachers to qualifying schools to aid teachers with the workload," says Moonsamy.
"Our tutoring and teacher programmes have proven to be extremely successful. Pass rates have increased as a result of teachers being able to give students much needed individual attention. Both the levels of confidence in the scholars and learner commitment levels have sky rocketed and the benefits of having an additional member of staff to support the learners helps alleviate some of the pressure previously experienced by teachers. This year, we aim to reach more than 8,000 South African rural children," he says.
"We also have a valued alliance with Child Welfare in Verulam, KZN and Child Welfare in Actonville, Gauteng whereby we fund the nutritional needs of children listed on our books. We successfully fund more than twenty scholars in two provinces via Child Welfare."
