FEM Education Foundation
The FEM Education Foundation, FEMEF, is a non-profit organisation that was established on 19 October 2016 as a landmark corporate and social investment initiative during a General Meeting of FEM Shareholders. To this end, R750 Million payment has been made into the foundation. The objective of FEMEF is to make a real and significant impact in improving education in South Africa. This end will be achieved through partnering with a few carefully selected NGO’s that operate in the education space.
Each partner plays in a specific area of specialisation to ensure that FEMEF has a meaningful impact and that initiatives are not duplicated. FEMEF intends to do its best to make a meaningful contribution towards the upliftment of education for all South Africans.
To date, eight partners have been selected, namely;
Khanyisa Inanda Seminary Community Projects
The KICP Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programme mentors and develops 30 teacher-interns placed across 10 schools in the Ilembe and Pinetown districts in rural KZN. In line with the organisation’s goal to improve access to quality education in South African schools and to bring about socio-economic equity, KICP also journeys alongside the ITE programme in Limpopo. The KICP ITE programme seeks to increase the number of aspiring teachers in order to improve the quality of their teaching and ensure they graduate as competent, fully-fledged teachers, benefitting large volumes of learners who are within their reach.
Funda Wande
Funda Wande is a not-for-profit organisation which focuses on improving early grade reading and mathematics (Gr R-3) outcomes in South Africa. Their mission is for all children to be able to read for meaning and calculate with confidence by the age of 10 by 2030. They do this by creating high-quality materials and experimenting with different teacher training approaches with an eye for scale. Their materials and training are created in the home languages that children speak and understand and are freely available for anyone to download and use. Their programmes and materials are all evidence-based, independently evaluated, policy-aligned and cost-effective.
Citizen Leader Lab
Runs the Partners for Possibility Programme that empowers and supports school principals and is a catalyst for positive change in public schools. The programme is unique in that it partners business leaders and school principals in a reciprocal, co-learning and co-acting relationship that enhances the leadership capacities of the participants, increases the social capital available to the school, introduces new skills and knowledge, enhances community engagement and supports positive change within the school.
The programme aims to enable a functioning school ecosystem that supports quality teaching and learning.
Thandulwazi Maths and Science Academy
Thandulalwazi Maths and Science Academy runs the Initial Teacher Training: Mentored Teacher Interns that are placed in 10 Public Primary Schools, two interns per school. The project has 2nd and 3rd-year UNISA students who are all funded by NSFAS. Each intern is paired with an experienced teacher who plays the role of a mentor. The project aims to produce suitably qualified young teachers who are confident to teach their subjects and have appropriate content knowledge.
Research on Socio-Economic Policy (Resep)
Resep runs the Teacher Demographic Dividend Project that is focused on South Africa (national-level) and spans collaborators at other universities as well as independent collaborators. The overall project is however managed and housed by Resep at the Economics Department of Stellenbosch University.
Fifty percent of teachers in South Africa will be retiring over the next ten years. The project aims to provide South African policymakers spanning several national and provincial departments (Basic Education, National Treasury, Presidency) with evidence-based policy options to navigate this massive teacher demographic transition.
MAD (Make a Difference Leadership Foundation)
Make A Difference Leadership Foundation provides academically talented scholars with exceptional leadership development opportunities through education and mentorship to inspire a better future for South Africa. Make A Difference Leadership Foundation supports high school learners and tertiary students comprehensively throughout their academic and personal journeys by ensuring that they have the necessary tools and opportunities to reach their full potential as the future leaders of South Africa.
SmartStart
SmartStart’s vision is to achieve population-level change in access to early learning through a national delivery platform which enables rapid scale-up and harnesses the huge social capital of women in communities. As South Africa’s first national early learning delivery platform, collaboration and partnership are at the heart of SmartStart’s approach. Under a social franchise model, SmartStart’s implementing partners, license and support practitioners (Franchisees) to deliver the same evidence-based programme for three-to-five-year-olds. Franchisees work in a range of settings and run their early learning programmes as independent social enterprises. The SmartStart value chain begins with search and selection and incorporates ongoing support and sustainability delivered through a network of Coaches and Clubs. The project includes direct income and social enterprise support for a share of Franchisees, enabling increased financial sustainability and social enterprise growth.
Columba
Columba Leadership is building a national movement of connected, engaged young leaders who contribute to the social and economic well-being of our country. Having worked with more than 250 under-resourced schools more than 10 000 youth and educators have graduated from Columba Leadership’s three-year, foundational programme since 2009.
After participating in a transformational, residential leadership academy young people return to their schools and implement social action projects. These projects benefit their peers, their school, and their communities – while equipping the Columba Leadership graduates with real-life experience and 21st-century skills.
Extensive M&E has shown that Columba graduates are consistently more likely to be in further study or employed post-school. These impactful, value-driven leaders are then continually connected with one another and enabled through Columba Leadership’s growing alumni network.
Allan Gray Makers
Where technical talent meets entrepreneurial spirit.
Allan Gray Makers exists to ignite dignity and meaning in life through accelerating artisanal entrepreneurship.
The technical trades industry in South Africa is overlooked and not celebrated. Through Allan Gray Makers we aim to create visibility around the technical trades industry and the critical role that trades men and women play in creating meaningful employment.
We attack poverty in South Africa by investing in, nurturing, and empowering responsible technical entrepreneurs who embody the values & behaviours of ethical leadership.
To achieve this goal, we implement three key programmes: Allan Gray Makers LaunchPad, Allan Gray Makers Hub, and Allan Gray Makers Movement.
•Allan Gray Makers LaunchPad aims to build a pipeline of technical entrepreneurial talent
•Allan Gray Makers Hub focuses on supporting the start, growth, and maturity of technical businesses
•Allan Gray Makers Movement is about championing an enabling technical & entrepreneurial ecosystem
