Founded 1987 Type Nonprofit organization | Founder John Gilmour Location South Africa | |
Focus Eliminate Educational Inequity Key people John Gilmour – Founder and Executive director
Grant Nupen – Board Chairman
Grant Clark – Member of the Board
Leon Glanvill – Member of the Board
Joe Kainja – Member of the Board
Mackie Kleinschmidt – Member of the Board
Heidi Raubenheimer – Member of the Board
Ben Rabinowitz – Member of the Board
Crispin Sonn – Member of the Board
Jasper Walsh – Member of the Board | ||
Langa Education Assistance Program (LEAP), also known as LEAP Science and Maths Schools, is a collection of six non-fee payment secondary education schools located in three provinces in South Africa. The first LEAP school opened in 2004 in rented premises in Observatory, Cape Town and served mainly, learners from the township of Langa. As an independent school, LEAP is mainly founded by South African Corporates with limited subsidies from the Department of Basic Education.
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Langa Education Assistance Program (or LEAP)
John Gilmour was a teacher at Pinelands High School in Cape Town in 1987 when he decided to respond to a call from individuals within the South African business community, to contribute to the redress of the devastation of the Bantu Education Act, a segregation law imposed in the education sector by the Apartheid system in 1953.
“Africa Week” was then introduced by a team led by John Gilmour to bring black learners under the “Bantu Education” system to spend a week at Pinelands High School, which was then a white’s only school. The program became the precursor for the Langa Education Assistance Program (or LEAP) which aimed at providing one hundred black students from the Langa township, with support tuition from Pinelands High teachers in English, Maths and Science, three afternoons a week.
The prohibitive transport cost of bringing learners from the township schools to Pinelands High School forced the model to be revised. In 1996, it was then decided that instead of learners being bussed in to Pinelands High, teachers will be transported to meet learners in township schools.
Community members in Langa perceived the new model of LEAP as an attempt of white teachers to “save” black children. Teachers from the community felt that they were as able as other teachers to provide extra lessons that would address the inadequacies in the students' educational foundations. The uneasiness within the community obliged the leadership of LEAP to change the model and include community teachers in the program.
When John Gilmour realised that despite best efforts of LEAP and similar programs in the country there was no increase in the proportion of black learners entering university, especially science-based disciplines, he sought for an alternative model. LEAP Science and Maths school was the alternative model.
LEAP Science and Maths School
LEAP Science and Maths school was a deliberate decision of John Gilmour seeking to increase the number of black learners who take science and maths-based modules at high school in order to increase the chance of being accepted at University, particular in disciplines where these modules are a prerequisite.
John resigned as Headmaster of Abbot’s College in 2004, where he has been since he left Pinelands in 1997, to focus on LEAP Science and Maths School. In January 2014, the first LEAP Science and Maths School opened its doors in the suburb of Observatory, Cape Town, with seventy-two learners, seven teachers and one administrative staff member.
LEAP 1
The LEAP Science and Maths school, which started in Observatory later moved to Pinelands and become known as LEAP 1. It serves learners from community of Langa Township. It is the first and oldest of the LEAP Science and Maths schools. The school is headed by its Operation Leader Oscar Dlodlo.
LEAP 2
LEAP 2 opened in 2007 also in Pinelands. It serves learners from the townships of Gugulethu and Crossroads. In 2013, the school opened satellite classes to serve grade 9 and 10 learners from the township of Delft. Learners of the school are taught in English and isiXhosa. The head of the school is Mr. Babele Emedi, who also assumes the role of Operations Leader.
LEAP 3
The school opened its doors in 2008 to serve learners from the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg. Learners are taught in English, isiZulu, Sepedi and Sesotho under the leadership of the Operations leader, Mr. Mark Fletcher.
LEAP 4
This school is situated in the township of Diepsloot just outside Johannesburg. The school opened in 2011 through a partnership with the South Africa corporate Aveng Group. LEAP 4 teaches learners in isiZulu and Sepedi as home languages, along with English. Paul Mumba, is the Operations Leader and head of LEAP 4.
LEAP 5
In 2012, LEAP 5 opened its doors in Jane Furse, Sekhukhune in Limpopo province. The school is under the leadership of its Operation Leader, Raphael Mukachi.
LEAP 6
LEAP 6 is situated in Ga-Rankuwa near Pretoria. The school opened in 2012 to respond to the request of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria, concerned with the community’s poor educational results and high unemployment rate, particularly among young people. The school is led by its Operation Leader, Lawrence Manyesa.
Vision
“We strive for the positive transformation of communities through the meaningful education of children from those communities”
Mission
“LEAP schools provide student-centered, math’s and science-focused education to economically disadvantaged students from grades 8 to 12. We focus on enabling the self-awareness necessary for each student’s growth to healthy adulthood, and to ensuring optimal academic results which will allow for choices for lifelong learning and a fulfilling future.”
Values and focus
Although LEAP schools focus on Maths and Sciences; it puts a lot of emphasis on the emotional development of learners. John Gilmour acknowledged the importance of the emotional development in a country where “eight million children come from single-parent households and a further 4.3 million reside with neither biological parent”. In his article “A tale of two systems”, he speaks of LEAP’s response to this problem “has been to recognise that social transformation starts with personal transformation: one person at a time, one room at a time, one school at a time and one community at a time.”
The school cherishes the following values:
Statistics
In a report that analyses the performance of the school between 2005 and 2013, LEAP reported that:
The school claims to outperform national statistics when it compares itself with national averages of learners who write maths and science in 2013. All LEAP learners wrote these modules compared to only 43% who took maths and 33% who took physical science nationally.
Graduates
Bonisanani Mtshekisa is LEAP’s first university graduate. He graduated with a bachelor in Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of the Western Cape. In its 2012 annual report, the school reported to have over 30 university graduates ranging from physiotherapist, engineer to accountants.
Celebratory adverts
In 2014, LEAP launched a series of celebratory adverts to showcase its work and celebrate the achievements of its past students. Qondisa Nxganga, a Master’s graduate from the prestigious African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is featured in these adverts alongside a number of other LEAP alumni.
Partnerships
LEAP’s model is based on strong engagement with the broader community and building beneficial partnerships and collaboration with other organizations, particular schools. It is a three-way collaboration approach where each LEAP school partners with a more privileged school as well as a less privileged school (a township school) in the community where it operates to promote a culture of shared resources and cultural exchange
LEAP has also been successful in building strong partnerships with both commercial and non-profit organizations. Most of its funding comes from South African corporates, trusts and Foundations.
LEAP, is Teach with Africa’s partner on the continent and together they have established the Teacher Institute which seeks to develop teachers and supports individuals wanting to enter the teaching profession