Ukhanyo Foundation Youth Empowerment NPC

Our Mission

Ukhanyo Foundation Youth Empowerment NPC exists to restore hope, dignity, and opportunity for young people from South Africa's most underserved communities, with a core focus on supporting learners who have not passed the National Senior Certificate (NSC) and who face deep socio-economic barriers to completing their education. The organisation's mission is to equip these young people with the academic support, personal development tools, resources, and mentoring relationships they need to rewrite their matric successfully, transition into further education or employment, and break the cycle of poverty that restricts their life chances.

Every year in South Africa, more than 800,000 learners sit for the matric examination. Despite the enormous effort invested by teachers and learners, significant numbers do not achieve a passing result. In recent years, roughly 30 to 35 percent of candidates have either failed, dropped out before reaching Grade 12, or passed without the requirements needed to progress into university or college programmes. This represents hundreds of thousands of young people annually who are immediately placed at a disadvantage in the labour market. South African labour statistics are clear: individuals without a matric certificate experience unemployment rates exceeding 55 percent, often becoming long-term unemployed due to limited access to skills development, workplace exposure, and formal sector opportunities. Without targeted support, these young people remain locked out of pathways to stability, economic participation, and self-determination.

Ukhanyo Foundation positions itself as a bridge for these young people. Its mission is grounded in the belief that educational failure should never be a life sentence, and that with the right intervention, students who have failed their matric can rebuild their academic confidence, regain direction, and unlock their potential. The organisation provides structured, high-impact matric rewrite programmes designed to address the academic, emotional, and social barriers that led to underperformance. Tutoring is delivered by qualified educators and subject mentors, with a focus on key gateway subjects such as Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Accounting, Business Studies, and English. Learners receive personalised learning plans, assessment feedback, and ongoing monitoring to ensure measurable improvement.

However, Ukhanyo Foundation recognises that academic support alone is not enough. Many young people from disadvantaged communities face intersecting socio-economic pressures that make it extraordinarily difficult to study, concentrate, complete assignments, or plan for the future. These include poverty, food insecurity, unsafe living conditions, family responsibilities, lack of study space, trauma, and emotional stress. For this reason, the organisation integrates psychosocial support, life-skills development, personal growth workshops, and coaching sessions into all programmes. Learners develop resilience, self-awareness, communication skills, career clarity, and emotional intelligence, enabling them not only to pass their exams but to navigate adulthood with greater confidence and stability.

In addition, Ukhanyo Foundation is committed to tackling the structural inequality that shapes youth unemployment. Its mission includes strengthening pathways to employability by offering career guidance, CV support, digital literacy training, workplace readiness workshops, and connections to partner organisations, training providers, and potential employers. By equipping learners with both education and employability skills, the organisation supports long-term outcomes that extend far beyond the moment of receiving a matric certificate.

At its core, Ukhanyo Foundation's mission is to disrupt the recurring cycle where disadvantaged learners become disadvantaged adults and where educational setbacks dictate lifelong disadvantage. The organisation seeks to build a future in which young people from historically marginalised communities have equal access to quality education, resources, and opportunities. The Foundation aims to produce empowered, confident, employable, and socially responsible young adults who can contribute positively to their families, communities, and the broader South African society.

Through community partnerships, collaborative work with schools, social workers, parents, and youth organisations, Ukhanyo Foundation fosters an ecosystem of support that extends beyond the classroom. Its mission is to ensure that no young person is left behind due to circumstances of birth, socio-economic hardship, or temporary academic failure. Every learner who enters the programme is treated with dignity, encouraged to dream again, and guided through the practical steps needed to transform those dreams into real, tangible achievements.

Ultimately, Ukhanyo Foundation Youth Empowerment NPC is driven by a commitment to inclusivity, educational justice, and meaningful youth upliftment. Its mission is to champion second chances, create sustainable pathways for young people to rise above adversity, and contribute to a society where potential is not wasted and every individual is supported to thrive.