The University of Cape Town (UCT) says that public response to its online high school ‘has exceeded all expectations’ since launching in July, as they have announced appointment of Yandiswa Xhakaza as director and principal.
“Across South Africa’s cities and towns – and the African continent – parents, learners and teachers have shown interest in this revolutionary education offering, with over 4,000 learner applications for January 2022 and climbing,” it said in a statement on Monday (20 September).
The university also moved to announce the appointment of its UCT Online High School (OHS) director and principal, Yandiswa Xhakaza. Starting as an English teacher in 2010, Xhakaza comes from leading a national literacy organisation, the Nal’ibali Trust, where she served as chief executive officer.
Yandiswa Xhakaza Education Qualification
She holds a Bachelor of Education (Wits University), a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Wits University) and a Master of Business Administration (University of Pretoria).
“Online education in our context will always come with its fair share of challenges as a developing country. The digital divide is significant, and we have to work around the digital barriers such as poor network coverage, data costs, access to devices and computer literacy, to mention a few,” Xhakaza said.
“This is exactly the type of challenge I am excited about because when we get this right, it will be a massive win for all of us.”
The UCT Online High School ecosystem has been designed to service learners from a broad range of socioeconomic means.
It offers a CAPS-aligned curriculum and enables learners in grades 8-11 in any corner of the globe with the opportunity to study at a monthly fee of R2,095 per month – R25,140 per year, making it one of the most affordable private schools in the country. Grade 12 will be offered from 2023, the university said.
Learners benefit from the UCT Online High School’s supported self-discipline model, which allows learners to pace their learning and get high quality 1:1 tutoring from expert teachers and support coaches whenever they need it. Learners will also be prepared with a unique range of university and career preparation services and offerings.
In addition, the curriculum will be made available from January 2022 for free in an interactive online platform called the Open UCT Free Curriculum. The free content users will be issued a learner number to save their unique learning path and data, with unlimited logins permitted.
Learners have full access to a self-paced curriculum where they can progress at their own pace through expert-designed notes, videos, animations, simulations, practice assignments, quizzes and more.
The interactive content is intuitively organised and easily searchable, making it an excellent resource for teachers and learners around the country to benefit from.
In its first year, the free curriculum will be released in increments per grade, UCT said.
Nal’ibali Appoints New CEO, Yandiswa Xhakaza
Xhakaza is an avid educationalist and has committed her life to solving complex social problems. She believes education is one of the most powerful ways through which people can be uplifted from poverty. Having recently completed her MBA from the University of Pretoria’s business school, Gordon Institute of Business Science, Xhakaza is excited to use business principles to solve social problems.
She joins Nal’ibali – South Africa’s reading-for-enjoyment campaign – after her most recent appointment as Head of School at Arrow Academy, Centurion, under the ambit of Optimi Learning Solutions. She started the school in 2016 and leaves it with just over 300 children and 32 staff members.
Says Xhakaza, “Nal’ibali is an organisation that pulled my heartstrings for many reasons. Coming from an education background, I understand all too well that reading is not just a building block towards the achievement of learning outcomes across subjects, but it is, in fact, the cornerstone of all children’s future success in school. To be part of an organisation that is solely focused on encouraging reading for enjoyment is a huge honour as the work of Nal’ibali will have long-lasting impact in the lives of the children we touch.”
Nal’ibali seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading across South Africa, so that reading, writing, and sharing stories – in all South African languages – is part of everyday life. Because, children who are surrounded by print and immersed in great and well-told stories in languages they understand, are more curious, confident, and motivated to learn. Nal’ibali wishes Xhakaza a successful tenure and looks forward to seeing how she moves the organisation forward.