SHAWCO SHINE and Saturday School matrics excel

A group of matriculants who gave up Saturday mornings to attend SHAWCO Saturday School and SHAWCO SHINE's extra-tuition classes have excelled in their final exams – with several bagging multiple distinctions.

Toni Oliver, who was the Good Hope Seminary School's top student achieving five distinctions, credited the quality tuition and personal support she received from SHAWCO SHINE. "My passion for my studies deepened over time as SHAWCO helped me to remain inspired and motivated. The educators encouraged us to always strive for success and excel in all that we put our minds to," said Oliver.

"SHAWCO has not just helped me academically but also socially in that it arranged career workshops and life skills interventions to help me with my decision regarding what to study and where and how to get support and financial help. I have enjoyed every Saturday – amazing facilities, amazing teachers, amazing staff and top class results," says Saturday School learner, Namusuma Kapenda from Wynberg Girls High School. In the run up to the matric exams Kapenda obtained fifth place overall in SHAWCO's preliminary testing, and went on to receive three distinctions in her finals.

SHAWCO Academic Interventions Coordinator, Thara Kallungal, said the organisation was extremely proud of the results achieved by learners and paid tribute to the dedicated team of UCT student volunteer educators. "In 2013, 90% of our learners were accepted to university and they collectively achieved 365 distinctions and the 2014 results are looking just as good," she said.

Core academic areas strengthened

Established in 2009 by SHAWCO (UCT's Students' Health and Welfare Centres Organisation), SHAWCO SHINE is a social enterprise initiative which has helped hundreds of Cape Town learners significantly improve their matric results. Lessons are taught in small intimate classes by experienced professional educators at UCT's Upper Campus using a curriculum aligned with the Western Cape Education Department.

Profits generated by this fee-paying programme are used to fund SHAWCO Saturday School, which each year gives 200 Grade 12 learners from disadvantaged communities the opportunity to access the same quality extra-tuition, but at no cost.

The objective of both SHAWCO Saturday School and SHAWCO SHINE is to strengthen the learners' abilities in core academic areas such as Mathematics, Physical Science, English, Life Science and Accounting and increase the number of Bachelor Passes. The programme also provides learners with opportunities to acquire skills and experiences in preparation for tertiary studies and aims to nurture students' sense of confidence.

To find out more about SHAWCO Education initiatives and SHAWCO SHINE, visit www.shawco.org.