I am Marageni Ntendeni Portia a 29 years lady from dusty forgotten village called Masia Tshikwarani. I hold an honours degree in mine surveying from university of Venda. Post graduate certificate from university of South Africa. I am currently doing 2nd year LLB at university of South Africa.I am currently working as a teacher in a high school outside Polokwane. I found my passion in teaching than what I have studied as my first degree. When I started working at Matlala village that when I realized more of the struggles that rural schools learners face every day. Everything in the world of science and technology they are always told to imagine. I remember during my high school days my teacher will use a pen and say “imagine this is a test tube” as a learner you never get to understand because you know that is a pen and you have never seen a test tube in your life, that was in 2006 to 2008 and to my surprise when visit the school he was still using the same technique and I remember when I struggled to do my first experiment in university because it was the first time to see all apparatus and I didn’t know them at all.
I then took an initiative to research education inputs and outputs in our communities at vhuronga 2 and Hlanganani central. That’s where I found out that the number of leaners who are doing mathematics and physics is very low compared to the enrollment. In 2017 for example out of 407 leaners in five schools only 61 learners were doing mathematics and physical sciences and the rest were doing mathematical literacy looking at the results of grade 12 only one percent of those learners qualified to be admitted in the university and the rest their math’s and physic results couldn’t get them the university entrance, that how i became a youth lead turning point contest or a young change makers.
The South Africa department of basic education’s goal is to increase the number of learners doing mathematics and physical sciences. To increase the number of learners obtaining between 60% and 100% in mathematics and physical science and lastly to increase the intake of students who are doing STEM (Science, Technology, engineering and mathematics) related careers in the university. I felt it was my mandate to work with the department of education in order to uplift my community through corporate services.
I started a non-profit organization known as Masia Maths and Science Academy launched on the 10th of October 2018 at Ha-Masia. The purpose of the NPO is to improve the academic performance of learners especially in mathematics and physical sciences, to stimulate the interest of learners to opt for sciences stream when they get to FET phase. This intervention aims at decreasing the number of drop outs in our schools. Masia Maths and science academy is positively influencing the life of about 2500 children from poor socio-economic background around the region and also developing the teachers. We are offering homework assistant program for grade 4-7 learners, math’s pioneers for grade 7-9 leaners, grade 9-12 enrichment classes, and laboratory services to the schools around the region and basic computer literacy to all learners. The above programs would not have been easy to run if it wasn’t for SAME foundation that has made it their mandate for my dream to come true and go to corporate services and get money to build us five modern classrooms with interactive and white boards and a laptop. SAME donated two senior FET laboratories for physics, chemistry and one junior lab for natural sciences, each with a laptop. Learners from our region are no longer travelling more than 30km just to see the facilitator while they watch, this has given them the opportunity to be in the lab and do their own experiment. These laboratories are laying strong foundation to our learners when they go to university they will be having knowledge not been in the world of imagination. They also gave us 31 set up computers room, this is enabling our learners to do basic computer literacy.
There is nothing that put my heart at peace and makes me believe that i am a game changer than to see the smile of hope on the face of those learners. Thank you to department of education for allowing me to use one of the school premises in order to maximize the usage of the facility. Thank you to SAME foundation for making my dream a reality and many thanks to the learners under my guidance every Saturday for allowing me to play a significant role in their life. Masia Maths and science Academy touching lives is our priority, instilling hope to the hopeless is our mandate. I believe is about time for department and other NGO’s to help us with resources because resources play a crucial role in human development and solving socio economic problems faced by our rural communities than giving us food parcel twice in a year which even lower our human dignity.