Students and teachers outside next to colorful wall that quotes Dr. Seuss

Overcoming Cycles of Marginalization in South Africa with LEAP Science and Math Schools


Project Type: Virtual or On-site

When: April to May, or July to mid-September

South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world – more than a third of the country’s population live in need. Most schooling currently available to South African children is inadequate, perpetuating academic deficit and ignoring the development of emotional intelligence, self-awareness and other life skills.

LEAP Science and Maths Schools has six secondary schools (grades 8-12) and provides high quality, low-fee education to 1,500 underserved youth living in the townships across South Africa. The six LEAP campuses focus on math, science, and English, have extended school hours, and believe in developing both their students’ character and intellect. LEAP schools prove that no matter how deprived, any child in South Africa can graduate from high school, obtain a tertiary qualification and look forward to a fulfilling future.

Project Opportunity: Team4Tech has partnered with LEAP since 2014 to build out tech infrastructure including computer labs and servers, trained teachers in digital literacy, and worked to integrate educational software into the school day. Building on this, LEAP would like to leverage a team of volunteers to:

  • Unify technology usage and increase digital collaboration across the six LEAP schools.
  • Implement a platform and protocol to facilitate the sharing of curriculum, lesson plans, resources and best practices between teachers and across schools.
  • Build staff and leadership capacity in data analysis and data-driven instruction.
  • Pilot a robotics curriculum to enable schools to enter the Lego Mindstorms EV3 competition in South Africa in 2021.

Impact: This project will directly impact the 10 LEAP central team staff members, 85 teachers, and 1,454 learners and from all 6 LEAP schools.