KHULA operates three preschools providing quality education for over 200 3- and 4-year-olds each year in an area that previously had no early learning facilities. Children are taught in both their mother tongue isiZulu and English, which they are otherwise not exposed to, ensuring they have strong foundations in English before starting primary school. This is crucial because in South Africa all school subjects are conducted in English from Grade 4 onwards. All our preschoolers receive two hot meals a day to support their learning and development.

We employ a team of specialist educators in Maths and English who provide supplementary teaching across 8 government schools, from primary school through to high school graduation. They teach alongside government educators to reduce the burden of large class sizes – sometimes up to 90 students per teacher - and provide mentorship and training to build government teaching staff’s teaching capacities, introducing new teaching techniques, technologies and creating a more dynamic and engaging learning environment.

We know it is not enough to support students to excel in school – we must ensure that this translates into real economic opportunities when they graduate. That’s why KHULA offers a range of Life Skills and Job Readiness services, including aptitude testing and career guidance, job readiness and soft skills training, digital skills for the workplace, support to access scholarships and learnerships, and more. It was only several years ago that we were able to get local schools online, and enhancing the digital literacy of both students and government teachers continues to be an important part of our offering to ensure local youth have the prerequisite skills to gain decent employment.

Government-run schools remain heavily under-funded and teachers are overworked, under-supported, and lack professional development, inevitably harming children’s learning outcomes. KHULA provides a range of training and development opportunities for over 200 teachers across 21 local schools, building their knowledge and capacity to deliver quality education for students via workshops, individual mentorship, and digital solutions.

Experience tells us that education is the primary means of improving the economic opportunities of children and moving families out of poverty.  

Our vision is that all children, regardless of their socio-economic, cultural background or location are able to reach their potential and make a difference to their families and communities.

Our aim is to work with the existing teaching programmes in local government primary and secondary schools and enhance the children's experience of education.  We are passionate about reaching as many children in KwaZulu-Natal as possible and hope to expand the KHULA Linked Schools model further whilst maintaining  the quality of teaching and support that we provide.

We believe that measuring our impact is imperative to understanding and improving the success of our programmes. To date we have seen:

• Despite having limited or no exposure to English when they started pre-school, 80% of KHULA’s pre-school children were fluent in English by the end of two years with us
• KHULA students consistently rank in the top 20% of the grade when they graduate from KHULA pre-schools to primary school
• Our primary school teaching support programme saw a year-on-year average increase of 7% in English and Maths scores in 2020 
• Our senior school teaching support programme saw an improvement in Maths pass rates for all eight classes taught in 2020, against baseline testing
• In final year Matric testing, our Grade 12 teaching support programme saw 100% pass rates in English for 2020
• Over the past two years, KHULA’s Life Skills & Job Readiness Programme has influenced the lives of 1,100+ in-school youth

KHULA’s footprint spans the historic battlefields of rural KwaZulu-Natal from Elandskraal, through Rorke’s Drift to Nquthu and Isandlwana encompassing children and youth in some of the most isolated and marginalised areas in South Africa. This is a region of outstanding beauty and dramatic history, but those elements alone are no substitute for education.

Throughout everything we do, our work is underpinned by our 6 operating principles that articulate our model of impact.