As young people across the country commemorate Youth Day today, Jack Phuti Phukubjwe, 27, will be preparing another lesson for his more than a dozen matriculants he offers extra lessons to in a dilapidated school building in Limpopo.
Dressed in a white formal shirt with a pink lapel pin and holding chalks and a chalkboard duster in his hands, Phukubjwe stands in front of his pupils in a classroom with broken doors.
Phukubjwe, of GaMasehlong in Moletjie, 25km west of Polokwane, is a teacher who uses an abandoned and dilapidated school building to offer extra lessons to matric pupils.
Phukubjwe is the founder of the Limpopo Tutoring Centre – a non-profit organisation (NPO) established in 2021 to provide after-school classes to pupils in grade 12.
The NPO, which is based in GaRapitsi and Moletjie, -operates from the now defunct Bakwena Secondary School, which was shut down by the Limpopo Department of -Education because of low pupil occupancy.
The centre uses seven classrooms with broken doors and chalkboards and worn out wooden desks.
Phukubjwe, who matriculated in 2015 at Modumela Secondary, teaches geography and life sciences at the centre. The centre also offers Northern Sotho, English first additional language, mathematics, mathematical literacy, physical sciences, life sciences, agricultural sciences, geography, economics, accounting and business studies.
Phukubjwe, who completed a teacher’s diploma with Unisa in 2020 said the pain of seeing pupils fail matric and not know what to do afterwards prompted him to establish the Limpopo Tutoring Centre.
“When I volunteered as a teacher between 2016 and 2017, I saw pupils who passed matric, but they did not pass well and did not know what to do afterwards. I saw pupils who failed matric and were sitting at home.
“I observed that there were pupils who dropped out of high school due to issues such as teenage pregnancy and they could not continue with their matric.
“This was painful to watch. I then decided to start the centre and give these children hope,” said Phukubjwe.
The centre consists of 10 staff members, ranging from former matriculants, teachers and other volunteers from the area. They work from Mondays to Saturdays from 8 am until 4pm.
Registration at the centre is R500 and then pupils pay R200 a month per subject.
These costs are for pupils who attend the classes full-time. The centre currently has 110 full-time pupils.
It also offers free extra lessons to pupils from other high schools who are in grades 10, 11 and 12.
The NPO also assists people prepare for matric rewrites, helps high school pupils with their university and TVET college applications and provides internet access to pupils who need to work on their school research projects.
“We have a shortage of resources. We still need more tables, chairs, computers, and overhead projectors, among others. Despite the lack of resources, we have done well by helping pupils rewrite matric and pass,” said Phukubjwe.
