The Ukuqonda Institute

• Please list links to your Website and Social Media Platforms here:

The Ukuqonda Institute

• Describe in detail what your Organisation does:

A non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of excellence in mathematics, physical science and technology education. The overarching perspective informing the vision of Ukuqonda is that learning should provide for sense making, promotion of conceptual understanding and the development of valuable know-how and strategic skills.

• How long has your Organisation been operational?

13 years

• In your opinion, what has been the most challenging aspect of running your Organisation?

Education and the challenges our learners face are often thought of as something that should (just) be fixed, and that this can be done by short term interventions. This thinking often restricts the kind of funding made available to short term deliverables, like number of passes. This often attracts only the attention of organisations that are not necessarily sensitive to promotion of conceptual understanding but rather just focussing on procedural knowledge.

• Describe your Nonprofit Journey in three words:

Dedication, understanding, growth

• Do you collaborate with other Causes? If yes, would you like to mention them?

Yes

• If you had one Organisation wish, what would it be?

Being able to reach communities/schools/learners who are not provided opportunities to learn, to learn with understanding, to develop their autonomy in the classroom space.

• In your opinion, which skills do Nonprofits in your Country lack?

The ability to freely collaborate in working towards development of beneficiaries.

• Looking back at your Cause Journey, what advice would you give a newbie Organisation?

It is important to clearly define the purpose and objectives of an organisation and to remain connected to these objectives.

• If you could change one thing about the Nonprofit Landscape, what would it be?

Better collaboration from different sectors of the economy and the different initiatives that are launched in schools/communities.

• Which Cause achievement are you most proud of? Feel free to elaborate on why and include any links:

The role that Ukuqonda was and still is able to play in the journey of students towards self actualisation in the post matric programmes(13th school year programme) that they attend.
Ukuqonda have also developed a number of learner books and teacher guides for Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Technology. All these have been published under a Creative Commons license and are therefor freely available to schools and learners. These are available on our website: www.ukuqonda.org.za

• Last question, if your friends had to describe your Organisation in three words, which would they use?

Visionary, Passionate, Hopeful