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The Siyaphumelela (“We Succeed”) Initiative Seeks to Broaden Evidence-Based Postsecondary Student Success Strategies in South Africa
South Africa is the only place The Kresge Foundation works outside of the United States. We began funding South African universities in 1989, and to date have invested nearly $30 million to promote South African postsecondary access and success – especially improving student graduation rates.
In 2014, we launched the Siyaphumelela (“We Succeed”) initiative to encourage the use of data analytics to enhance South African university student success. Specifically, Siyaphumelela seeks to build institutional capacity to collect and analyze student data to determine when and why students are not succeeding so that institutions can focus on the most effective interventions.
Led by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) and informed by student success innovators from across the world, such as the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) and Achieving the Dream, Siyaphumelela reform efforts are taking shape at five universities: Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, University of Pretoria, University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and Durban University of Technology.
The initiative also supports the latest technological and productivity advances to identify cost-effective methods of delivering high-quality postsecondary instruction.
SAIDE stewards the Siyaphumelela initiative among South African educational institutions and partners.
ATD supports Siyaphumelela by training South African coaches to work with participating universities and facilitate knowledge exchange.
IIE is a private higher education institution offering more than 70 registered and accredited higher education programmes.
CHE is an independent, statutory, quality-assurance and advisory council for South African higher education.
DHET is responsible for tertiary education, post-schooling and skills development in South Africa.
SALDRU conducts policy-relevant research in applied empirical microeconomics with an emphasis on labour markets.
USAf aims to promote a more inclusive, responsive and equitable national system of higher education.
Managing Director
Education
Deputy Director
Program Officer
Fellow
Communications Officer
Associate, Grants Management
Education, Environment