The JumpStart Foundation recruits unemployed young South Africans to serve as classroom tutors in under-resourced primary schools, addressing both youth joblessness and early-grade mathematics shortfalls.
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate for ages 15 to 24 reached 60.9 percent, while 45.6 percent of those aged 15 to 34 are classified as not in employment, education or training, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey. The foundation deploys about 230 interns across five provinces. Most work directly in schools, adding three and a half hours of mathematics instruction each week using the NumberSense Workbook and tracking progress through the JumpTrack app. Forty others train in digital development at a lab in Cresta, Gauteng. Executive Director Lufuno Muthubi-Mthethwa said the 12-month internships provide stipends, skills training and pathways into further study or work. Recent data from more than 300 participants showed 17 pursuing further studies and 15 securing external jobs. The programme operates on donor funding and has recorded a 12 percent performance gain among Eastern Cape learners from Grade 1 to Grade 4 between 2024 and 2025.