Overview

South Africa’s education system is in crisis. Approximately 80 percent of our schools are considered dysfunctional, which means that the vast majority of our school going learners are receiving an education that is effectively wasting their time and potential. This crisis requires a multifaceted response and research points strongly to the fact that no system can supersede the quality of its teachers– the quality of teachers is crucial to the success and health of the system. The unit of change is therefore the teacher.Schools play an important role in realising the potential of children and JGF believe that education is a powerful vehicle for addressing social justice. In South Africa the massive inequality in, and the low quality of education infringe daily on children’s basic human rights. Addressing this issue is thus the fundamental driver of JGF’s work and we therefore want to impact on the quality of teaching in schools, which in turn can realise the full potential of children. Teaching is also a vehicle for social innovation. And although we cannot say with absolute certainty what the future will look like, we can prepare our Fellows to entrepreneurially tackle the challenges, and seize the opportunities, regardless. The JGF therefore equips and supports Fellows to tackle education challenges entrepreneurially.The JGF aims to change the narrative about the teaching profession by attracting the best and most talented to become our country’s teachers. The JGF promotes three pathways to effect change in the system, teaching, leading and edu-trepreneurship.The JGF therefore attracts, invest in, support, inspire and motivate a group of high potential individuals who will solve the most pressing challenges in education, creating an effective and equitable education system. The JGF does this by providing a full scholarship for tertiary education including a Fellowship programme that develops the necessary skills and competencies to be effective in this mission.