WHO WE ARE
MK Baswarutegang (translated “Youth, please get educated!” in English) Foundation, MKG Foundation in short, is a non-profit organization that was founded and registered in 2019 in terms of the South Africa Non-profit Organisation Act 1997 (REF NO: 235-957 NPO) and Companies ACT 2008 (REF NO:2021/658628/07) by Dr. Mankgopo Kgatle and her co-founders.
Limpopo represents one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, with over 70% of the population living in remote areas facing poverty. Poverty in this province is a reality that is not only characterized by lack of basic “nutritious” food but steepest socio-economic gradient in education that is associated with poor infrastructure (e.g. lack of toilets, desks, and water), household mentorship, and a shortage of qualified teachers. According to the recent National Education Infrastructure Management System report (published on 07 Feb 2020), more than 80% of schools have no laboratories, libraries, computers, and internet access. A report published by Shibu Mamokgere in 2020 indicated that the number of schools that obtained a 0% matric pass rate increased by 300% between 2018 and 2019. The response from the Department of Education was to merge such schools with others that are also struggling and facing similar challenges fostering the worst teacher-to-student ratio. This continues to feed into a vicious cycle of generational poverty with unrewarding/unproductive lives as some learners end up lost to drug abuse, crime, unsafe sexual practices, and sexual abuse by “sugar daddies/blessers” predisposing them to sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancy. Amongst the few that pass matric; the vast majority of learners from such poorly resourced settings, have insufficient grades and do not meet the minimum requirements for tertiary education. Those who meet the requirements and enroll at tertiary institutions, a huge number face a significantly bigger learning curve compared with their peers from well-resourced settings. They struggle to perform the required activities optimally, which predisposes them to anxiety and low self-esteem. This may be translated into adulthood poor performance that has been observed in the current labor market. It is, therefore, critical that we urgently eliminate education-based challenges of disparities faced by our rural learners to improve the livelihoods and communities at large.
As MKG Foundation, our greatest mission is to break the chain of poverty in the poorest rural communities of Limpopo through education and mentorship. We hope to achieve this by eliminating challenges faced by rural learners by taking them out of poor to well-resourced boarding schools (from the early foundation phase) for a better learning environment and education to open more opportunities for their future. We also assist learners who have already acquired the SA National Senior Certificate (matric) and meet minimum requirements for university or college eligibility with the application, registration (where applicable), and mentorship.