South Africa’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) teacher shortage has dominated the conversation, but the focus has mostly stayed on the crisis. A parliamentary response from the Department of Basic Education revealed that 464 public schools do not offer Mathematics, with shortages of qualified Mathematics teachers among the reasons cited while the most recent published national infrastructure data showed that 82.4% of public schools had no laboratories and 74% had no libraries at all .
Koa Foundation is changing the narrative by demonstrating that the online space is a powerful tool for bringing quality educational support into any school environment. Across 27 Quintile 1 to 3 schools serving approximately 2,050 learners, the organisation’s digital-first approach combines qualified online STEAM teachers, structured coursework and on-the-ground facilitators to help those schools close the learning gap. It is not a concept waiting to be proven – it is already operating and ready to scale.
Koa Foundation’s work is supported by a clear partnership model: Anglo American South Africa and Valterra Platinum fund the programme, while JET Education Services is the managing partner for the programme and oversees the broader STEAM initiative. Koa Foundation leads delivery for Grades 9 to 12, bringing the blended model, content and on-the-ground facilitation into classrooms.
“Koa Foundation exists because talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t. Technology combined with the right support on the ground can close that gap, and Koa Foundation is proving it’s possible,” says Juliana Louw, Programme Manager at Koa Foundation.
A model built for reality
Koa Foundation’s approach starts from a practical premise: the online space allows schools to access quality educational support for their teachers and students that didn’t exist before. In participating schools, learners arrive after regular classes and gather in a venue set up for the programme. For schools without existing infrastructure, Koa Foundation assists with access to the necessary technology. A facilitator has already logged in and prepared the room, ensuring the session runs smoothly.
Learners then log into Koa Foundation’s learning management system, where they work through self-paced coursework before joining live online lessons led by qualified STEAM teachers. The facilitator’s role is to keep the session moving: checking attendance, helping with devices, managing behaviour and resolving practical issues that might otherwise interrupt learning.
That division of labour is central to the model’s strength. Specialist teachers deliver the content. Facilitators keep the environment stable and supportive. As a team, they create continuity in schools where large classes, limited staff and uneven access to resources often make consistent STEAM instruction difficult to sustain.
Louw says that human support is what transforms digital learning into something effective on the ground. “We quickly learned that content alone isn’t enough. If learners don’t see their world reflected in the examples and framing, it doesn’t land the same way. Once we adapted the material for Quintile 1 to 3 learners, engagement improved,” says Louw.
Designed for accessibility
The model’s other major strength is its resilience. It was designed for the realities of South African schooling, where connectivity problems and load shedding can derail even the best-planned lesson. Every live lesson is recorded in advance, which means facilitators can continue a session offline if connectivity drops at the wrong moment. Additionally, learners can continue coursework from home on their mobile devices when needed.
This approach has made Koa Foundation more than a digital education initiative. It’s a working response to structural constraints; built to fit the conditions many schools actually face rather than the conditions policymakers hope for.
Evidence of impact
Across the participating secondary schools, learner outcomes improved between 2024 and 2025, with strong gains in matric pass rates and encouraging improvements in Mathematics and Physical Sciences. In one cluster of four programme schools in the Northern Cape, the combined matric pass rate increased from 77.8% in 2024 to 87.0% in 2025.
There are also signs that the programme is changing what learners believe is possible. In the Enrichment Programme, roughly a third of Grade 9 learners across participating sites now say they plan to choose Mathematics and Physical Sciences in Grade 10. That matters because subject choice shapes future study and career pathways. In a country where learners are often discouraged from taking these subjects, a shift in confidence can be as important as an improvement in marks.
“When a learner moves from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘I understand this,’ everything changes,” Louw says. “That confidence shift is just as important as the marks, because it opens the door to future choices.”
Why the education sector should pay attention
Koa Foundation’s model also arrives at a moment when the broader education system is under pressure to find practical solutions. The Basic Education Minister has already acknowledged that provinces are relying on public-private partnerships to make progress on connectivity and access. That makes programmes like Koa Foundation less of an exception and more of a glimpse into what scalable intervention can look like.
The lesson is not that the state should step aside. It’s that the education sector can’t afford to wait for a single, centralised fix before acting. The STEAM teacher shortage is a structural challenge, but it is not an excuse for paralysis. Where specialist teaching, local facilitation and resilient digital delivery are combined well, learners can be reached now.
The model is not limited to STEAM. Its structure can be adapted for other subjects and school contexts, and Koa Foundation is open to expanding with new partners. Over the next 12 to 24 months, its focus is on reaching more schools and provinces, while also exploring programmes in Accounting, Business Studies and Economics alongside a Grade 9 career guidance pilot launching soon.
For funders, policymakers and education leaders, the key shift in perspective is from debating what is missing to backing what is already working. Koa Foundation has shown that the model can function in under-resourced schools, adapt to connectivity interruptions and produce measurable academic gains.
South Africa already knows the size of the problem. The next challenge is recognising the solutions that are already working.
For more information, visit koaacademy.com/about/koa-foundation/
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Author: Hannah Clement
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