The Billion Child Foundation’s International Schools Centre of Excellence Programme (ISCEP) has once again delivered large-scale, measurable improvement in underperforming schools, this time in Limpopo Province, South Africa, with both literacy and matriculation results showing dramatic gains.
Key Achievements – 2025
- 91% of students passed the 2025 matriculation examination
- 76% achieved eligibility for University or TVET College admission
- Significant gains in Grade 4 reading with comprehension in home languages
Programme Implementation and Impact
In 2022, BCF trained three district directors and their circuit managers, who in turn simultaneously trained the school management teams of 1,518 schools (1,096 primary schools and 422 high schools) to kickstart academic improvements of all grades. The results above and in the table below were achieved by the 422 high schools, while primary schools showed a significant increase in the percentage of Grade 4 students able to read with meaning in their home language.
The following table illustrates how ISCEP empowers school management teams to kickstart academic results using the resources already available in their schools.
2021–2025 Matriculation Highlights
| District | Percentage students passing matriculation examination | Percentage students gaining University/TVET eligibility | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Capricorn North | 76% | 79% | 86% | 91% | 92% | 58% | 62% | 69% | 77% | 79% |
| Vhembe East | 77% | 77% | 86% | 90% | 90% | 59% | 57% | 70% | 76% | 74% |
| Vhembe West | 71% | 74% | 83% | 88% | 89% | 52% | 55% | 65% | 71% | 74% |
| Average | 75% | 76% | 85% | 90% | 91% | 56% | 57% | 68% | 75% | 76% |
These results exclude students who were progressed to Grade12 on account of their age
Replication and Success in Other Provinces
This is not a once-off miracle. Hundreds of previously underperforming schools in the Free State Province, whose school management teams were similarly trained (2011 – 2016) to kickstart academic excellence achieved comparable results.
In 2025, 93% of Free State students passed the matriculation examination, with 79% gaining eligibility for University or TVET College admission.
The real miracle is that these results were achieved by schools in rural areas where electricity and connectivity are at best sporadic, where extreme poverty is chronic, and parental support for education and teachers was previously abysmally low.
Scalability, Replicability and Sustainability
These results demonstrate that the programme is replicable, scalable and sustainable anywhere in the world.
By training district directors and circuit managers to empower school management teams, the programme creates personal ownership at every level. These leaders take pride in their role in immediately kickstarting significant academic gains across all grades from year one. This embedded leadership model ensures long-term implementation and continuous improvement for many years after donor funding has ended.
Call to Action
Donors are invited to sponsor this Programme anywhere in the world. Please contact our CEO Alan J Whitaker at alan@billionchild.org