THE RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM
The Residential Program involves a full scholarship to Ridgeway College (Grades 8-12) an independent school in Louis Trichardt, South Africa.
Students receive everything they need – tuition, full boarding, medical care, transportation to and from home, exam fees, clothing, computer access, books, and extracurricular activities, alongside mentorship and psychosocial support.
Our Residential Program offers students a full scholarship to attend Ridgeway College, a relatively low fee secondary school offering the private IEB curriculum. Ridgeway College ensures an excellent academic standard and unlike the rural schools from which they originate, Sumbandila scholars receive first language English tuition, exposure to IT and Science laboratories, essential for university preparation.
Sumbandila students are housed in a boarding hostel during the week, where for the first time they receive three nutritious meals a day, sleep in their own beds, have access to running water, electricity, WiFi and computers.
However, students are funded to go home on the weekends to ensure that they remain rooted in their communities, their churches, their culture, their language, and their families.
Critical to the success of this program is the ongoing support surrounding the transition from rural village life to an essentially middle-class school located in a town. This support comes from staff, older students, and alumni.
Sumbandila values their critical relationship with Ridgeway College. Ridgeway College offers IEB (Independent Examination Board) exams. These exams are internationally benchmarked and used in leading private schools in South Africa. The size of the college, around 180 learners, lends itself to a family atmosphere where classes are small and each child is given individual attention.
Finally, the relatively low fee structure, coupled with the Sumbandila project, means that students are drawn from economically diverse backgrounds, something we see as an advantage.