Infinite Family (IF), South Africa’s primary video mentoring organisation, delivers a 90% Bachelors and Diploma pass rate to their 2023 Matrics.
“Out of a total of 18 matric ‘Net Buddies’ across all three video lab sites, we have 14 who have achieved Batchelors qualifications, and two with Diploma status,” says Infinite Family SA program director Zoleka Petse.
Petse says these results are a 21% better than the reported 2023 NSC statistics. “We are delighted for our Net Buddies as they also have 23 distinctions as a group.”
Infinite Family, founded in 2006 in South Africa, has three Video Labs (LaunchPads) in Gauteng and the Western Cape, which provide secondary school students with continuous and secure study facilities. There are privacy booths for video mentoring sessions and open workstations for teens to do research and homework.
Using bespoke cloud-based technology, Video Mentors bring a voice of experience from anywhere in the world into a South African teen’s life in the township where they live and help them improve their English and life skills, technology literacy, preparation for careers at the same time.
South African teens attend video mentoring sessions in the Infinite Family LaunchPad computer labs that resemble the real-world workplace where they aspire to work.
“Each student is allocated one session each week with their mentor to discuss, in private, their studies and daily lives. Mentors bring a supportive voice of experience, perspective, and suggestions at regular video mentoring sessions,” says Petse. “This builds on the transformation that teens are naturally experiencing as they evolve from children to adults and motivates and inspires them to invest in themselves at this critical time in ways that will pay off to build better futures.
“Infinite Family acknowledges that teens act increasingly independently, and many will only perform successfully – in school or work – if self-motivated to do so. Video mentoring relationships provide an additional ‘GPS system’ to keep teens on track as they navigate their most challenging years,” Petse says.
Founder and CEO Amy Stokes adds: “Age 12-22 years is when most of us make the most important decisions of our lives – decisions about school, romantic relationships, and, for SA’s teens, how to resist gangs’ temptation of fast cash. By the end of secondary school, our Net Buddies have proven they have the resilience, resourcefulness and responsibility to succeed.
“They know how their hard work delivers results and have already exceeded so many expectations. Our global Infinite Family is so proud of all of our Net Buddies and honoured to help launch them onto their future careers.”
Petse says that the class of 2023 continued the organisation’s success record. Since 2008:
85% of Infinite Family mentored matric students earned a Diploma or Bachelors, versus 58% of all South African Matrics – a 27 percentage point improvement.
97% of Infinite Family mentored matric students earned a Higher Certificate or above, versus 74% if all South African matric students – a 23 percentage point improvement.