A community of women created a night school to give people who dropped out a second chance, and they’re celebrating over 300 candidates who have completed the race.
Cape Town, South Africa (13 June, 2023) — Second chances are sometimes the most important ones we get in life. The chance to try again, to do better when we know better and to tackle what once might have seemed impossible with a fresh perspective. This is why schools like the Hopeful Leaders Night School are so important. They don’t just offer a second chance, they encourage it and guide people through right to the end.
Run by only women and started by Yumna Alexander from Manenberg, Hopeful Leaders Night School began with a simple dream: help people give themselves a better future by offering them a guided second chance at matriculating.
Since it began in 2020, Hopeful Leaders has been the wind under many communities’ wings—Manenberg, Hanover Park, Delft, Bishop Lavis and Bonteheuwel— empowering and encouraging people who dropped out of high school to finish the race and matriculate.
They’ve had over 500 registrations for their classes and 300 candidates who completed the feat. Now, they’re celebrating their final class for 2023, holding thumbs for the matric exams later this year.
The night school changing the game is run solely by strong women.
In their words, these are women “willing tolerate, listen and love people from different walks, different dynamics and still stay on top of their A-game, since it comes from a place of love.”
The night school even has class parties and a matric dance to look forward to, as well as a special addition for 2023—a valedictorian celebration for people who completed all 6 subjects.
This initiative is the kind that makes us proud to be South African, where communities take it upon themselves to make their own opportunities, second chances and new chapters.