In Setswana tseba means to know, in isiXhosa it means to jump. Millions of young South Africans in disadvantaged areas have to jump in order to acquire the knowledge and opportunities they need to improve their lives.
This is changing slowly, however. Today TSiBA also means access to education — being the acronym for Tertiary School in Business Administration.
Established in 2004 and based in Pinelands, Cape Town, TSiBA offers full tuition scholarships to successful students who would not otherwise have access to tertiary education.
It offers a foundation year certificate in business administration, followed by an enriched Bachelor’s degree in business administration focused on entrepreneurial leadership. This year will see TSiBA’s first six graduates leave with their degrees.
Khanyisa Mathombeni is one of the students who will graduate. He is from White River in Cape Town and he got a bursary in 2005 to study at the institution.
He plans to get a job in a bank and then go back to his community to help other young people.
”I have realised that there’s so much that I can do for my community. I really want to help people who are handicapped. I want to help them with education and skills so they can be better people in our society,” said Mathombeni.
Leigh Meinert, managing director of TSiBA, believes that despite all the challenges young South Africans face, they have significant lessons to offer the country.
Meinert believes there are a number of issues that prevent young people from achieving the goals they want to accomplish in life.
”The things that constrict us from doing these are primarily race and class,” she argues.
”People from different race groups are not integrated, this is the same with class — the rich and the poor are not interacting with each other. I think the best thing we can offer the country is to contribute to the integration of the old generation and the new generation. We can help both generations be far more integrated,” she says.
”Opportunities that bring us together, like TSiBA, [are] an example of older and younger generations working and learning together in a space where they can share knowledge and skills.”
Students are selected on the basis of both their academic and leadership potential. Since all students at the institution have scholarships, TSiBA partners with corporate and individual funders who sponsor the operations and management of the institution. Along with tuition, TSiBA also sponsors the full cost of each student’s textbooks for the four-years that it takes to complete the foundation certificate and three-year degree.
Students are not expected to repay TSiBA. Rather, they are expected to ”pay it forward” by getting involved in their communities and schools.