Grant Registration Guidelines

The Zenex Foundation commits funding in support of programmes that fall within five strategic focus areas:

• teacher development programmes
• learner development programmes
• leadership and management programmes
• research and innovation
• capacity building

The first three of the strategic focus areas (teacher development; learner development; and school leadership and management) fall within the mandate of the Department of Education. Funding for such projects (over a three year period) are accordingly matched with school communities that fall within selected provincial districts or circuits. The

Zenex Foundation will, one year in advance, begin a process of negotiation with the Department of Education, in order to identify which districts or circuits are best able to benefit from project support in specific provinces.

The selection of which schools will benefit from external support is critical. First-up, the high schools with the best matriculation results are identified. Then the primary schools that are feeder schools to these high schools are identified. Then all of the identified schools are qualitatively assessed in terms of their school management performance and their educational ethos. Based on this feasibility assessment particular schools’ are ear-marked as potential beneficiaries.

The Zenex Foundation then issues an invitation to service providers, already registered on the data base, to submit specific needs-based proposals for selected provinces.

The research and innovation strategic focus area will only commence in 2009. In the meanwhile the Zenex Foundation will assemble a team of mathematics, science and language professionals who will draw up a list of topics areas most pertinent to the local context. The Foundation expects to put out a call for tenders via its web site, its data base and in newspapers.

The capacity building strategic focus area supports projects that have already received funding. Capacity building priorities are collaboratively identified and are intended to improve the capacity of service providers to optimally deliver on their commitments.

In 2010 the Zenex Foundation will put out a call for proposals relevant to the strategic programme themes for delivery in KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, North West and Gauteng. Part of this call will state that organizations should prepare to bid as a consortium.

Register your organization on the Zenex Foundation’s data base. If your organization would like to be alerted to future calls for proposals, then you need to request the Zenex Foundation to load your organisation’s profile onto the Foundation’s data base.

Send the organisation’s profile by downloading the Database Registration Form and email it to ruth@zenexfoundation.org