By Gail Campbell
Earlier this week, we gathered to celebrate a remarkable milestone, 30 years of the Zenex Foundation and our shared journey in transforming South Africa’s education system. The celebration was both joyful and deeply reflective, given the reality that still, most South African children do not have access to meaningful quality education. It reminded us that Zenex’s story is not just about what we’ve done, but about how we’ve learned about failures, about collaboration with others and about change that lasts.
Over three decades, we’ve learned that real transformation happens at a systems level, when you change how things work at a collaborative and structural level, and not just what’s delivered. Despite the progress we’ve made, the latest studies show that 80% of Grade 3 learners still cannot read for meaning, and our maths and science results remain among the lowest internationally. That’s why our focus remains where it’s always been, on systems change that strengthens the foundations of learning.
The truth is, our education system is not failing for lack of effort, it’s stuck. To truly move forward, we need to change how the system itself works and learns, shifting from isolated projects to a coordinated, evidence-driven ecosystem that enables lasting improvement. For us, systems change means building trust and aligning our programmes with government priorities, co-designing solutions with the DBE, and working with other funders and partners to tackle the structural barriers that hold learning back.
Over the years, we’ve learned that systems change is not only about scale. It’s about learning together and leveraging M&E to understand where system shifts are sustainable. Every Zenex programme is designed for insight as much as impact. We’ve learned to work within the public system, not around or alongside it; to design at the right level of complexity; and to strengthen the system’s own capacity to learn.
It has not been a perfect journey, it was messy and difficult, but we’ve learned as much from what didn’t work as from what did. It has been a purposeful, courageous, and deeply collaborative journey, one that continues to shape our mission. It’s about supporting what already exists, teacher training, curriculum design, assessment systems and strengthening elements such as these so they work better for everyone. It’s also about building a learning ecosystem, where evidence drives decisions and where the sector continuously learns and adapts together.
It is for this reason we made the strategic shift from funding isolated projects to designing evidence-based, collaborative initiatives embedded in the public system. It’s slower work, but it’s the only kind that endures.
As we look ahead to 2030, our focus remains clear:
- Strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy from Grade R to Grade 6.
- Supporting the next generation of teachers through initial teacher education.
- Working deeply in partnership to make system-level change sustainable.
30 years of Zenex has reminded me how far partnership in education can go when it stays curious, collaborative, and grounded in evidence. Learning has always been at the heart of Zenex’s story. As we step into the next chapter, we’ll continue to support South Africa’s education system to strengthen, learn, and aim to provide a better future for every South African child.
I extend a heartfelt thank you to our Trustees, the Zenex team and our partners.
