KLM works in one of the most rural and impoverished parts of South Africa where the economic and social needs are immense and young people face significant barriers accessing quality education. Our students face an incredibly difficult climb to academic and career success. The statistics across South Africa are grim, and rural communities perform even more poorly on nearly every measure:

• The OECD ranked South Africa’s education system 75 out of 76 countries measured

• Nearly 40% of South Africans aged 15-34 are not working, in training or in school

• Nearly 80% of Grade 4 students (9-10 years old) cannot read or understand sentences in any language

• 61% of Grade 5 students (10-11 years old) cannot add or subtract whole numbers

• Of 100 students who start school, only 4 will complete an undergraduate degree

• Only 13% of South African earn more than $6,000 annually