Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town – UpLearn Programme OverviewCape Town, South Africa

The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town is a nonprofit organization that perceives migration as an opportunity and is committed to alleviating poverty and promoting development in the Western Cape while fostering integration between migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and South Africans. SCCT advocates respect for human rights and utilize a holistic approach that considers all basic needs including advocacy, development, and welfare services. Across all of its programs, SCCT assists over 6000 people per year.

Scalabrini’s UpLearn Programme, launched in 2018, works in partnership with Southern New Hampshire University to support 150 migrants and refugees to obtain fully accredited competency-based Associates and Bachelor’s degrees at no cost to the students. The degrees offered include Communications, Management, and Healthcare Management.

UpLearn is a part of the Global Education Movement (GEM) launched by SNHU in 2018 – 2019 in four different countries; South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, and Lebanon. The project is grounded in SNHUs pioneering work with vulnerable learners and refugees in Rwanda. Based on this model the University has partnered with Scalabrini to facilitate the delivery of a blended learning program. Together we address the reality that worldwide there are more than 65 million refugees and other displaced peoples and only 1% have access to higher education. The objective of the initiative is to give those who may be prohibited from accessing higher education by financial or legal barriers an opportunity to live lives of choice by empowering themselves through education.

2019 Overview of Activities

UpLearn facilitates and supports the successful online learning of its students through a comprehensive support system which includes: a pre-degree program that offers Academic English and Digital Literacy training, lab space for students to work in, printed resources, in-lab academic assistance, case by case welfare support, interactive teaching seminars, enrichment workshop and activities, one on one coaching, internship placement support, and professional development workshops.

In 2019 the UpLearn team focused on ensuring that each of its students was on track to graduate within the bursary period. To this end, upLearn developed a comprehensive predominantly peer to peer coaching model that seeks to support students to become self-regulated learners able to navigate academic challenges as well the everyday challenges associated with living as a refugee or migrant in South Africa.

UpLearn has also developed an interactive skills-focused teaching methodology used in the design of full-day workshops that teach the content and core skills of the full Associate degree. This curriculum is delivered through a monthly teaching cycle that aligns with individualized student targets.

To read other stories from the 2019 CLCC Yearbook, click here.