School Year

Meet the students of Cape Town's Centre of Science and Technology (COSAT), a magnet school that serves the low-income township of Khayelitsha. We’re profiling their challenges and successes over an entire year.

When graduating from high school, even top students need guidance

At the beginning of her senior year in high school, a South African student had big dreams. But by the end of the year, she was forced to reconsider her future.

Development & Education

This is why South African schoolgirls say 'yes' to sex with sugar daddies

PRI's The World

January 07, 2014

For years, high schools in South Africa have warned female students about the risks of dating older men. But for one girl in poverty, it is hard to say "no" to a sugar daddy.

Development & Education

Video: Learning to Succeed

PRI's The World

March 12, 2013

Students at the Centre of Science and Technology in Cape Town, South Africa, have high hopes: to become doctors and engineers, win top awards, and lift their families out of poverty.

Development & Education

Three lessons from my year reporting on a South African high school

PRI's The World

January 21, 2014

When reporter Anders Kelto embedded himself in a South African high school for a year, he expected to learn a lot from the experience. But there were several lessons he didn't anticipate.

Development & Education

School Year Blog: South African high school students learn radio reporting

PRI's The World

January 17, 2014

Over the past year, reporter Anders Kelto has profiled a public high school in Cape Town. Now, he's not the only one asking questions and holding a microphone.

Development & Education

When graduating from high school, even top students need guidance

PRI's The World

January 15, 2014

At the beginning of her senior year in high school, a South African student had big dreams. But by the end of the year, she was forced to reconsider her future.

Development & Education

This is why South African schoolgirls say 'yes' to sex with sugar daddies

PRI's The World

January 07, 2014

For years, high schools in South Africa have warned female students about the risks of dating older men. But for one girl in poverty, it is hard to say "no" to a sugar daddy.

Development & Education

A South African teen receives an unexpected gift from America

PRI's The World

December 30, 2013

An American radio listener heard the story of an impoverished South African high school student and raised $1,000 to help him. How would he respond?

Development & Education

Meet the woman behind a South African high school's success

PRI's The World

December 25, 2013

COSAT is a science and technology high school teaching some of South Africa's poorest kids. Yet it has one of the highest graduation rates of any public high in the country. Its principal, Phadiela Cooper, is one reason why.

Development & Education

South African teens — those 'born free' — talk about Mandela

PRI's The World

December 06, 2013

As president of South Africa, Mandela pushed for equality between blacks and whites in the nation's schools. Anders Kelto of PRI's The World went to a school he's been following for a year to find out what teenagers were feeling after Mandela's death.