When Investec’s corporate social investment (CSI) team launched Promaths in 2005, they expected 15 distinctions from 100 matric learners. They got three. Rather than abandoning the initiative, they expanded it. As the programme celebrates its 20th anniversary, that course correction has delivered 13 000 maths and science distinctions, creating a replicable model that operates from 19 centres around the country.
South Africa’s education landscape has many challenges to overcome. Determined to contribute to changing this reality, Investec, in partnership with Kutlwanong Centre for Maths, Science and Technology, established the Promaths programme to drive excellence in maths and science.
Investec CSI head Setlogane Manchidi says that limited results in the programme’s first year prompted its champions to return to the drawing board. “The band-aid approach, starting so late in the academic life of learners, forced us to relook at our expectations.” The programme’s pivot to a three-year model covering Grades 10–12 proved to be the solution required. From the first cohort of learners matriculating from this extended approach, 10 earned 100% in mathematics and over 80 distinctions were achieved overall.
“It was at this point that we started thinking of replication,” says Manchidi. However, Investec resisted branding the initiative as its own. “We wanted to build a model that could be embraced by many different entities,” he explains. And it has. While Investec still funds 10 centres, accounting for about 50% of the total programme cost, an additional nine centres are funded by diverse partners, including the Free State Department of Education, Datatec, Liberty, Harmony, and many others. Investec’s funding supports about 5 000 learners annually, while the broader network reaches around 8 000 students annually.
The high-touch reality
Promaths operates on a model that defies easy scaling.
Host schools, selected for their proximity to feeder schools, serve as intensive maths and science tuition centres accommodating roughly 150 learners per grade. However, established centres may reach 200 to 250 learners per grade. Learners in Grades 10 to matric sacrifice their weekends and holiday time. Teachers from feeder schools work contracted hours beyond their regular positions.
The cost of this intensive approach amounts to about R3.6 million annually per centre. “One of the biggest challenges has been scaling and the limitation of a high-touch model,” Manchidi acknowledges. “It becomes quite costly and therefore doesn’t lend itself to the speed of scalability which everybody wishes.”
However, the results justify the investment. Promaths learners consistently achieve 90% bachelor passes and the programme accounts for 7% of South Africa’s annual maths and 8% of science distinctions, a remarkable proportion given that Promaths participants make up less than 1% of the national cohort. To date, 28 405 learners have passed through the Promaths programme.
Promaths learnings from the virtual pivot
The Covid-19 pandemic forced Promaths to move online. Teachers adapted, learners logged in from their phones and learning continued. However, post-Covid feedback revealed the importance of face-to-face contact in the South African education setting.
Learners described home environments that weren’t conducive to learning and the loss of peer energy that had been a source of motivation. “They said it was more of a lonely road, unlike the sense of family that attending the Promaths programme in person conveyed,” Manchidi recalls. One student told him: “We may not have fancy lunches, but it was about the ability to break bread with friends, classmates and people who have your best interests at heart.”
Promaths has since evolved the online platform into a supplementary education tool. It now houses past papers and learning materials across other subjects and facilitates virtual group work between contact sessions. It is also the primary teacher collaboration platform for preparation and workshopping materials.
“Technology enhances but cannot replace human connection in contexts marked by the educational deficit in our system,” Manchidi reflects.
Supporting learners beyond the classroom
Investec and its partners have built a supportive ecosystem around the Promaths programme to support graduates beyond matric. The Promaths Bursary Fund, established in 2017 and administered by StudyTrust, offers full-cost bursaries for graduates pursuing studies that require mathematics. The fund directly supports students and serves as a recruitment platform that connects graduates with corporate bursary providers.
Manchidi says Promaths alumni chapters have been registered as societies at most local universities. These provide support structures for students in the difficult transition between school and university, while pragmatically enabling longer-term impact tracking. “Universities have acknowledged the extent to which Promaths has played a significant role in bringing them quality candidates, particularly in STEM streams.”
The programme has also introduced the Promaths Social Challenge, a compulsory team-based competition addressing topics like education, environment and job creation. Teams compete for prizes of R250 000, R150 000 and R100 000 for their host schools. “As much as it’s about the competition and the money, it’s about the social skills it teaches these kids. They learn about persuasion, communication and problem-solving,” Manchidi explains.
Independent impact reviews conducted every five years track longer-term outcomes. Meanwhile, a working professionals alumni society has been established as part of the programme’s 20th anniversary celebrations to document where graduates have landed.
Building the franchise future
Investec has injected significant financial investments into Promaths over the past two decades. The company hopes to increase the number of funded Promaths centres and establish a presence across all nine provinces.
Speaking at the Promaths anniversary celebration in October 2025, Mahlatse Nicolas Mmako, Investec CSI consultant overseeing Promaths, reminded the audience of the African proverb that informs Investec’s vision for the Promaths programme: “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” Manchidi and Promaths partners called on the public and private sectors to join Investec in growing the programme.
He says Promaths offers a tested model with documented outcomes. The franchise approach means partner organisations need not reinvent methodologies or build capacity from scratch.
Manchidi notes, however, that the challenge isn’t just about funding but also about a commitment to models that require time to mature. “Models are not built overnight. They’re built over time. We’ve got to build models that are franchise-like, that are plug-and-play, and that can offer scalability.”
The Promaths programme is an example of what the long-term approach to social development can achieve. The celebration showcased how a social impact model can build a community of generous, collaborative partnerships, committed teachers, successful alumni and learners hopeful for a brighter future.
Carmelia Bie graduated from Promaths at the Katlehong Kutlwanong centre in 2019. After securing her degree in Mathematical Science at Wits University, she joined a graduate programme at Deloitte and is now pursuing an
honours degree in Economic Science while working as a senior strategy and planning analyst at global information and insights company TransUnion. “Promaths created a community that truly believed in
me and my classmates. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, Kutlwanong offered a space where we felt seen and supported. Most importantly, it instilled in us the belief that we could make a meaningful impact – thanks to teachers who invested in us and never stopped believing in our potential. Our centre manager, Ms Maseko, was more than a teacher; she became a second parent, constantly pushing us to rise above our circumstances and aim higher.”
Setlogane Manchidi | Head of Corporate Social Investment
