The Zimbabwean school transforming education through its Capstone Project curriculum and providing scholarships for disadvantaged students
USAP Community School, a secondary school for high-achieving, low-income students in Marondera, Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, has integrated a transformative education model which includes a 3-year Capstone Project curriculum, to power critical thinking, community engagement, creativity and real-world skills. The school provides needs-based scholarships to top-performing students who cannot afford school fees to provide them with access to learning and a roadmap for bringing their ideas and skills home to Africa after gaining a global university education. Widespread unemployment and deterioration of social services, including school quality, often leave many Zimbabwean high-potential students unable to access quality education. For those who can, traditional imported exam-driven education models are not adequately preparing them with critical thinking skills necessary to drive change in their context.
To combat these challenges, USAP Community School enrolled its first class in January 2020 to provide education intentionally built for Zimbabwe's academically talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, while also developing an ethic of service and leadership to prepare them for admission to top universities, and ultimately for success and impact upon their return to Zimbabwe. In addition to traditional subjects, students take part in the three-year Capstone curriculum, where they are taught quantitative and qualitative research methods, evidence-based design thinking, and are encouraged to think deeply about an issue in their community that they care about and want to address. After conducting primary and secondary research, they then write a capstone paper based on this topic, and in their last term before and six months after graduating, they design and implement their solution, bridging classroom learning with making societal change. Many of the initiatives born from this process have grown into lasting organisations and have led to impactful community change.
Through the curriculum, students actively engage in their communities, identifying real needs and approaching issues thoughtfully. They become real-world problem solvers with the capabilities to start making a difference while still completing their studies, reinforcing that they don’t need money to make a difference, but can start to be the change they want to see now.
In 2020-2021 when students were sent home to observe social distancing at the peak of the pandemic, the school addressed the challenge of lack of internet access and unreliable power supply by offering students kindles, solar panels and batteries to give them access to daily lessons.
The over 100 students from the first three cohorts of the school are currently studying at top universities around the world, having earned over $30 million in scholarship support. 25 students from the Class of 2024 have been accepted into top tertiary institutions on full scholarships, while a few await decisions. Over the past four years, the school has supported 35 graduates as capstone fellows to launch impactful and sustainable community projects, with one project leading to the formation of a full-fledged refugee-led youth organisation, TWEENS, which reaches over 300 youth with tutoring and education in the Tongogara Refugee Camp. Students have received accolades worldwide and have won many global prizes and scholarships including an inaugural Ellison Institute Scholar at Oxford and five Rise global winners. Most of the faculty and staff are USAP alumni who studied abroad and have returned to Zimbabwe to influence the next generation of ethical leaders.
Currently celebrating its fifth graduating cohort, the majority of whom have secured university placements, USAP Community School has proven that by empowering potential and providing focused support, it is actively educating some of the country’s most powerful change makers.
