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Draft:Valenture Institute

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Valenture Institute refers to itself as a “global private online high school”, and students are encouraged to study from anywhere in the world.[1] This Cape Town based start-up that CEO Rob Paddock (co founder of Get Smarter) [2] and COO Amy Johnson [3]set up in 2019, [4] with Professor Robert Lue (EdX Harvard and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University) as chancellor[5], is informed by the “science of online learning”.[6] After Lue’s death, in November 2020,[7] UCT's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.[8] announced a partnership with this startup in July 2021 and launched UCT Online High School, (UCTOHS) which applied an open education license to their curriculum, offering “a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license” to use Valenture Institute’s education materials.[9]

The Valenture Institute also received 7 million dollars funding from GSV Ventures (Coursera investor), to set up boutique school campuses, [4] in

Valenture Institute’s value proposition is to address conventional school’s limitations with a blend of education technology, social learning and inter-institutional collaboration.[15] They launched the venture with UCT in Jan 2022, with 4000 enrolled students[16] and Yandiswa Xhakaza [17]as the principal / director of the school. [18] By the end of 2022, Ms Xhakaza had decided to step down and Banele Lukhele had replaced her in the role of Executive Head of School and Chief Academic Officer.[19]

The stated aim of the Valenture Institute was to be the biggest online high school by 2028.[20] Sanlam Insurance has partnered with UCT Online High School to offer 90 scholarships [21] and South African music artists collaborated to generate a school anthem entitled "We are the future". [22]

In 2023, Valenture Institute was recognized as a global 150 GSV innovator [23] and Paddock was nominated (with two others) as All Africa Innovator of the Year:[24]

References

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  1. ^ Hogg, Alec (2019-12-10). "Disrupting SA education: High school from home and get into Harvard, Stanford, Oxford". BizNews. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  2. ^ Hogg, Alec (2020-07-15). "Meet Valenture Institute founder Robert Paddock, on online education boom". BizNews. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  3. ^ "Cape Town's Valenture Institute is 'global edtech leader'". Ventureburn. 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  4. ^ a b "South African edtech startup Valenture Institute secures $7 million from Coursera investor | Africa CEO Voices". Sep 16, 2020. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  5. ^ Hogg, Alec (2019-12-10). "Disrupting SA education: High school from home and get into Harvard, Stanford, Oxford". BizNews. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  6. ^ "UCT Online High School". University of Cape Town. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  7. ^ Meng, Xiao-Li (2021-07-30). "Remembering Robert Lue: Giving Students "Not a Data Science Course, but a Data Science Life"". Harvard Data Science Review. 3 (3). doi:10.1162/99608f92.5461cafb. ISSN 2644-2353.
  8. ^ Diphoko, Wesley (2021-07-25). "UCT partners with edutech start-up, the Valenture institute, to offer high school education". IOL. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  9. ^ https://static.valentureinstitute.com/uct/UCT+OER+_+T%27s+and+C%27s.pdf
  10. ^ "SA edtech startup launches first campus in Johannesburg". Ventureburn. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  11. ^ "Valenture Institute Tech-enabled high school to open in 2021". 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  12. ^ "A look inside South Africa's first boutique high school which will open in 2021". Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  13. ^ Hardy, Leah (2020-08-12). "Is this new online-only private school the future of education?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  14. ^ Nicholl, Ronan Mc (2020-09-16). "South African EdTech firm Valenture receives $7 million investment". Global EdTech. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  15. ^ "UCT ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL AND VALENTURE: Take the lead in shaping the future of learning". Issuu. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  16. ^ "UCT Online High School rewinds 2022". www.news.uct.ac.za. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  17. ^ https://www.news.uct.ac.za/images/userfiles/downloads/media/2021_09_20_OnlineHighSchoolPrincipal.pdf
  18. ^ Johns, Lynnette (20 January 2022). "Meet the principal & director at UCT Online High School". Financial Mail. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  19. ^ "Executive Head Of School & Chief Academic Officer: Banele Lukhele". www.uctonlinehighschool.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  20. ^ "One moment, please..." www.uktechnews.info. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  21. ^ "UCT OHS Scholarship Programme Inspires Hope". www.sanlam.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  22. ^ SummerRaine (2022-01-24). "SA's Top Award Winning Artists Come Together to Create the First Ever School Song Dubbed 'We Own The Future'". SA Music News Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  23. ^ Monzon, Luis (2023-03-23). "Cape Town edutech firm honoured among the world's best". Hypertext. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  24. ^ Correspondent, Sandton Times (2023-06-21). "11th All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) To Celebrate Exceptional Leaders In Sun City - Sandton Times". sandtontimes.co.za. Retrieved 2025-04-28. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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