Thinkerneur Sustainable Impact has announced the launch of The Education + Graduate Summit (TEGS), a bold national platform designed to rethink South Africa’s education system and position it as a global benchmark for teaching, learning, skills development, and graduate readiness.
A Summit Born From Lived Experience
At the heart of TEGS is a deeply personal story. Bogosi Motshegwa, Founder of TEGS, CEO of Thinkerneur, and Chief Executive for Sustainable Impact, failed Grade 11, not because he lacked ability, but because the education system did not make sense to him. That experience became a turning point and a driving force behind the creation of The Education + Graduate Summit.
According to Motshegwa, the problem is bigger than individual learners. “There’s fundamentally something wrong with education, not only in South Africa, but globally,” he says. “Education is an outdated technology. It is no longer relevant for 2026 and beyond.” He believes the system cannot be fixed with small adjustments. “The system is too broken to be fixed. It must be overhauled. Incremental changes will not deliver the outcomes we need.”
The Journey Begins in April 2026
The TEGS journey officially begins with the Education Workshop in April 2026, which forms Phase One of the broader summit programme. Unlike the main summit in September 2026, the April workshop is designed as a discussion-driven and problem-focused platform. Its purpose is to create a safe space for honest conversations, where real experiences from those closest to the system are heard and understood. This phase focuses on diagnosing challenges, identifying root causes, and building a shared understanding of what is truly holding South Africa’s education system back.
What the Education Workshop Aims to Achieve
The Education Workshop will focus on four key objectives:
-
Diagnosis and understanding: Gathering insights to consolidate key issues, pain points, and opportunities.
-
Expressing true issues: Creating a safe environment for frustrations, barriers, and concerns to be shared openly.
-
Learning from lived realities: Hearing directly from educators, learners, parents, policymakers, and influencers.
-
Preparing for September: Building a common foundation to guide solutions at the main summit later in the year.
The workshop will also explore critical questions such as:
-
Is teaching and learning in South Africa truly effective?
-
Why do only 50% of Grade 1 learners reach matric, and what happens to the other 50%?
-
What systemic barriers prevent education from serving the majority?
-
Is there a better and more efficient way to educate, and if so, why is it not being used?
Four Core Themes Guiding TEGS
Discussions across the workshop and summit will be guided by four core TEGS themes:
-
TEGS Vision: Position South Africa’s education as a global benchmark.
Key question: What would it take to achieve world-class standards? -
Priority Goal 1: Make education accessible and effective for the majority.
-
Priority Goal 2: Ensure education is relevant and connected to everyday life.
-
Priority Goal 3: Improve the quality of teaching and learning through collaboration, innovation, and progressive thinking across the education value chain.
A Collective National Effort
Thinkerneur Sustainable Impact plans to bring together a wide range of voices to ensure inclusive and grounded outcomes. Participants will include:
-
Education experts, academics, and researchers
-
Teachers and school leaders
-
Learners, pupils, and recent graduates
-
Parents
-
Government officials and policy influencers
-
Media professionals and civic leaders
-
Corporate partners invested in youth development
-
NGOs, foundations, and impact-driven organisations
Details of the April 2026 Education Workshop will be released in January 2026.
From Understanding to Action: September 2026
Insights gathered during the April workshop will directly shape The Education + Graduate Summit in September 2026. The summit is positioned as a solutions-led platform focused on policy shaping, innovative thinking, and practical action. Rather than repeating well-documented problems, the summit aims to turn shared understanding into implementable ideas that can drive real change across the education system.
An Open Invitation to Shape the Future
Thinkerneur Sustainable Impact invites all education and work-readiness stakeholders, including government, the private sector, NGOs, foundations, civil society, and corporate partners, to participate, partner, or explore sponsorship opportunities.
TEGS represents a call to action: to rethink education, rebuild it for relevance, and position South Africa as a global leader in learning and graduate readiness.
