Masinyusane Development Organisation (Grassroots Youth Development)

The Masinyusane Development Organisation is an education non-profit founded in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, in 2008. Masinyusane runs the Grassroots Youth Development bursary as part of wider work in literacy, education and employment in the Eastern Cape.

Registered name

Masinyusane Development Organisation (Grassroots Youth Development)

Type

Non-profit organisation (education and youth employment)

Fields funded

Undergraduate degrees, diplomas and certificates in any field

Website

masinyusane.org

Hiring young people to teach children to read

Masinyusane’s core model tackles two problems at once. Masinyusane hires unemployed young people from township communities and trains them to coach literacy and numeracy in public schools, every school day. Masinyusane points out that South Africa has one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates, with 43% of young people out of work, and presents its coaching jobs as a direct response.

Masinyusane runs the programmes with data. Masinyusane tracks dozens of measurements for each child in real time so that every intervention meets children where they are, and Masinyusane says its whole dataset is open to funders, schools and the public.

What happens when a township has more graduates

Masinyusane’s scholarship fund carries the organisation’s mission to tertiary level. Masinyusane asks what happens when a township fills with graduates, and describes its fund as creating a generation of leaders who lift their families out of poverty and uplift their communities.

According to a provider record checked in August 2026, the bursary targets young people from low-income households in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Sundays River Valley who show academic promise. Masinyusane funds undergraduate degrees, diplomas and certificates in any field, rather than a narrow list of scarce skills, and pairs recipients with mentors for the length of their studies.

Timing

The bursary is active. The 2026 round closed on 23 January 2026, and the 2027 round had not been announced when BursariesAfrica checked, so expect applications towards the end of 2026.

How to research and prepare

Follow Masinyusane’s website and social media from October for the 2027 announcement. Because Masinyusane funds any field, use your motivation to explain why your chosen course suits you and how you plan to support your family or community afterwards, which matches Masinyusane’s stated purpose.

Ask Masinyusane how mentoring works and whether bursars take part in the organisation’s literacy programmes during holidays, since those programmes sit at the heart of Masinyusane’s work.

Eastern Cape students can compare Masinyusane with other funders on our University Bursaries page.