Cycle Aid for Africa

Education Africa’s Cycle Aid for Africa was launched on 20 March 1997 by then Deputy-President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki. Through this project, Education Africa distributed over 11 000 bicycles to under-resourced schoolchildren who had to travel enormous distances to attend school every day – a factor which was negatively impacting on their scholastic performance.

The bicycles were allocated to learners as part of an incentive scheme for good school results. They remained the property of the school provided they were well looked after and maintained. Education Africa also provided schools with a lock-up container for the safe storage of the bicycles, as well as helmets and a maintenance kit.

Feedback from beneficiary schools revealed that learners who were relieved of the burden of having to walk long distances to attend school became more attentive, more focused and produced better results.