We’re Here to Move the Education Needle
This is the
Thuma Mina Story
Thuma Mina Teaching began with a series of “What ifs?” What if every learner, no matter their background, could access clear, engaging lessons – for free? What if teachers had simple tools to reach every learner, even in overcrowded or under-resourced classrooms?
These questions came from two different vantage points of its founders. Leo van Velden carried the first-hand experiences of teaching across South Africa’s extremes — from gang-affected communities and rural overcrowding in schools, to the privilege of elite educational institutes. His wife, Silke van Velden, brought a high-level lens, shaped by years of working alongside leading education researchers and policy experts.
Together, they saw both the cracks in the system and the possibilities to close them.
What followed were five years of testing, refining and reimagining EdTech tools that truly solved for South Africa’s low-tech realities. Along the way, talented teachers, passionate creatives, and dedicated team members joined in, each adding their expertise and energy. That collective effort is what turned a vision into reality.
When those tools met the real needs of teachers and learners, traction followed. Today, TMT’s video lessons are viewed over 3 million times each year, reaching classrooms and homes across South Africa. What began as a set of “what ifs” has grown into a shared effort to make learning clearer, more accessible and within reach for every child.
Thuma Mina means send me. In a time of learning gaps and lost opportunities, we send teaching straight to where it’s needed most — helping build confident learners and empowered teachers for a stronger tomorrow.
We’re Driving Better Learning Outcomes Nationwide
Our mission is to drive better learning outcomes nationwide by creating free, CAPS-aligned video lessons that instil real subject matter understanding. These resources are proven to help teachers teach better and learners learn better, deepening comprehension and unlocking real progress inside and beyond the classroom.
You helped me pass and get
a cricket scholarship
Grade 9, Thuma Mina Teaching learner
It’s Time to Move South Africa’s Education Needle
For too long, our country’s education narrative has been shaped by deep inequality. At Thuma Mina Teaching, we dream of a future where no child falls behind at school due to circumstances beyond their control.
We intent on tangibly improving the state of our country’s education and helping our youth access their full potential. It comes down to this: if you don’t understand something, you cannot master it.
That’s why we’re actively making the curriculum clearer, more relatable and accessible, so teachers can teach meaningfully, and learners can master what they’re being taught.
We’re laying the foundation for a game-changing learning journey – one that builds confidence in the classroom and opens doors beyond it. That’s how we get the education needle to move towards a more employable and empowered generation.
What Makes
Thuma Mina Teaching Special
One-click
accessibility
Ease of access is key to uptake and consistent usage. That’s why we leverage familiar video platforms such as YouTube, ensuring that understanding is just one click away.
Whole curriculum
roadmap
Each subject is organised as a “playlist” – a step-by-step roadmap that guides learners and teachers through the full subject curriculum in a logical, CAPS-aligned order.
The highest quality,
for free
Our funding model enables us to offer our video resources free-of-charge, but each lesson has over 45 hours of expert educational and creative input behind it – offering unprecedented value.
Reimagined,
not replicated
We don’t just deliver content; we bring it to life. With engaging teachers and relatable examples, TMT lessons make complex subjects digestible, unlocking understanding and practical skills learners can apply.
Professionally
produced
There is an entire team behind each TMT video lesson including a subject matter expert, learning designer, peer reviewer, project manager, field-based presenter and video editor.
A resource,
not a replacement
Our tools are designed to support the teachers who use them, not replace them. Our free teacher training guides users on how best to leverage our lessons for in-classroom and after-school use and engagement.
