Maarif foundation: from a footprint to a legacy

In the mid-19th century, Sultan Abdulaziz appointed Abu Bakr Effendi as his emissary on a humanitarian and diplomatic mission to the Cape at the Ottoman Empire’s cost.

Effendi opened schools to educate the community and attained the desired peaceful relationship among the community despite theological differences. He wrote the first substantial and meaningful work in Afrikaans, which was undeveloped as a language.

Effendi’s footprint in the Cape has evolved into a formidable legacy of international proportions.

The Turkish Maarif Foundation was established by a decree of the parliament of the Republic of Turkey in 2016 to promote international solidarity and uplift all people through education, steered by its mottos of Valuing Education and Symbiosis of Cultures.

Turkish public funds are used to build or purchase properties for institutions of learning in foreign countries and resource them for teaching and learning according to the highest standards, with SMART Boards, projectors, coding and robotics being standard.

The foundation’s five institutions have grown to 601 educational facilities in 64 countries on six continents, with more than 

75 000 students. Two schools have been established in South Africa: a high school in Cape Town and a preschool, primary and secondary institution in Johannesburg.

In addition to the CAPS curriculum, Maarif Schools also have a parallel curriculum of programmed global themes and character refinement.

Maarif Schools of South Africa have adopted blended learning and seek to promote learning through self-enquiry.

At the tertiary level, the Maarif Centre for Turkish Studies has been established at the University of Pretoria to foster academic exchange as well as bilateral transnational collaboration to promote Turkish-specific scholarship from an African perspective and vice versa.

Maarif teachers and students crisscross the skies to broaden their educational and international horizons.

Excited about her attendance at the Annual Istanbul Education Summit among more than 1 000 members of the Maarif family, principal Samanda Delport of IMS Johannesburg reminisces: “The summit was a life-changing experience of professional growth … it was a surreal experience.”

Maarif means self-actualisation through self-recognition and respect for others, a key element being for the learner to delight in the experience of learning. Hence the foundation and its educators spare no effort or cost to raise the bar of learners’ achievements across their balanced curriculum.

Neither school has yet had learners as candidates in the NSC but 100% pass rates at both schools and outstanding academic attainments augur well for the future.

The traditional dancers of International Maarif School Johannesburg participated for a week in cultural exchanges at the renowned Children’s Day celebrations of Turkey with learners from 29 countries.

Tasmiah Mohamed of IMS Johannesburg, grade 7, will represent Abacus Maths South Africa at the AIAMA Arithmetic Olympiad in Taipei, Taiwan, in July 2026.

IMS Cape Town learners participated in Science Fest Africa 2025 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, together with 100 other Maarif schools.

“The Science Fest felt like stepping inside a giant experiment where the only rule was to wonder boldly. People from everywhere, speaking different languages, all connecting through curiosity. I didn’t leave with all the answers but with better questions,”  Terry-Lee Wyngaard, grade 12, said.

IMS Johannesburg learners have embarked on an environmental conservation project to test the quality of water in an adjacent stream in partnership with the regional water authority to monitor its ecological impact.

To generate empathy for less fortunate citizens in the community, IMS learners participate annually in Mandela Week and other noteworthy social responsibility projects.

To encourage excellence, academically talented learners of Maarif Schools, as well as those from other schools, write the Maarif Magis Scholarship Examination, which is of international standard. Thus far, 19 scholarships have been awarded.

Financially challenged families are assisted on application with fees, stationery and uniforms through the generosity of businesspeople in the Turkish community.