The Catholic Institute of Education is an NGO that has provided services to the network of 346 Catholic schools since 1985. We have always focused our work largely in rural and peri-urban schools, situated in the poorer, less developed parts of southern Africa. 72% of Catholic schools in South Africa are public schools and there are over 6,000 teachers and 180,000 learners in these schools, who represent diverse cultures and religions, with Catholics forming the minority. Our mission is to serve and strengthen the Catholic education network so as to enable Catholic schools to offer values-based, quality education to learners in an environment that is conducive to their physical, emotional, moral, intellectual and spiritual development as national and global citizens.