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Become a NIBS e-Learning Cafe

If you have computers, internet and a safe room, you can be the place where people in your community learn. NIBS supplies the courses, the facilitators and the assessment. You supply the access.

Apply to become a cafeWhat is involved
The Katlehong Computer School computer lab with learners at desktop computers.

What a cafe does

An e-Learning Cafe is a place to learn, not a training provider. The teaching stays online and stays with NIBS.

  • Opens the door Desktop computers, internet and a quiet place to work, so the cost of a device or data never decides whether someone can study. Your building, your equipment, your hours.
  • Helps people start Basic learner support: help registering, finding a course and getting unstuck. A responsible cafe manager is on duty while learners are there. No teaching, no marking, no accreditation to hold.
  • Hosts the practical work Workplace Lab tasks can be completed and submitted from a cafe, with the same evidence and the same NIBS assessment as anywhere else. NIBS assesses; the cafe provides the room.

What you get out of it

  • Your cafe is listed on this site, so learners near you can find it, with your address, hours and what is on site.
  • People walk in with a reason to use your computers, and a reason to come back next week.
  • NIBS carries the curriculum, the facilitators, the assessment and the credentials. You do not need to be an accredited provider.
  • Your community gets a route into work that does not depend on owning a laptop.
  • Organisations sponsoring learners can be pointed at your cafe as the place their people study.

How a cafe earns from access and learner support is still being modelled and is confirmed with you in writing before any agreement. The principle is simple: NIBS earns from the learning, the cafe earns from the access.

Cafes open now
Katlehong Computer School is e-Learning Cafe 001. Yours would be listed the same way.
Cost to you
No fee to apply and no licence fee to be listed. Your costs are the ones you already carry: the room, the computers and the connection.
Commercial terms
To be confirmed with you before any agreement is signed.
Where to ask first
Not sure whether you qualify? Talk to NIBS before you fill anything in.

Who can apply

You need a room and working computers, not a campus.

  • Internet cafes and computer shops
  • NGOs, NPOs and faith organisations
  • Public and community libraries
  • Schools and colleges after hours
  • Community halls and youth centres
  • Enterprise and skills development programmes
  • Employers with a training room standing empty
  • Entrepreneurs with suitable computers

You do not need to be a training provider, and you do not need accreditation. If you are an organisation that also wants to sponsor learners, NIBS for Organisations covers that side.

Where
Anywhere in South Africa where learners can reach you safely and regularly.
Who signs
One responsible person who can speak for the place: the owner, the manager or the director.
Existing learners
Already running classes of your own? A cafe listing does not replace them; it adds the NIBS catalogue to what you offer.

What NIBS checks

The working minimum. If you are close but not quite there, say so on the form and a person will talk it through with you.

  • Five or more working computers Able to run a browser, a word processor and a spreadsheet. They do not need to be new.
  • Reliable internet Fibre, fixed wireless or LTE that holds up while several people study at once.
  • A safe learning space Lit, seated, ventilated and safe to sit in for a few hours, with working ablutions.
  • A responsible cafe manager One named person on duty while learners are there, who can help someone register and get started.
  • Hours learners can rely on Set times each week when the room is available. They can be evenings or weekends.
  • Willing to be visited A person from NIBS comes to see the space, the computers and the connection before the cafe is confirmed.

How it works, start to finish

Four steps. Nothing is signed until you have seen the terms.

  1. You applyThe form below takes about ten minutes. You need your location, how many computers you have and what your connection is.
  2. NIBS reads it and repliesA person at NIBS reads every application and replies by email or WhatsApp, usually with a question or two.
  3. A visitSomeone from NIBS comes to see the room, the computers and the connection, and meets the person who will be on duty.
  4. Confirmed and listedThe terms are confirmed with you in writing. Your cafe then appears on the e-Learning Cafes page with its address, hours and what is on site.

Apply to become an e-Learning Cafe

Every question on this form is here for a reason: NIBS has to know where the cafe is, whether the computers and the connection can carry the courses, and who is responsible for learners while they are in the room.

Your details are used to answer your application and to arrange the visit. They are not published, not sold and not used for marketing unless you ask for it. See the Privacy Policy.

After you send it: you get an email confirming it arrived, a person at NIBS replies, and if the fit is right a visit is arranged. Nothing is signed and nothing is owed before then.

NIBS e-Learning Cafe application
The internet cafe, library, NGO, school or business.
Suburb or township, town, province.
How long it takes
About ten minutes to fill in. NIBS replies within two working days.
What to have ready
The address, the number of working computers, the kind of internet connection and the hours learners could use the room.
Prefer to talk first
Call or message NIBS on 076 684 5222, or use the contact form.

Looking for somewhere to study? Find an e-Learning Cafe.