Angel Mokgokolo, a third-year education student, founded Maukq & Company to bridge South African classrooms with real-world engineering. Angel Mokgokolo’s journey began in a foundation-phase classroom, equipped with curiosity and a piece of chalk. There, she first noticed the disconnect between abstract science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) concepts in textbooks and the engineering projects reshaping Africa.
As a third-year education student, she founded Maukq & Company – an industry-education partnership reimagining how South Africa bridges the gap between what’s taught and what’s built. “It was always about connecting what’s taught with what’s built,” Mokgokolo reflected. “I realised in the classroom that learners are exposed to concepts like energy, water systems, and land rehabilitation, but there simply aren’t enough supporting resources to make them real.
That’s how Maukq was born,” she said. Maukq transforms real-world industry projects – such as water systems and wind farms – into “living classrooms” for grades 7 to 9. Using the Maukq Intelligence Framework™, it combines data science, ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles and storytelling to make industry impact visible, measurable and relatable.
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This brings Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS)-aligned natural sciences and technology lessons to life with practical illustrations. Mokgokolo’s mission stems from her teaching on the front lines, where she found theory but a lack of illustrations, diagrams or real-world textbooks with examples. Grade 7 to 9 is crucial because these years introduce STEM before pupils select Grade 10 subjects, yet the resource gap persists, leaving pupils unaware of careers in fields such as mining, renewable energy and infrastructure.
“Theory is there, but practical resources are missing. Take hydropower: there’s no drawing of flowing water converting to energy, it’s just reading and writing about something you’ve never seen,” she said. Her model doesn’t seek to reinvent the CAPS wheel, but supplements it seamlessly.
For instance, under the textbook topic “Planet Earth and Beyond”, Maukq mirrors real engineering practices, including tailings rehabilitation, erosion control, human environmental impacts and land restoration. “We’re not saying the CAPS curriculum is outdated or not fit for purpose or anything like that. We match what engineers are already doing in construction and mining to what’s in the textbook,” Mokgokolo emphasised.
This approach addresses a Department of Education gap: textbooks exist, but visual or hands-on supplemental materials remain scarce. Testing her vision brought validation and challenges. At one school, the principal resisted at first, feeling that industry talks already sufficed and worrying about diverging from the core curriculum.
Undeterred, Mokgokolo refined her lesson plans, submitted them for review, and secured approval. She then trialled them in class – with resounding success.
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