At just 19 years old, Cape Town’s Ijaaz Sayed is already flying high—literally. The former learner of the Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology has successfully obtained his Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL), becoming the first among his group of bursary recipients to do so.

Supported by the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA), Ijaaz received funding for his PPL while juggling two part-time jobs to assist his parents. Now, he’s heading to Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria to begin his 18-month Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) training. His goal? To serve humanity by flying relief missions into disaster zones.

Cape Academy’s aviation course—run in conjunction with the Cape Town Flying Club—is the only programme of its kind in a South African state school. Led by educator Yusuf Sadar, it has opened the cockpit door for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, making dreams of becoming pilots a reality.

The course, which began for Ijaaz in Grade 10, currently includes 16 learners. Five others—Austen Beukes, Zayyaan Williams, Brad Coutts, Saarah Abrahams, and Zaitoonisa Khan—also received R100,000 bursaries to pursue their PPLs.

The school community is overjoyed by Ijaaz’s achievement, with his success joining that of past learners like Ricardo Prinsloo and Ronald Davis, who completed their licences independently in 2013 and 2014.

Cape Academy continues to prove that with the right support and determination, the sky is not the limit—it’s only the beginning.