EDUCATED AND WORKING: Collaborative effort to rejuvenate schools in need
by Yule Edwards,
2014-11-20 07:01:50.0
THE dirty ceiling has a hole the size of a window with dusty pink insulation hanging into the room. The walls are no longer white, the classroom door is missing a panel. Desks are packed tightly and the blackboard is tatty, scratched.
This is just one of the "before" photos of Tiyani Secondary’s classrooms, based in Makhado, Limpopo. It is not a space conducive to academic demeanour, yet this was the best-performing school academically in the district — the criterion used for becoming a beneficiary of the National Education Collaboration Trust (Nect), says school principal, Nyikiwa Rikhotso.
"We’ve been rejuvenated by Nect’s presence, it means a lot to our learners," he says. Although Nect’s work there is not yet done, this has been a huge boost to the students’ morale and he believes it will positively affect their academic performance. "We were very frustrated, we had a serious crisis in terms of infrastructure." Teachers did not have a staff room so he had a toilet converted for them.
Another school rejuvenated under the Nect programme is Ludane Junior Primay in Thohoyandou, also in Limpopo. "Our school looks beautiful!" says principal Matodzi Matshivha. It was completely run down, but a few licks of paint, new ceilings and windows, storage cupboards and security gates and the school now makes its children proud. "Our students are little kids, they’re so excited," says Matshivha. "They don’t play on the stoeps anymore because they respect the new place."
Nect is a collaboration between the government, business and the unions. "We need to open the door and talk," says Godwin Khosa, CEO of Nect. "The NDP posed an opportunity for us to solve the education problems as a collective."
It has six themes for action:
• Professionalisation of teaching;
• Courageous and effective leadership;
• Improving government capacity to deliver;
• Improving resourcing to create conducive and safe learning environments;
• Community and parent involvement; and
• Learner support and well-being.
As part of the last theme, Nect will be piloting a referral and screening system for the psycho-social needs of the children. This might take the form of a child having learning difficulties due to unnoticed visual impairment. Local hospitals and university faculties would be able to provide help in these instances.
Of the education budget, 86.1% is spent on teachers’ salaries alone. That leaves little for anything else like school infrastructure, books or teacher training programmes.
Teachers are severely undervalued and Khosa believes that it won’t be money that incentivises them, it will be an appreciation of their value as a national asset. "Right now, we have a voice message going to each and every government teacher, recorded by the President, to illustrate their importance to our country."
Buy-in from unions and district leaders will help immensely in using resources more effectively. "The number of teacher-days we lose to memorial services, for example, is really wasteful," says Khosa, explaining that when a local teacher dies, others come in droves for the memorial service, usually during school hours. It’s a simple matter of ensuring that memorials are held outside of school time and treating school hours as sacred.
Nect’s strength lies in a waterfall approach, involving respected organisations and individuals. Khosa says: "We h ave four lead agencies (organisations or consortia), each responsible for two districts. Deloitte’s responsibility is Limpopo; Pilo (Programme to Improve Learner Outcomes) is KwaZulu-Natal; a consortium of eight NGOs tends two districts in the Eastern Cape; a consortium involving PWC and three NGOs is involved in the North West and Mpumalanga.
"Plans for four of the districts have passed with two others at advanced stages and another two due soon. It’s an organic process; these organisations and consortia have expertise and experience and are able to grow the solutions for these areas’ education problems."
Each refurbished school makes a difference but Nect has a long way to go in its plan of more than 4,000 school interventions. "We want to create an attitude of positivity," says Khosa. "Instead of complaining, pointing fingers and naming and shaming, we need to open the door and talk."
Picture: THINKSTOCK
THE dirty ceiling has a hole the size of a window with dusty pink insulation hanging into the room. The walls are no longer white, the classroom door is missing a panel. Desks are packed tightly and the blackboard is tatty, scratched.
This is just one of the "before" photos of Tiyani Secondary’s classrooms, based in Makhado, Limpopo. It is not a space conducive to academic demeanour, yet this was the best-performing school academically in the district — the criterion used for becoming a beneficiary of the National Education Collaboration Trust (Nect), says school principal, Nyikiwa Rikhotso.
"We’ve been rejuvenated by Nect’s presence, it means a lot to our learners," he says. Although Nect’s work there is not yet done, this has been a huge boost to the students’ morale and he believes it will positively affect their academic performance. "We were very frustrated, we had a serious crisis in terms of infrastructure." Teachers did not have a staff room so he had a toilet converted for them.
Another school rejuvenated under the Nect programme is Ludane Junior Primay in Thohoyandou, also in Limpopo. "Our school looks beautiful!" says principal Matodzi Matshivha. It was completely run down, but a few licks of paint, new ceilings and windows, storage cupboards and security gates and the school now makes its children proud. "Our students are little kids, they’re so excited," says Matshivha. "They don’t play on the stoeps anymore because they respect the new place."
Nect is a collaboration between the government, business and the unions. "We need to open the door and talk," says Godwin Khosa, CEO of Nect. "The NDP posed an opportunity for us to solve the education problems as a collective."
It has six themes for action:
• Professionalisation of teaching;
• Courageous and effective leadership;
• Improving government capacity to deliver;
• Improving resourcing to create conducive and safe learning environments;
• Community and parent involvement; and
• Learner support and well-being.
As part of the last theme, Nect will be piloting a referral and screening system for the psycho-social needs of the children. This might take the form of a child having learning difficulties due to unnoticed visual impairment. Local hospitals and university faculties would be able to provide help in these instances.
Of the education budget, 86.1% is spent on teachers’ salaries alone. That leaves little for anything else like school infrastructure, books or teacher training programmes.
Teachers are severely undervalued and Khosa believes that it won’t be money that incentivises them, it will be an appreciation of their value as a national asset. "Right now, we have a voice message going to each and every government teacher, recorded by the President, to illustrate their importance to our country."
Buy-in from unions and district leaders will help immensely in using resources more effectively. "The number of teacher-days we lose to memorial services, for example, is really wasteful," says Khosa, explaining that when a local teacher dies, others come in droves for the memorial service, usually during school hours. It’s a simple matter of ensuring that memorials are held outside of school time and treating school hours as sacred.
Nect’s strength lies in a waterfall approach, involving respected organisations and individuals. Khosa says: "We h ave four lead agencies (organisations or consortia), each responsible for two districts. Deloitte’s responsibility is Limpopo; Pilo (Programme to Improve Learner Outcomes) is KwaZulu-Natal; a consortium of eight NGOs tends two districts in the Eastern Cape; a consortium involving PWC and three NGOs is involved in the North West and Mpumalanga.
"Plans for four of the districts have passed with two others at advanced stages and another two due soon. It’s an organic process; these organisations and consortia have expertise and experience and are able to grow the solutions for these areas’ education problems."
Each refurbished school makes a difference but Nect has a long way to go in its plan of more than 4,000 school interventions. "We want to create an attitude of positivity," says Khosa. "Instead of complaining, pointing fingers and naming and shaming, we need to open the door and talk."
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