A private college has rescued Woodmead High School, writes Thokozani Mtshali
Woodmead High School, the first multiracial school in South Africa, has been rescued from closure.
The school has a debt of R3-million, accumulated over the past three years. Its teachers and students were convinced that the institution would close its doors this year.
But, after reading an article in the Mail & Guardian two weeks ago, a private tertiary college, the Forum Institute of Technology, which has links with the University of New South Wales in Australia, has entered into a partnership with Woodmead.
The school, whose enrolment has dwindled to 160 students, including two of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s sons, now plans to expand its intake to 300 students by January 1999.
Jeff Wiggel, director of the Forum Institute, says: “We want to retain the ethos and principles upon which the school was founded.
“Woodmead is a start of what South Africa is today, and we want to continue to produce independent thinkers and people who will be in a position to face the challenges of the world.”
He adds that the school plans to introduce a whole range of extra- curricular subjects including drama, graphic design, film production, dance and music.
Wiggell’s intention is to “position the school in the middle of the private and public education system”.
“We must ensure that we are not just a school for the rich and we must not be profit-driven. Our main obligation is to provide quality education, and we are not interested in getting listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange,” he says.
But the new offer has not wiped away staff and student uncertainties.
“Students lost motivation with the news about the possible demise of the school. Since then we have been through a lot of problems. Now, our concern is what the situation will be in the future. Is this new plan going to work?” asked Norwin Scherpenhyzen, a member of Woodmead’s Student Representative Council.
Aaron Mdlalose, the school’s chef for the past 20 years, says he is pleased that the school has been rescued.
“I have regarded these students as my own children, and I am happy because this means that I will continue working until my retirement. But these kids have changed, most of them now smoke,” Mdlalose noted.
The school has produced the likes of Comrades marathon winner Bruce Fordyce; Congress of South African Trade Union’s head of communications Neil Coleman; the former director general of housing, Billy Cobbett; former Miss South Africa Jacqui Mofekeng; and the director of Lawyers for Human Rights, Brian Leveson. It might yet produce a new crop of leaders for the new millennium.