Gensec Bank’s investment in 25 Gauteng schools is garnering positive results. One of these schools is BB Myataza, which had an 85% matric pass rate last year.
Together with the National Business Initiative’s (NBI) Equip programme, Gensec Bank’s corporate affairs department, under the guiding hand of Eric Ratshikhopha, is investing in BB Myataza and 24 other schools in Gauteng.
Gensec Bank has earmarked R1,5-million to be distributed over a two-year period to areas in these schools that need attention.
Gensec Bank is the biggest funder of the Equip (Education Quality Improvement Partnerships) programme, which is run by NBI’s Helmut Bertelsmann. Equip is committed to improving the quality of education in the schools earmarked by the programme. And, together with Gensec Bank, it hopes to make every school as successful as BB Myataza, which achieved an 85% matriculation pass rate last year. Gensec Bank is thrilled about the progress of the project because it is the bank’s aim to enhance the culture of learning and the teaching of pupils.
BB Myataza is a beacon of hope for Daveyton’s Etatwa community. Not only does it feed, clothe and teach the learners who attend the school, but it also employs out-of-work parents to help in the vegetable garden and to rebuild broken desks, among other initiatives.
“This land was impossible to keep tidy before this garden was started. Now it offers poverty relief and it also means that there are parents on the property at all times, which helps with security,” says principal Thulani Kunene.
Kunene does not look 40 years’ old, even though he should ? his predecessor was murdered in the corridor outside his office in an argument over school fees. This is why security is such a big issue at BB Myataza.
And this is where Gensec Bank stepped in again by donating R5 000 to the school so that it could upgrade its security. Before this donation, the school gates were always open. This allowed learners to come and go as they liked and for the so-called “undesirables” to make themselves at home. Now the front gates are kept closed at all times and visitors have to identify themselves.
Kunene emphasises that all learners are educated on the importance of safety and are encouraged to keep a lookout for anyone carrying weapons. Those who help are rewarded by getting a year’s free tuition. This move actively encourages learners to keep their school safe.
The school has pulled together under Gensec Bank and Equip’s guidance ? it has set up a school development committee consisting of management, staff, parents and learners. This group drew up a plan so that it could work out the best way to improve the school. The group feels that the way forward is through self-reliance and it appreciates the fact that Gensec Bank doesn’t tell it what to do with its plan.
“Self-reliance is our ultimate goal as this brings about quality schooling,” says the development committee’s chairperson, Molebatsi Morifi. “We are looking for long-term solutions. We want quality matriculants and we want them to make an impact on their community. Eventually we want a 100% pass rate, but right now we want more matriculation exemptions.”
Morifi says the committee was created because there was no direction in the school. He is grateful that Gensec did not hand the school ready-made solutions that did not fit into its ethos, but helped all the stakeholders to work together to diagnose the problems, discuss them and then work out solutions.
The breakthrough came at the beginning of the year when the school timetable was computerised ? this meant that school could actually start on the first day of term.
The committee believes that teamwork and dedication is what makes a school successful. “If there is an involvement from all stakeholders in the school, then we can create a vision together,” says Morifi.
Kunene agrees: “This collective involvement needs to come from everyone. You need to start from scratch and build together. We have a goal and we are striving to achieve it together.
“In 1998 this school was the dirtiest around. Teachers, learners and members of the community wanted to be proud of the school, so everyone helped to clean up. This pride is what makes the school work.”
Kunene views parental involvement as a priority. “They need to be included in meetings as they need to know what is going on.”
The school also invites former learners to come back and motivate current learners. It is also the only school in the area to have a career week. “We want every pupil to see how far they can go. We will not be happy until each and every matriculant has a career in mind,” says Morifi. “Quality, not quantity, is what matters.”