Five years ago the future looked bleak for pupils at Cangci Comprehensive Technical High School in the remote village of AmaMpisi on the hilltops of the Eastern Cape. Set in a landscape of sloping mountains and gravel roads, sugar cane and maize fields, the region is characterised by poverty and high unemployment.
Classes were held in two dilapidated classrooms with muddy floors and broken windows, and pupils learned theoretical subjects that did not equip them with skills for the real world.
However, in 1999 things changed when village chief Daliwonga Mlindazwe met Nelson Mandela. He told Mandela about his dream to build a technical school for the children, so the two men put their heads together, and charmed and twisted arms, convincing the Vodacom Foundation to invest more than R10-million in building new classrooms as well as a clinic. Previously, villagers had had to travel more than 50km to the nearest clinic.
Cangci high school now has classrooms full of new desks and chairs, a fully equipped science laboratory, a workshop for practical skills and an office with a photocopier. There are proper toilets, electricity has been installed and a water borehole sunk.
To upgrade the teachers’ skills, the National Business Initiative paid R1,2-million in tuition fees for a variety of courses at the University of Natal. In addition to standard subjects such as business economics, physical science, mathematics, accounting, agriculture, geography and biology, the school offers bricklaying and technical drawing.
Plans are under way to build a computer centre and to train the teachers in computing. The centre is expected to be operational by the end of this month.
Cangci has become a magnet for pupils from surrounding villages, and enrolment stands at 307 pupils with 12 teachers. The school boasts a matric pass rate of 86%, in a province where the pass rate is 58%, one of the lowest in the country.
Many pupils still walk long distances to school, but are delighted to have the opportunity to learn. “I wake up at four in the morning to prepare for school and I walk miles, which makes me tired in class. But we’ve been given an opportunity for a decent education, and some day it will pay off,” said grade 12 student Nokuzola Zeka.
School principal Zweli Njome is determined to ensure his pupils do not join the ranks of the unemployed when they leave school. “This is about making a difference to learners, giving them opportunities that are mostly given to urban schools. The investment means the development of a better life for the young and commitment from the community in making it happen.”
Since the project started, each year five pupils from the school have been given the opportunity to study electrical engineering, IT and commerce at tertiary level through the Vodacom Foundation’s open bursary scheme. Bursary holders also complete their in-service training at Vodacom.
“This is in recognition of the fact that many learners with abilities in engineering, accounting and computer science will not realise their potential simply because they do not have tertiary qualifications after matriculating,” said Monde Mama of the Vodacom Foundation.