The snow-white double-storey buildings had to be some fancy office block – surely no one would allow children to use buildings of such architectural splendour for schooling.
This was the first impression that Sibonelo Mvelase had of Pridwin Preparatory Boys School in upmarket Melrose Estate, Johannesburg, when he visited there in June. He was one of the learners who took part in a language and culture exchange project spearheaded by Pridwin.
‘They have a classroom for every different subject and they have such a big sports field and even change rooms,” marvels Mvalase.
Mvalase is more familiar with the modest, face-brick building and the unpaved, dusty playgrounds of Thathezakho Primary School in Dobsonville, Soweto, where he is a Grade 7 learner.
It’s this need for exposure to different lifestyles and backgrounds that prompted Pridwin’s Zulu teacher, Jean Thompson, to create an exchange project for learners in her Zulu class.
An organisation known as Transfer of African Language and Knowledge (Talk) was called in to facilitate the project. Talk promotes the learning of indigenous languages as a tool to help improve communication in all sectors of South African society.
It was the first time Talk had worked on a language-exchange programme for school children and it involved the learners visiting each others’ schools over a two-month period.
There were also eye-opening experiences for the Pridwin boys when they visited Thathezakho Primary in July. For many of them it was the first time they had been into a township.
‘I thought it would be a lot more rural and there would only be shacks, but there are proper houses and everything,” says Ross Chaplin, who was given the Zulu name Ndima for the day.
His classmate, Andrew Paget, was called Mfundo by Mvalase, his classroom partner. Says Paget: ‘It does make me feel privileged when I see what some people have to make do with. But I’m glad we’re here. We’re learning about each others’ schools and what we like to do. I would love to show Sibonelo where I live,” says Paget.
Mvalase also wanted to show his new friend more of Soweto. ‘We need to have maybe a week of this project to really get to know each other,” says Mvalase.
Using interactive game-playing, songs and dance, Talk got the children to explore the Zulu language more broadly.
‘It’s about cross-cultural communication and using language as a vehicle to build relationships and to understand cultural differences. I hope this will be an experience that the children never forget and that they find creative ways to keep their new friendships going,” says Judy Connors of Talk.
Thompson adds: ‘This is about language enrichment and also for showing the boys that they don’t live in an isolated world.”
For Thuli Nkosi, head of the English department and life orientation skills teacher at Thathezakho Primary, the exchange project has been a success.
‘For our learners it’s a chance to help other children to learn Zulu and gives them pride in their home language,” she says.