Amid the secularisation of education, there are still schools that hold on to religious practices. This is the story of one such school — known as Keimoes Combined — where faith is taking on new dimensions.
Fifteen minutes before the bell goes for the start of another school day, the teachers in the staff room pray together for the children, the parents and the town’s folk in the name of Jesus Christ.
In this Northern Cape community — 30 minutes by road from the better-known and bigger centre of Upington — the secular ways of the world have not yet succeeded in dismantling some entrenched expressions of Christianity.
From Bible study and prayers during the week to church-going (and buying the Sunday paper) on the Day of Rest, religion is woven into the very societal fibre of the people of Keimoes.
”All the teachers at the school are Christian. We felt we wanted to start the day with a prayer. We have a prayer list and those who feel like it get a turn to bring a message and pray,” says Gary Robertson, principal of the school.
When Robertson became the principal of the school in 2005, he decided to turn an existing practice into a daily ritual to lift the occasionally dimmed spirits of his staff.
He says this has become a time in which the teachers solve problems and they always leave with lighter hearts.
The school also has a Christian youth club, which regularly brings in a pastor, dominee or priest during the weekly assembly, but does not indulge in its near total religious homogeneity (it has three Muslim children out of the 300 learners at the school).
It has embraced the education authority’s banning of the term ”one God” from the school curriculum by introducing a multifaith religious instruction programme.
”Our parents have given us very positive feedback. They say their children have to be aware of other religions,” says Robertson.
With a similar refreshing openness the school is engaging with evolution, which this year amid great controversy has been introduced to grade 12 learners as part of Life Orientation. Robertson is the teacher.
”I think if you read the Bible, it does raise many questions,” says Robertson. ”And evolution provides a wider perspective.”