MAMOKGATHEI PHAKENG

A 2019 study revealed that 78% of university students could not complete their three-year degrees in the allotted time. In fact, over half had not completed their degrees even after six years.

Across South Africa, many university students are dropping out of their study programmes – and not necessarily for academic reasons.

A large number of capable students simply cannot afford to continue paying the high costs of tuition, books and fees. While they have the academic ability to complete a degree and enter the job market, they are unable to do so. As a result, university drop-out rates are 47%.

Among graduates who do complete a higher education programme, 85% are employed.

This is a clear indication of the value of tertiary education in South Africa – although some successful university graduates are battling to find an entry-level job that will help them climb up a career ladder. General unemployment statistics sit at 34%, while the percentage of youth who are not employed or participating in a programme of education or training is around 60%.

Meanwhile, corporate South Africa has vacancies in digital-based careers but not enough eligible people to apply for these positions.

The country is also at risk of its talented young people emigrating to other countries to seek employment.

There is an urgent need to fill the skills gap if the country is going to keep up with the fourth industrial revolution.

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has a relatively low drop-out rate compared to other South African institutions, at about 10%. But we are not happy with this statistic.

It means that every year, roughly 2 000 students experience the heartbreaking disruption in their education, largely due to circumstances outside of their control.

UCT, in partnership with digital education company Umuzi, is offering a way for these students to develop their skills, knowledge and networks to increase their likelihood of finding work or developing entrepreneur opportunities.

After the pilot programme, we intend to expand the digital bootcamp to accommodate as many UCT students as possible who experienced interrupted studies, and we hope to replicate this model in other universities across South Africa and the continent. Expanding this opportunity depends on the availability of sponsorship.

We are motivated by our awareness of the massive, untapped talent available in South Africa’s young people. If a simple lack of training is all that stands between these talented future leaders and a job, then we need to create a way to address that.

The pilot UCT Digital Bootcamp, which began on June 22, will offer sponsored training to eligible students whose studies were interrupted or our graduates who have been unable to find a job since graduating three or more years ago. No previous experience or skills are required to apply for this pilot programme.

An important part of UCT’s Vision 2030 is to help South Africans take their rightful place in the global digital economy, not just by filling digital jobs but also by bringing an African perspective to help steer the growth of the digital economy across our continent.

This is part of our institutional mission to unleash human potential to create a fair and just society.
We are seeing the growing need for digital skills in more and more professional fields, including law, social services, media communication and other “non-scientific” sectors.

At UCT, we encourage students to consider developing information technology skills while pursuing their chosen degrees because we want our graduates to be ready to work within the fourth industrial revolution and influence its impact in South Africa.
We have the same desire for students who experienced interrupted studies and graduates. The digital bootcamp pilot programme offers a way for 100 young people to move in a direction that may be different from their original career goals but will provide the skills for them to possibly reach those goals on a different path.

I have learnt from my own career that life brings many turns, bumps and changes along the way.

There is no single “correct” path and the opportunities to learn and grow from a different path are endless. The bootcamp is designed to provide such opportunity.

The UCT and Umuzi are not doing this alone. We have generous sponsorships from international corporates eager to employ South Africans in the offices they are launching in the country.

We also encourage participants to think beyond corporate employment to consider ways that they can shape new services and businesses around the skills they will learn.

We don’t want to duplicate what the rest of the world is doing in the fourth industrial revolution.
Instead, we want to give South Africans the skills to lead how the fourth industrial revolution will help Africa grow in economic strength and global influence.

The bootcamp offers a choice of courses that will require students’ full-time participation for up to three months or part-time for up to six months.

Training will be online, so participants can join from different locations.

The three main pathways are digital tech, comprising data analytics, IT support, user experience design and user interface design, and project management, media marketing pathways, comprising social media marketing and marketing analytics, and cloud pathways, which provide a cloud practitioner certificate.
Training is sponsored by international leaders in digital technology and information systems Amazon, Google and Meta (previously Facebook).

While the pilot programme is already under way, we are eager to hear from students who experienced interrupted studies and unemployed graduates across South Africa who would like to participate in future bootcamps.

We continue to seek sponsors to help expand the programme to all eligible potential digital professionals. Applicants can find out more by visiting https://www.africancoding.network/uct.

This is a great opportunity for young people who have demonstrated their academic talent and want to take it to their future workplace. At this point, it is only a seed, but seeds have tremendous potential to grow.

Phakeng is vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town.

TWENTY-TWO teenagers were found dead early Sunday morning in a tavern in the coastal city of East London, South Africa, the police said, in a tragedy that remains something of a mystery and that has left much of the country, including top officials, reeling emotionally.

Initial reports were that the teenagers, who the police say ranged in age from 13 to 17, died from a stampede.

But Bheki Cele, the national police minister, said investigators had not confirmed that theory.

He was overcome with tears as he spoke about the victims, nine girls and 12 boys.
“It’s a scary thing,” Mr. Cele said outside of the mortuary where the victims were being examined.

“I got inside but could not go any further to where they were opening up the bodies,” he added, his voice trailing off as he buried his face in his left hand and began to cry, turning away from the crowd.

President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sympathy in a statement.

And senior officials from across Eastern Cape Province and the rest of the country descended upon the Scenery Park neighborhood, northwest of East London’s city center, to help attend to the fallout from the tragedy.

Television news footage showed local residents, many of them seeking information about loved ones, gathered on a dirt road outside the modest building housing the bar, Enyobeni Tavern, which is tucked in a residential community.

“We really cannot understand what has happened here,” the Eastern Cape premier, Oscar Mabuyane, told reporters.
“It just can’t be. It should not happen like this.”

Brig. Tembinkosi Kinana, a police spokesman, said the police had received a call about 4 a.m. reporting deaths at the tavern.
Unathi Binqose, the spokesman for the Department of Community Safety in the Eastern Cape, said the tavern had hosted a large party on Saturday night, featuring two DJs who were celebrating their birthdays.

The party was also billed as a celebration of South Africa’s dropping its mask mandate for public places, which had been in effect since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Binqose said.

“It attracted huge numbers, more than the tavern can accommodate,” he said of the party.

Bouncers told investigators that in an effort to control the crowd, they closed the doors to the venue, Mr. Binqose said.

People outside were said to have tried to push their way in, setting off a panic and a stampede, which may have been exacerbated by someone releasing pepper spray, he said.

But the theory of a stampede seemed inconsistent with what forensic experts had found so far in terms of injuries to the victims, Mr. Binqose said.

Victims were found sprawled on the gray tile floor, but also on a sofa and a coffee table.

“In terms of physical evidence, nothing points to a stampede,” he said.

He said the police had seized surveillance footage taken at the bar.

Speaking to eNCA, a South African television news network, the bar’s owner, Siyakhangela Ngevu, said he was not there when the deaths occurred.

He rushed there after his security guards called him, he said, and found chaos, with children everywhere.
Some had forced their way into the tavern, he said.

He said he could not dispute that pepper spray might have been used and contributed to the deaths.

In South Africa, the minimum age for patronizing a bar is 18. Mr. Ngevu told the station that his establishment did not allow minors in, but that they sometimes hung out outside.

Mr. Cele and other public officials admonished the parents of those who had been at the bar.
“As parents, we all have to be responsible for our children,” he said. “How can you go to bed knowing that your child is not in the house?”

NEW YORK TIMES

WENDY MOTHATA

THE Department of Basic Education has announced that the wearing of face masks by learners, staff and teachers at school or in the classroom is no longer required.

This comes after the Health Minister, Joe Phaahla published the amendments of regulations in the Government Gazette on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, South Africans no longer required to wear masks indoors and public areas.

“The Department of Health published Regulations on 22 June 2022 repealing amongst others, the wearing of face masks when entering and when being inside an indoor public place,” said Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education.

Mhlanga said that the wearing of face masks in schools is optional for learners and educators.

“The Department of Basic Education aligns itself and welcomes this new development. The wearing of face masks in schools is optional for learners and educators,” said Mhlanga.

Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, said she supports the repealing of mask mandate for learners.

Motshekga said that learners and staff who wish to continue to wear a face mask in schools will be allowed to exercise this option.

“In line with this decision to repeal the regulations, wearing of face masks by learners in classrooms, and indoor gatherings is no longer a requirement. Those learners and staff who wish to continue to wear face a mask in schools will be allowed to exercise this option,” said Motshekga.

In March 2020, South Africa’s government ordered a hard lockdown to limit the transmission of COVID.

Schools and universities were closed. As elsewhere in the world, schools had to shift rapidly to replace in-person teaching with various forms of technology based, remote and distance education.

That shift exacerbated existing inequalities: poorer communities often struggle to access fast, reliable and affordable internet.

INSIDE EDUCATION

THE Department of Basic Education has confirmed that it will adjust its existing regulations to align with South Africa’s new regulations around mask-wearing and gatherings.

In a statement on Thursday, Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga said she supported the repealing of the mask mandate for learners and that the department will make regulatory changes to align itself with the new changes.

“In line with this decision to repeal the regulations, wearing of face masks by learners in classrooms, and indoor gatherings is no longer a requirement. Those learners and staff who wish to continue to wear a face mask in schools will be allowed to exercise this option,” said the minister.

She said the department will also continue to support the Covid-19 vaccination of all learners aged from 12 years, with parental consent.

The announcement comes after health minister Joe Phaahla repealed several Covid-19 regulations on Wednesday relating to the wearing of face masks, gatherings and persons entering the country.

The gazetting of the regulations means that the wearing of face masks in any public-use indoor space or when on public transport to contain the spread of Covid-19 has now fallen away.

People congregating in public spaces will no longer be limited to certain numbers. Requirements for entering and leaving the country have also been scrapped.

“We want to take this opportunity on behalf of all government to thank South Africans for their support and cooperation over the last two years and three months,” Phaahla said in a media briefing on Thursday.

“While there was a lot of common ground and agreement even across political lives early in the pandemic when we all thought it would be short and over within a few months, the longer it took more fatigue and disagreements on strategy started to surface. We appreciate the fact that notwithstanding the disagreements even leading to threats or even actual court actions the mainframe of our collective action remained until today.”

BUSINESS TECH

THE North-West University (NWU) Council has elected a new chairperson and deputy chairperson.

Bert Sorgdrager, a seasoned legal professional with more than 30 years’ experience in the private sector, was elected as the sixth chairperson of the NWU Council.

Obakeng Mongale, an experienced public servant and the current superintendent general for the North West Department of Health, will serve as deputy chairperson.

This follows the resignation of the previous chairperson, Dr Bismark Tyobeka, who has since been appointed principal and vice-chancellor of the NWU.

“I am proud to continue serving my alma mater and consider it a privilege to be looking after the interests of the NWU, both currently and in the future,” says Sorgdrager.

His association with the university goes back to his enrolment in 1977 for, and his completion of the BJuris (1979) and LLB (1981) degrees at the then Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, now the NWU.

Sorgdrager, currently an attorney at Van Deventer Dlamini Inc, previously served the NWU Council as acting chairperson and deputy chairperson.

He has been a Council member since 2017 (elected from the ranks of the Convocation) and has been a member of the executive committee of the NWU Council since September 2018.

His association with the NWU includes serving on various committees and being an exco member since August 2014, and president of the NWU Convocation since April 2018. He has also been the chairperson of the NWU Alumni Association since August 2014 and the representative of the Potchefstroom Campus alumni since 2012.

Sorgdrager spent most of his career in banking, specifically at Nedbank, where he served as legal adviser and also held various management positions in risk management.

Mongale, on the other hand, is also a proud alumnus of the NWU, having obtained a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Management, and a master’s degree in Industrial Psychology.

He holds an honours degree in Industrial Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in Administration from the former University of Bophuthatswana, now the NWU.

He is an Oliver Tambo fellow (Postgraduate Diploma in Health Management) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Mongale is currently studying towards a master’s degree in Philosophy in Conflict Transformation at the Nelson Mandela University.

“I am honoured to serve as deputy chairperson and am committed to fulfilling this essential role in the Council,” says Mongale.

His previous experience includes serving on various Council committees such as the executive and tender committees, as well as on the medical school task team and the extended exco.

He became a Council member in 2017 after being appointed as ministerial representative and started serving his second term from September 2020.

Mongale is a former head of the Department of Public Works in North West, and of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure in the Limpopo provincial government. During his tenure as the head of department at Public Works in North West, the department won several awards.

He previously served the North West Department of Health as director for Human Resources, then as chief director for Corporate Services and as head of department. From October 2010 to September 2013 Mr Mongale returned to the North West Department of Health, where he was responsible for health support and specialised hospital services.

Mongale served as board member at the Johannesburg Property Company (April 2019 to March 2020), which is a company of the City of Johannesburg. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Health Systems Trust, where he served as chairperson of the board’s HR committee and as a member of the finance committee (2010 to 2013).

INSIDE EDUCATION

A NEW optical telescope in South Africa that will measure the brightness of transient sources will begin operation in mid-July.

Located at the Boyden Observatory in Bloemfontein, the telescope – a collaboration between South Africa’s University of the Free State, University College Dublin (UCD) and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain – will be used to study the afterglow from extremely energetic astrophysical events.

Transient events often appear in the sky briefly before disappearing. The telescope – dubbed the Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES 6) – is equipped with an extremely sensitive CCD camera to detect these faint events and it has an incredibly fast “slew rate”. This means that when an alert of a gamma-ray explosion is reported, the telescope can observe it within a few seconds, which is crucial when monitoring transient events.

Astronomer Pieter Meintjes, who is head of astrophysics at the University of the Free State, says the group is “ecstatic” about the fast slew rate as it will allow quick data collection and give the team an edge over rival groups. 

Studying extreme events

One of the main aims of the telescope will be following up on the afterglow that is produced during gamma-ray bursts that are created when very massive stars form black holes or when neutron stars collide.

“By observing the afterglow and monitoring how it fades away over time allows astronomers to pin-point the location of the explosion and also establish what kind of explosion it was,” says Meintjes, who adds that the researchers are planning to put a spectrograph on the telescope, which will allow them to determine what elements are forged in these extreme events.

Work began on the telescope two years ago, but efforts were hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic with engineers only being able to assemble the telescope in April. The telescope’s hardware was funded by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia while the University of the Free State built the observing dome.

The Boyden telescope joins other BOOTES telescopes that are located in China, New Zealand, Mexico and Spain – in the search for transient events. 

The new telescope is the second observatory to be hosted by the University of the Free State after the 0.41 m Watcher telescope, which has been managed by UCD since 2001. 

Physicsworld.com

STADIO, the JSE-listed investment holdings company with investments in three private higher education institutions, has set its sights on creating an alternative to the University of South Africa, the largest university system in the country, with in excess of 400,000 students.

Larger universities including the likes of Stellenbosch University, UCT, Wits, and North-West University range between 30,000 and 70,000 students.

Stadio started as a subsidiary of Curro Holdings, but was unbundled in 2017, and listed separately on the Johannesburg exchange.

In 2013, Curro acquired Embury, a registered private higher education institution, which offers accredited teacher education qualifications. This was Curro’s first acquisition in the post-school education environment.

It has since acquired further prestigious registered higher education institutions, namely AFDA, Milpark Education, LISOF, Prestige Academy and Southern Business School, as well as the business of CA Connect. AFDA and Milpark Education operate independently, and the other institutions were consolidated with Stadio to form one Stadio Higher Education institution.

In a note on Wednesday (22 June), Stadio chief executive officer, Chris Vorster said the group is set to enter a growth phase with its eye firmly on widening access to quality education. It currently boasts 9 schools, over 50 accredited programmes and both on and off-campus options.

Stadio, with its current three investments in Stadio Higher Education, Milpark Education, and AFDA, has, from 2016 to 2020, focused on establishing and positioning the business.

Vorster said that in 2022, the group is still focused on the consolidation phase of the business and is positioning to implement its growth strategy, aiming for sustainable growth in profit of more than 20% in the long-term, with minimal capital requirements, whilst investigating the possibility of new markets, and further refining its systems and processes to enable continued innovation and efficiencies.

Addressing shareholders in a virtual AGM, Vorster, said that the foundation for this growth phase has been laid and is visible in the first semester with student numbers up by 11% to 38,414  at the end of May 2022 in comparison to 30 June 2021, with distance learning numbers increasing by 15%.

These figures exclude students enrolled in short-learning programmes, Stadio said.

“Of particular significance, is that new students increased by 16% relative to June 2021 with contact learning students growing by 2% to 2,355 and distance learning by 19% to 11,137 students.

“This is a good illustration of our strategy for growth, by taking new programmes to new sites. In general, new student growth provides Stadio with a good pipeline of roll-over students for the next few years,” Vorster said.

Stadio is on track to achieve its target of 56,000 students by 2026, with an 8% annual growth rate required to achieve this. “The ultimate goal is to provide top-class education to 100,000 plus students over time with a minimum of 80% distance learning students and a maximum of 20% contact learning students,” Vorster said.

“Stadio is well-positioned to achieve these goals with its overall strategy underpinned further by its purpose of widening access to education, taking cognizance of the world of work and student centredness,” he said.

The group’s latest campus in Centurion opened its first phase in 2022 at a build cost of R200 million.

Fees vary greatly, depending on the course, type of learning, location, advancement, and year of study.

Divine Mavungu (14) of Hoërskool Alberton has huge sports ambitions and the future is bright for this young athlete.

This Grade Nine learner was awarded a gold and silver medal at the South Africa Schools Athletics earlier this year, which was an incredible honour for him.

“It was an amazing dream come true and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Divine remarked.

Divine represented his school this year at the SA Schools Athletics where he came sixth in the 200m, sixth in the 100m and received a gold and a silver medal for his relay performance.

He recorded his personal best time, which was 10.91, at the provincials this year. He was also awarded his SA colours.

“Clocking my personal goals and representing my school at such a massive event is a most pleasurable feeling.”

Divine started athletics in Grade Three at Colin Mann Primary School.

“I made it to the provincials where I claimed fourth place. I qualified for the SAs, but I could not compete that year as I was too young.” His highlights include competing at the district and provincials every year since Grade Three. He qualified for SAs four times in his athletic career.

Covid-19 made it hard for him as there were no school athletics events.

He is also a member of the Boksburg Athletics Club and he competed at a provincial competition this year where he received first place and qualified to go through to the SAs but due to unforeseen circumstances, he could not compete.

It is one of his goals to compete in the Junior Olympics one day.

“I train six days a week for the whole year,” said Divine. He said he feels like he does not have enough hours in a day to do what he wants to do.

“I take my school work very seriously and that is why I always make sure that there is a balance between my academics and my athletics.”

When he gets the chance, he will focus on his school work to make sure that he knows what is going on and that he doesn’t fall behind.
Athletics is part of Divine Mavungu’s life.

“Running and exercising is what I do best. It is my happy place and where I can escape reality,” he said.
Divine said being an athlete is hard work as you don’t just train for the athletic season, but you train throughout the year to stay fit.
“I train a lot and I do need to watch what I eat and drink,” he said.

Short distances and relay are what Divine is passionate about.

Older athletes inspire him because he finds it fascinating to see how they train and compete.

“Athletes are fueled by non-believers. They possess the ability to overcome adversity like no other. Where others see fear, they see the symbolism of what they want and go for it.”

Divine was born in Germiston and grew up in Elsburg with his two brothers. He is the middle child.

In 2011 he moved with his family to Lambton where they are currently staying. When he is not busy training or catching up on school work he enjoys making gifts.

“I like being creative and making stuff. I also like inventing new things.”

He also enjoys watching TV and listening to music. When he grows up, he wants a career in the sports industry.

Something people don’t know about him is that he is frightened of birds, cockroaches and dogs.

“I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you God for blessing me with this talent. Thank you to my parents, my friends, my school and my coach, Lindie du Plessis for supporting and believing in me,” he concluded.

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will in the 2022 financial year spend R47.3 billion in funding the tertiary education of 691 432 students.

This was on Friday revealed by Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Blade Nzimande, during a press briefing.

Of the approved applicants, 462 983 were female and 227 072 being male.  

Addressing reporters, the Minister said: “There has been a new intake of 240 790 SASSA students… and we will continue to support 1 770 students with disabilities who receive quite a comprehensive set of allowances from the NSFAS Fund”.

Of this allocation, he said, 362 482 was for ccontinuing students and 136 460 for new students.

He said that students registering in multiple institutions continue to be a challenge.

“We have found that 2 481 students have registered in more than one institution and NSFAS has received registration claims from more than a single institution,” he said.

To rectify this problem, students are required to deregister in institutions that they are not studying at and submit evidence to NSFAS so that funds can be released to the correct institution. 

Another big challenge identified, he said, was with regards to funding conditions not met, students following incorrect academic pathways, registering on non-aligned qualifications. He said this was the case with even new students who were registered on qualifications that were being phased-out.

“The above requires all institutions and all students to strictly adhere to the approved NSFAS Eligibility Criteria and Conditions for Financial Aid funding without deviations. NSFAS will continue to work with institutions to ensure resolution to the anomalies in the system,” she said.  

TVET CollegeStudent Funding

For 2022 TVET college bursaries, he said NSFAS projected a 10% growth in student numbers across all TVET academic cycles to an estimated 395 000 students. In this regard, NSFAS made provisional funding for 380 000 TVET College students. 

To date, he said NSFAS received registration data for close to 200 000 students. This is at about 52% of expected and provisionally funded students in colleges, he said.

“In seeking to close the gap and understand the issues at College level, NSFAS deployed its staff in May to assist TVET colleges to submit registration data according to NSFAS requirements.

“This intervention assisted in the improvement of data quality submitted by the TVET Colleges. However, this intervention is not sustainable as NSFAS does not have enough capacity to adequately support TVET colleges at various campuses in this particular way in the long-term,” he said.

The Minister said there was a need to capacitate TVET college staff on NSFAS processes.  In the regard, he said NSFAS had committed to support colleges with a contribution of R500 000 per college in the short-term period to appoint financial aid officers.

The main issue affecting the processing of students in TVET colleges, like universities, is the problem of multiple registration status and students following incorrect academic pathways.

“There were 4 287 unprocessed students not processed for payment by NSFAS because of these exceptions.  NSFAS has started a reconciliation and data sharing exercise with institutions for the resolution of these identified exceptions,” he said.

The Minister said this issue would be sustainably resolved through “systems integration between NSFAS and institutions”.

“I am informed that already there is on-going work to resolve this issue,” he said.

Nzimande said the NSFAS Board recently proposed new policy reforms to improve the efficiency of the scheme. He said had considered and agreed to these, saying the changes had proven to be positive in improving service delivery.

NSFAS administrative, student accommodation and other related challenges

After being inundated by student complaints on accommodation and being evicted by landlords, he said from next year, NFSAS would take a proactive role in NSFAS funded student accommodation in order to ensure value for money. This included standardizing the cost and quality by grading student accommodation, thus paying a standard rate based on the grading of each type of accommodation.

He said: “Through numerous engagements with students, student leadership bodies, educational institutions, and accommodation providers, it is clear that student accommodation remains a major challenge to resolve. This is the case in both private accommodation and institution owned-accommodation”.

He said there were insufficient beds to accommodate students, while some institutions did not have sufficient quantities and quality of own accommodation.

“The building of more infrastructure for student accommodation remains a priority for government, and I intend to accelerate such construction, including through partnerships with the private sector,” he said.

Further announcements will be made in this regard later this year.

This included pilots to test various strategies and plans to significantly increase the number of student beds for both university and TVET college students.

SA NEWS

STAFF REPORTER|

THE Servest management company has provided critical support and COVID-19 provisions to learners and teachers at the Grace Christian Private School in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga.

“Many neighbourhoods have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial burden that it has imposed on communities. Our school has not been spared,” said Hendrik Mahlangu, the principal and one of the founders of the school.

The Grace Christian Private School opened its doors in 2003 with 32 learners, and has grown to 650 learners, providing education from Grade R to Grade 12.

The running operations for the school are funded by parents paying school fees, donors from the local Christian community, as well as assistance from donations from the United Kingdom (UK).

Mahlangu explains: “The cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) became too big a burden for the school, and the support provided by Servest could not have come at a more opportune time.”

“We were paying a lot on PPEs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is the responsibility of the school to provide PPE to the teachers and learners. This has been an unexpected cost, and we could not include it in the school fees or impose the financial burden on parents who are already financially overburdened.”

He says that then, as if by a miracle, a UK friend of the school put Servest in touch with the school and the company came to the rescue, offering to donate the necessary PPEs.

The provisions included hand sanitisers, masks, and cleaning products to disinfect classrooms.

The donation from Servest is estimated to the value of about R354 691.

“We have been using the supplies from Servest over the past two years, and this has saved the school a lot of money,” says Mahlangu.
Grace Christian Private School says because of the generous donation from Servest and UK donors, it has in turn been able to help two other nearby schools with some surplus masks and sanitisers.

“This has reduced the strain on the educators who were trying to find funds to help protect the children,” said Mahlangu. “Educators from our schools as well as the other two schools in the area can now focus on their primary role of teaching, and not worry about operational things like PPEs. More support of this nature will go a long way for our schools.”

He explains that the school has been able to continue operating during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the PPE provided by Servest, as the school was able to make the necessary adjustments to minimise risk of COVID-19. Online teaching and limited live classroom teaching with alternating classes became the order of the day.

Grace Christian Private School is one of only three schools in the Middelburg region that attained a 100% matric pass rate last year. Mahlangu attributes this success to the grace of God, the dedication of teachers and learners, and the support of kind donors like Servest.

INSIDE EDUCATION