A High School for Madibatlou Current School Since it humble beginnings in 1972 Madibatlou Middle School has grown into an extremely successful school, especially when one considers the underprivileged situation of most of its learners. The school has won numerous awards and has been sponsored over the years by a great many business and charities, both local and international. A driving force in the school’s success has been the staff at Madibatlou. The determination of Principal Mrs. Patricia Lumwila (Busi) to make Madibatlou more than just another impoverished, under-funded government school has turned what could have been just another township school into a centre of academic excellence. Children travel from many kilometres around to attend Madibatlou Middle School, and places are scarce. Need for a High School There is no high school near Madibatlou. Children leaving after Grade 7 go on to schools in the Thembisa areas. The cost of transport, the effort of getting to school and the stress of attending a huge township school miles away from home takes it toll on these learners. Of the children leaving Madibatlou in Grade 7, only very few of them reach Grade 12, and even fewer of those get matric. This is not good enough. The growth in this area of Pretoria has been phenomenal in the past five years, and demographic studies would suggest that it is expected to continue to grow at a similar if not faster rate over the next five years. The Gauteng Department of Education has conceded that a high school is necessary in this area; however, they have also indicated that there are no funds to build one in the foreseeable future. Proposal for a High School Madibatlou Middle School, in partnership with the Centurus Colleges Trust, a Section 18(a) non-profit organization (see Section 5), proposes to build a high school in Olifantsfontein, across the road from the current Madibatlou school. It will have 12 classrooms, 3 multipurpose centres and an admin block with 4 HOD offices attached. On completion of the building works the high school will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education. The Department has given an undertaking to source and pay for educators for the school, with a start date of January 2010. From the date of handover of the high school all subsequent costs will be carried by the Gauteng Department of Education. Budget Summary A piece of land adjacent to the existing school and valued at R10m has been donated by for this purpose. Costings for the high school have been carried out. In brief, we expect the building costs of the high school to be R5,282,246. Management of the Project and Time-line The building of the Madibatlou high school will be project-managed by a qualified project manager, with daily input from Mrs. Lumwila, who has considerable experience in the construction industry, and from the Izzi Trust. The time-line for this project is as follows:
Benefits to Sponsors A project of this nature carries with it huge publicity potential, as sponsors will be supporting a severely underprivileged community, as well as assisting government in a highly visible public/private partnership. Contact Information For more details on this project, please contact Felicity Gallagher, Project Director of the Izzi Trust, |
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