The official handover of new toilets and a kitchen at Samuel Ntsiko School, the last of seven schools to benefit from a Rotary Global Grant, was a joyous occasion. This remarkable transformation was made possible through the generous contributions of Rotary clubs worldwide, including a significant $1,000 donation from the Dominion Rotary Club.
The project, a long but rewarding journey, has brought about an amazing change for the students and teachers. The excitement and gratitude of the children is a testament to the impact of this endeavor.
While the official handover marks a significant milestone, the work continues. Additional improvements, ongoing education programs, and the fostering of strong partnerships with local schools are all part of ensuring the project's lasting impact.
Gavin Keeton I am sharing your remarks with many of our Global Grant donors and supporters. This makes My heart leap with pride to be a partner to the 7 Schools Project. Susie used the word INCREDIBLE to think of what is being accomplished and what it means for the students and teachers and the families in the township schools - and for their future. Gavin, you yourself have been a wonderful ambassador for the projects that we have been privileged to be a part of over the past half dozen years in Grahamstown, S.A..
Gavin - What a wonderful ROTARY GLOBAL GRANT achievement ($420K). We feel emotionally grateful to know you and your hardworking club members as very dedicated Rotary friends.
Thank you for the kind invitation to visit Grahamstown and the project schools. We must plan this for the not too distant future.
Very kind regards,
PDG Stuart and Susie Palmer
Dear All
The official handover of the toilets and kitchen at the last of our 7
schools, Samuel Ntsiko, took place on Friday 19th April. Sadly, I was away,
but my Rotary colleagues report it was a joyous occasion. I’m attaching some
photographs of the event and will follow up with some "before" and "after"
photos of the toilets and kitchen.
Implementing the Global Grant has been a long and sometimes stressful
journey. But it has also been enormously rewarding. When one sees the
amazing transformation the project has brought about, and the excitement and
gratitude of the children and teachers, it makes one very proud to be a
Rotarian.
Our work is not yet fully complete. We still have some funds left over.
Based upon the lessons learned as the project unfolded, we are going back to
some of the schools to make additions. We also left out a few things when
we started, because we were scared that our funds would be inadequate, and
so are now doing some of what we left out previously. Signage is still
being put up at 2 schools. There is also an ongoing programme of teaching
the children to value what they have, and to recognize the importance of
water in our drought-prone region. Training in maintenance and first aid in
the kitchens is also ongoing. We are working to cement the partnerships
between the well-resourced local schools and the GG beneficiaries that is a
key part of sustainability.
None of this would have happened without your extraordinary generosity.
What you have enabled us to do forms part of an extraordinary transformation
of education for the disadvantaged in this community. 10 years ago,
Grahamstown was the worst performing centre in the Eastern Cape in the
annual Grade 12 school-leaving matric results. That is the worst centre in
the second-worst province in the country. This has changed dramatically,
and for the past few years Grahamstown has been the best performer in the
Eastern Cape and is not far from the best centre in the country. At an
Education Summit at Rhodes University in January the target was set to be
the best in SA within the next 3 years.
To give some idea of what this change means in practical terms: 10 years
ago, just 7 children from local township schools met the requirements of
admission to Rhodes University. This year it was 136. Local students are
not just being admitted, they are graduating. At the recent graduation
ceremonies, 69 students from the Gadra Matric school – a school where local
students get a second chance to improve their matric results to gain access
to Rhodes and other universities – graduated. This excludes local students
who went straight from school to Rhodes, whose inclusion raises the number
of local graduates probably to more than 100. This means there is hardly a
street in Grahamstown’s townships where somebody did not graduate from
Rhodes last month.
Many interventions and inspired leadership have made such changes possible.
Toilets and kitchens are only one part of this, but we believe they are an
important part. Well-known local educationalist Professor Jonathan Jansen
wrote the following:
“It was the late Philip Jackson who gave us the term “hidden curriculum” to
describe the things children learn, inside but also outside the classroom,
that are neither planned nor intended…..
In a good school, children line up for classes, wait their turn during
question time and compete to win one of the academic or cultural or sporting
awards of the school. In this way they learn about discipline, respect and
achievement. In a dysfunctional school, on the other hand, children learn,
when the teacher is always late for classes and the broken window never gets
fixed and the toilet is a pit latrine, that they really do not matter to the
adults around them.” (Rand Daily Mail, 8 February 2018).
It is this “hidden curriculum” that the project addresses. It demonstrates
to pupils that they do matter in the eyes of Rotary and the local community.
That their personal dignity is as important as the dignity of the pupils in
the well-off schools in our town, where toilets are hygienic and always
flush. Where there is a door that gives you privacy.
This enhancement of self-worth is an important contributor to improved
education success.
The Rotary Clubs in Grahamstown urge you, the donors who made this project
possible, to come see for yourselves the changes you have made possible. We
would love to host you.
Regards
Gavin Keeton
10 May 2024
The official handover of the toilets and kitchen at the last of our 7
schools, Samuel Ntsiko, took place on Friday 19th April. Sadly, I was away,
but my Rotary colleagues report it was a joyous occasion. I’m attaching some
photographs of the event and will follow up with some "before" and "after"
photos of the toilets and kitchen.
Implementing the Global Grant has been a long and sometimes stressful
journey. But it has also been enormously rewarding. When one sees the
amazing transformation the project has brought about, and the excitement and
gratitude of the children and teachers, it makes one very proud to be a
Rotarian.
Our work is not yet fully complete. We still have some funds left over.
Based upon the lessons learned as the project unfolded, we are going back to
some of the schools to make additions. We also left out a few things when
we started, because we were scared that our funds would be inadequate, and
so are now doing some of what we left out previously. Signage is still
being put up at 2 schools. There is also an ongoing programme of teaching
the children to value what they have, and to recognize the importance of
water in our drought-prone region. Training in maintenance and first aid in
the kitchens is also ongoing. We are working to cement the partnerships
between the well-resourced local schools and the GG beneficiaries that is a
key part of sustainability.
None of this would have happened without your extraordinary generosity.
What you have enabled us to do forms part of an extraordinary transformation
of education for the disadvantaged in this community. 10 years ago,
Grahamstown was the worst performing centre in the Eastern Cape in the
annual Grade 12 school-leaving matric results. That is the worst centre in
the second-worst province in the country. This has changed dramatically,
and for the past few years Grahamstown has been the best performer in the
Eastern Cape and is not far from the best centre in the country. At an
Education Summit at Rhodes University in January the target was set to be
the best in SA within the next 3 years.
To give some idea of what this change means in practical terms: 10 years
ago, just 7 children from local township schools met the requirements of
admission to Rhodes University. This year it was 136. Local students are
not just being admitted, they are graduating. At the recent graduation
ceremonies, 69 students from the Gadra Matric school – a school where local
students get a second chance to improve their matric results to gain access
to Rhodes and other universities – graduated. This excludes local students
who went straight from school to Rhodes, whose inclusion raises the number
of local graduates probably to more than 100. This means there is hardly a
street in Grahamstown’s townships where somebody did not graduate from
Rhodes last month.
Many interventions and inspired leadership have made such changes possible.
Toilets and kitchens are only one part of this, but we believe they are an
important part. Well-known local educationalist Professor Jonathan Jansen
wrote the following:
“It was the late Philip Jackson who gave us the term “hidden curriculum” to
describe the things children learn, inside but also outside the classroom,
that are neither planned nor intended…..
In a good school, children line up for classes, wait their turn during
question time and compete to win one of the academic or cultural or sporting
awards of the school. In this way they learn about discipline, respect and
achievement. In a dysfunctional school, on the other hand, children learn,
when the teacher is always late for classes and the broken window never gets
fixed and the toilet is a pit latrine, that they really do not matter to the
adults around them.” (Rand Daily Mail, 8 February 2018).
It is this “hidden curriculum” that the project addresses. It demonstrates
to pupils that they do matter in the eyes of Rotary and the local community.
That their personal dignity is as important as the dignity of the pupils in
the well-off schools in our town, where toilets are hygienic and always
flush. Where there is a door that gives you privacy.
This enhancement of self-worth is an important contributor to improved
education success.
The Rotary Clubs in Grahamstown urge you, the donors who made this project
possible, to come see for yourselves the changes you have made possible. We
would love to host you.
Regards
Gavin Keeton
10 May 2024