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Facts on Fezeka Senior Secondary School...
Fezeka Senior Secondary
School located in Guguletu, a black township (pop. 330,000) on the outskirts
of Cape Town, South Africa. New classrooms have replaced portables erected
in 1976, which have deteriorated over time to the extent that the walls,
floors and roofs have gaping holes.
The school is situated
in a poor overcrowded area of shanties where crime and violence are common.
The problems at the school
are enormous:
- The school has 1750 students enrolled with approximately 45 children per classroom.
- The drop-out rate between Grade 11 (445 students) and Grade 12 (100 students) is extremely high. Many students do not go on to grade 12 because of their need to earn a living. Once they leave school, however, the lack of jobs (47% unemployment) turns formerly good school attendees to drugs or crime.
- 54 teachers share a tiny staff room.
- Parents pay R150 (approx. $28 Can.) per annum for each student Average household income is R12000 (approx., $2240 Can.) per annum.
- The Department of Education pays an extra R198 (approx $37 Can.) per student per annum. This is not given in cash but as credits for materials required such as exercise books, writing materials, etc.
Not only are black schools
like Fezeka struggling with inadequate facilities and social problems,
they are entering an education system that for years excluded them. During
the apartheid era, laws prevented white teachers from interacting with
black students or their teachers. Very few blacks thus had the opportunity
to graduate from high school and become teachers. Some of the teachers
in township schools like Fezeka are still suffering from the effects of
this discrimination. There is a lack of adequately trained teachers.
Our target for replacing the broken-down portables with eight classrooms has been $200,000 Cdn. (not including furnishings). To date, we have raised over $250,000 Cdn. toward that goal.
Accomplishments to date:
Education without Borders has in six years:
- Established a liaison group (EwB Cape Town) and a Trust Fund managed by a Cape Town Law Firm
- Built eight new classrooms at Fezeka High chool, Guguletu,South Africa
- Produced a short documentary film on Fezeka (see below)
- Established student mentoring programs (accounting and law)
- Introduced traineeships for school graduates (garment factory managers)
- Linked graduates to educational scholarships (Tsiba B.Comm)
- Funded inspirational speakers (Sibusisu Vilane - first SA to climb Everest twice)
- Assisted in the development of Fezeka's computer facility
- Created support workshops for teachers and management (IT and time management)
- Obtained verbal support from the Dept. of Education (Western Cape) and Fezeka Board of Gov. for a volunteer teacher program at Fezeka
- Created a support program for the school principal and two teachers (funding for a Learning Conference in Johannesburg in June 2007)
- Raised funds for a Photographic Arts Program at Fezeka( Jan 2009)
- Raised funds for a Dance Workshop at Fezeka (iKapa)-Aug 2008
- Funded our first volunteer teacher (Alex Abraham of Toronto)
- Developed a partnership with Teachers Without Borders(TWB) (Our first EwB/TWB IT teacher training workshop is in July 2008) .
- Created an International student connection - Old Dominion University, USA
- Donated to a library in Ghana
- Donated to a school in Uganda (Have Mercy Orphan School)
- Donated to a school in Guinea, West Africa (Kalabante project)
- Enabled the creation of the first CD for the Fezeka School Choir
More on Fezeka
For further information, call (604-224-3077) or e-mail
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