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Description
Description
In the Mankosi Community, 150 children are motivated to learn despite their impossible circumstances. Since 2006, they have been regularly attending after school classes at Mdumbi Education Centre. They have done this of their own accord and continue to show serious interest in improving their own lives through education. The After School Enrichment project assist them in this by offering after school lessons in mainly literacy, math and life skills while incorporating social and emotional development, sport and nature.
Some of these students have received High School scholarships to attend a better quality High School in Mthatha.
Development Challenge
Development Challenge
Children living in rural areas have to fend for themselves on a daily basis. The children of the Mankosi Community, in the OR Tambo poverty node, struggle every day with issues relating to poverty, hunger, neglect, alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS. Family responsibilities, like looking after younger brothers and sisters, fetching water and firewood and herding cattle are among the many reasons children do not attend school regularly. In her shocking paper on the state of rural schools, Monica Henricks highlights the fact that this problem is particularly felt in the rural Eastern Cape. She writes of inequalities in rural educational development by drawing attention to the ineffectual provincial government, inadequate feeding schemes, lack of classrooms, lack of qualified and motivated teachers as well as a severe lack of educational resources. According to the report, other problems children in rural areas face are; having to travel long distances to school as well as spending a lot of time on physical labour and household chores.
The drop out rate in rural Eastern Cape schools is also higher than the national average. An official Assessment Report on the UNESCO Education for All programme reveals that in South African rural areas 19.1% of children between the ages of 6-14 had dropped out, compared to 11.4 % in urban areas, while the dropout rate for children over 14 years rises to above 40%.
In the Mankosi Community, children who attend school in spite of all these problems, walk for about 90 minutes to a school with no furniture, few teachers and very little educational input. Actual school days are erratic and children suffer from a lack of stimulation and opportunity to learn. Therefore, in the short term there is a need for supplementary education and in the long term a need for intervention and support for the local school
Objectives
Objectives
- to fast track and supplement learning through a literacy programme which uses computers, workbooks and lesson plans
- to improve reading abilities and interpretation of information through library and reading programmes
- to increase exposure to ideas, culture, issues, discussion and debate through access to educational television
- to develop a sense of teamwork and identity through a sports programme involving soccer, netball, volleyball and other outdoor games
- to develop creativity, imagination and skills through art, drama and craft
- to educate learners in life skills and making positive choices with a focus on identity, sexuality, health, HIV/AIDS
- to learn about growing food, nutrition and agriculture through the Organic Classroom Programme at MEC food garden
- to educate learners around natural resource management and conservation
Project Aim
Project Aim
The aim of this project is to assist at least 50 school students annually with after school life skills, literacy and math lessons and to help them benefit daily from educational physical and nutritional support.
The After School Enriched students will be better motivated to stay in school and apply their knowledge and skill, thereby raising the standard of education offered at the local school. They will also be more likely to continue with their education until High School and stand a better chance of enrolling at a tertiary education institution. With an increase in after school care, orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in the area will be more formally supported by a regular and monitored structure.
Project Dynamic Info
Project Dynamic Info
Project images
Project images
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
According to a Nodal Economic Profile, the OR Tambo District is characterized by poor roads, a limited skills base, no tradition of business or entrepreneurship and a high crime rate. Employment in the node is at only 11%, while 38% of adults have received no schooling at all, and only 5% of people in the area have received a higher education. The Mankosi Administrative Area is situated in the OR Tambo Presidential Poverty Node. As illustrated above, the area is beset by a lack of skills, a severe lack of quality education as well as high unemployment and soaring HIV infection rates. In the rural communities and there is a heavy reliance on pensions and government grants for survival and high levels of illiteracy occur, even in adults who have received some form of schooling.
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Reports and Proposals
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