DURBAN - This Mandela Day, the Adopt-a-School Foundation is launching a Covid-19 relief campaign to support schools across the country, and is counting on fellow South Africans to help them reach its goals.
The campaign aims to address critical gaps that impede teaching and learning in schools, and its interventions include sanitation, the digitalisation of classrooms, the provision of infrastructure and food security. Through the support of donors, the foundation will kick off the campaign at Qhobosheane Primary School in Soweto, on July 16, ahead of Mandela Day.
Adopt-a-School Foundation chief executive Steven Lebere says the foundation supports 622 schools nationally through its whole school development model, which addresses school leadership, infrastructure, curriculum and social welfare.
However, the pandemic has created unprecedented challenges in many schools from marginalised communities, and this has led to the development of a holistic Covid-19 relief campaign aimed at addressing these challenges.
“To tackle the gaps caused by Covid-19 in schools, we need to raise significant funding. We are calling upon corporate South Africa to partner with us and donate towards our extensive selection of Covid-19 relief projects.
“The contribution will enable teaching and learning to continue. All pledges are also welcomed as they will allow us to implement more interventions in more schools,” says Lebere.
Many sectors are left grappling with revising systems and operations, and adapting to the new normal. This is no different in the education sector as the pandemic has exposed and pushed the depth of the socio-economic inequalities in our schools. Learners from marginalised schools are cut off during extended school closures as remote learning is not yet an option.
Furthermore, schools struggle with overcrowding and proper sanitation, which means they cannot provide a safe schooling environment conducive to teaching and learning amid the pandemic.
“Partnerships are critical to our work. Since 2002, with the help of our partners and funders, we have invested more than a billion rand in education, benefiting more than a million beneficiaries. For this reason, we believe in corporate South Africa and are excited about this initiative.
“We know it is only through collaboration that we can fight the impacts of the pandemic in schools and ensure all learners have access to education during this difficult time,” he adds.
Since its inception, more than 19 400 learners have benefited from health and sanitation programmes and more than 9 400 learners have participated in awareness campaigns. The programme has reached 17 670 learners, and has hosted over 390 parental workshops.
There are currently 622 schools under the Adopt-a-School Foundation’s adoption programme. The foundation works in all nine provinces in South Africa, as well as in Lesotho and Mozambique.
If you would like to pledge or get involved in the campaign, you can email Adopt-a-School on: [email protected] or visit www.adoptaschool.org.za for more information.