2010 AND BEYOND

For the immediate future, our priorities are to secure further operational funding for the Project from April 2011 onward, to strengthen and enhance our management and administration capacity and systems, and to continue to refine and develop the constantly evolving role of the HSRP.

Fundraising for particular schools and programmes is ongoing, using the comprehensive infrastructural and architectural reports that have been compiled for each school which clarify priority needs. Masake Communications has been instrumental in introducing the HSRP to a number of potential funders, some of whom have made substantial donations during the past few months.

Following our culture workshop in October 2009, we are holding a Colloquium on Cultural Excellence in Schools at the University of Fort Hare on 22 September 2010. We hope to further pinpoint the steps necessary for the achievement of cultural excellence and to formulate a strategic plan going forward.

As I have indicated, great emphasis is being placed on teaching standards and we are working with service providers to compile and introduce teacher development programmes for as many schools as funding can support. For some time the HSRP has been wanting to add to its staff contingent and, in particular, to appoint an Education Director who would engender an inspired sense of purpose in how the historic schools foster excellence in teaching and learning, align the intention of the pilot schools with the vision and mission of the HSRP, and formulate education plans for each school. In the absence of a suitable candidate, Dr Tim Nuttall has been employed as a consultant until November 2010 and has been visiting each pilot school to learn about their individual dynamics, to discuss the objectives of the HSRP and the schools themselves, and to prepare for a conference of principals and deputy principals in July 2010.

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

Chinese proverb