HSRP PARTNERSHIPS

National Government

On 31 March 2011 the HSRP operational funding that had been received from the Department of Arts and Culture came to an end. The Department of Basic Education submitted a Medium Term Budget application to Treasury in late 2010 seeking funding for the Historic Schools Restoration Project for a three-year period but regrettably the application was not successful. The Executive Director met with President Zuma regarding on-going funding and the urgent need for tangible long-term support from the Government. The President requested the Minister of Arts and Culture to provide funding for the 2011/2012 financial year. We are grateful for the funding that was received; however, this amount only contributed to approximately a third of our operational requirements. It was with regret that the funding was received fairly late in the financial year which meant that many of the activities that would have been undertaken were curtailed and in addition the shortfall in operational budget had to be met from reserves.

We are, however, pleased to report that, following a meeting with the Director General of Basic Education, the HSRP has been made a Special Project within the Department, with operational funding confirmed for a three-year period. This is indeed wonderful news and allows the HSRP to build on the work that had already been started but because of a lack of funding could not be completed in the last financial year.

We continue to engage with the Department of Basic Education with regard to the ‘third tier’ model which would see schools receiving full government support and funding, augmented by the private sector, alumni and other sources of funding, but which allows full management autonomy at the schools. While not an approved instrument of the Department of Basic Education, we are encouraged at the Director General’s willingness to explore models which will enhance education broadly and more importantly, bring about partnerships which would improve the academic performance of schools. We continue to believe that there is immense capacity and willingness to get involved within South Africa. We further believe that the HSRP can be a catalyst that brings together corporate SA, NGOs and ordinary citizens who understand the need for quality education and are prepared to commit to partnerships that will ultimately benefit schools and learners. We continue to engage with the Department on these issues.

Last year we reported that the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashitile, had proposed the creation of two bodies that would provide support for the HSRP and at the same time monitor the work being undertaken by the HSRP on behalf of the Departments of Arts and Culture, Basic Education and Science and Technology. The one body being established would be ‘political’ and would consist of the Ministers of the three departments together with the Executive Director of the HSRP. The other body would be more technical in nature and would draw membership from the HSRP, the professional consultants to the Project, together with representatives from the three departments. Since the last annual report there has been one meeting of the technical committee, which gave the HSRP the opportunity to brief the three departments about developments over the last year. A further meeting is planned for later in 2012 which will deal with more specific issues. To date there has been no meeting of the ‘political’ committee and we continue to press for this meeting to take place.

Provincial Governments

We continue to work closely with the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and through this association have seen significant work undertaken at both Healdtown Comprehensive and St Matthews High schools. As mentioned in the infrastructure report the R4.5m grant given to the HSRP for upgrading of water and sewerage reticulation at St Matthews has been utilised in part and we are awaiting confirmation of water connections before spending the balance of the grant. We have met recently with the Superintendent General of the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education and welcome his decisiveness in addressing outstanding issues at both of these schools.

Unfortunately, our interactions with other Provincial Departments have been disappointing. Notwithstanding an undertaking by the Premier of Limpopo two years ago to facilitate Lemana High School moving back to its original campus, this has not happened and efforts to arrange meetings with both the Premier and the MEC for Basic Education in the Province have not borne fruit.

Following a significant amount of work undertaken at the behest of MEC for Basic Education in KwaZulu-Natal, meetings with the provincial task team has come to a halt. We have continued to try and re-establish the link but to date have had no success. Despite this, we continue to be involved with the schools and meet with principals at the various workshops that we host.

The Calabar Foundation

The United States-based Calabar Foundation has been actively involved at St Matthews in the Eastern Cape for almost four years. At present no personnel are based at the school, and at a recent meeting with Calabar’s president Mr Andrew Summers there was an indication that involvement at the school would gradually be phased out. The contribution of the Foundation has been immense. In the time that that they have been involved, they have undertaken the installation of a computer laboratory with 60 personal computers, provided internet connectivity to the school and recently completed, with financial assistance from the HSRP, the renovation of ten staff houses on the campus.

This partnership has been an important one for the HSRP and it is hoped that there would be other opportunities to partner with the Foundation. We extend our thanks to the Calabar Foundation for the work they have undertaken and the enormous impact they have had on so many of the learners at St Matthews.

Columba1400SA

We are pleased to welcome Columba1400SA as a partner. This organisation’s core work is with young people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, many of whom live in poverty, in child-headed households and in communities beset by HIV/AIDS, limited employment opportunities and poor educational opportunities.

Many of the young people they work with do not believe in their own capacity to make a positive difference in their own lives or in their schools and communities. Columba1400SA works with principals, teachers, local community members and corporate partners to engage young people in a programme of leadership development that elicits and unleashes their latent potential to be agents of positive social change. Central to this is the belief that leadership potential is within each individual, especially those who have weathered tough times, and that effective youth development must empower young people by drawing out their inner greatness.

The programmes place strong emphasis on personal, social and environmental responsibility and draw heavily on the teaching power of lessons from the natural environment. Healdtown Comprehensive High School in Fort Beaufort is the first school that has benefited from the work of Columba1400SA and a further programme is planned at a school in KwaZulu-Natal for later in 2012.

University of Fort Hare

Over a period of approximately a year there have been discussions centred on the potential role for Healdtown to be a centre of excellence for maths and science in the region. Various role players including community representatives, union officials, the University of Fort Hare and the Methodist Church have attended meetings and given input into how they see Healdtown playing such a role and what steps need to be taken to bring this to fruition.

The University of Fort Hare, through the FOSST Discovery Centre, has developed a business plan in conjunction with the HSRP which will see Healdtown developing into a centre of science, maths and technology. This concept was built on similar work that was already being done by the University, but expanded the role of the Healdtown centre to include schools in the greater Fort Beaufort area.

The project is known as the ‘Science and Technology Education Resource Centre’ (STERC) and aims to provide extra tuition for pupils throughout the year and during school holidays. A good deal of work has gone into this project and we are pleased to advise that a very successful winter school was held at Healdtown during the second week of July 2012, which saw learners from six different schools being collected by bus and transported to Healdtown for a week’s instruction in maths, science and technology. The educators were all contracted for the duration of the winter school and during the term additional educators will be available for instruction in the three subjects.

At present the Eagle Building at Healdtown has been identified as the building that will be used for STERC and once the Ilanga Building has been renovated the intention is to house the project in this newly refurbished facility. This is an important intervention which we are very excited about, and in particular because STERC will serve not only Healdtown but all the schools in the Fort Beaufort area. We have already appointed a management committee and a coordinator for the project, all based in Fort Beaufort.

Much of what has happened in a relatively short time would not have been possible without the assistance of Dr Mvuyo Tom, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare, and Mr Phumezo Kwinana from the FOSST Discovery Centre. We extend our thanks to both of these gentlemen and anticipate being able to report at the next AGM on the progress of STERC and show the results of this intervention.

The iconic Eagle Building at Healdtown.