Education in the Western Cape at the launch of the Lentegeur Education
Foundation, Mitchell's Plain
17 August 2006
Members of the Lentegeur Community
Supporters of the Lentegeur Community
It is a huge honour for me to be here on the occasion of the historic launch
of the Lentegeur Education Foundation which has decided to use the Western Cape
Education Department (WCED) community school initiative to provide it with a
context.
I think that today's gathering and what is happening at another 200 or so
schools and communities around the province, is give us very practical
demonstrations of "reasons to believe" and are absolutely local
enterprises.
I think that what you are saying here today and what other schools have been
saying through this week is indeed that "Life can be different".
Yesterday, the Premier told the Grade 6's and 7's, the choir, community
members and the twenty members of the school's "Breakfast Club" who get a plate
of porridge from the school that "Food does not just fall out of the sky; we
need to work for it".
He was launching the school's brand new and first-ever vegetable patch and
said that communities need to know that there's no need to break in to a school
to steal a computer to put food on the table.
He said that if the school is growing vegetables and saying to the
community, 'come to us and let us talk, and maybe we can make a different plan
to put the food on your table", then we are looking at a new way of doing
things. He said that he looked forward to the day when all 1 400 schools in the
province were community hubs and added that we must grow this province, "patch
by patch".
The community-school initiative is to encourage schools to think of new ways
of working with their communities. We made up to R1000 available to help
schools give their work a kick-start. And the results have been phenomenal. I
want to say that each apparently small step is really huge one when one
considers the multiplier effect of this kind of thing happening all over the
province.
It is very clear to me that many of our schools already have quite
remarkable links with their communities. My visit to the Noluthando School for
the deaf introduced me to a school, which is open to the community well into
the night. We saw vegetable tunnels, a community member operating a motorcar
repair shop, training in bricklaying, training in things like making job
applications and even ship-building. We heard about plans to open a crèche
facility.
I am proud of the way that many of our schools provide facilities for our
Adult Learning Centres. I acknowledge the wonderful partnerships we have with
sister departments and the police force as well and all the work they all do in
schools and with communities.
Kalkfontein Primary in Kuilsriver presented an amazing sight last night. The
whole school was lit up and in use, as it is three times a month, as a medical
clinic being run by students from Stellenbosch University. The parking lot full
of Bambanani volunteers made visitors feel secure and welcomed. Inside, the
classrooms were filled with mothers and babies, a pharmacy and signs of huge
efficiency. There were educational speakers, entertainment and every indication
that this is a community hub to be proud of.
This meeting in particular will be interested to hear that this service runs
under an impressive Kuilsriver Network called the "Local Integrated Network of
Kuilsriver." They are going to operate under the banner of "Hambisanani": "Let
us walk together".
Kalkfontein Primary only opened this year and I am thrilled to see what they
are achieving already. I can not list the achievements and wonderful work done
in all of our schools and I am not going to try: those were just two examples
of communities and schools that are already fully mobilised. What has been
similarly exciting for me is to see the schools that are taking their very
first steps right now in this week. It is the first plants in the first
vegetable garden, it is the first computer class ever for the community around
Zola Secondary or the other focus schools in Education Management and
Development Centre (EMDC) East, it is this initiative today the first formal
coalition of schools in Mitchell's Plain.
It is all those "firsts" all around the province that are also such landmark
moments. We need to spread the news of your initiatives and all the learning
that is happening along the way. Through this multiplier effect we might find,
in the end, which we have brought about the transformation that is so close to
all our hearts.
There is a big international movement, which started with the "Imagine
Chicago" movement. I challenge you, the people of Lentegeur and the supporters
of the people of Lentegeur, to use this initiative to help you live your dreams
of a regenerated Lentegeur to the fullest.
I want to encourage you to think of the model of Kuilsriver and to check in
with the Proudly Manenberg people as well. I am thrilled to hear about all the
work you have been doing on social capital already through the years and about
how well you already understand the concept of working in a cluster.
I was delighted to hear about the call to my office yesterday from the Chief
of the State Prosecutors in Mitchell's Plain that they had read about our
initiative in the Plainsman and wanted to find out how to work in very
practical ways with our community. This is a wonderful and immediate
demonstration of the value of working in a linked and co-ordinated manner.
It is also an indication of the role of the media. I want to challenge the
media today to work harder at the job of building social capital. Of course
they have a role to play in exposing corruption, telling us of disasters and
all the other things they do.
But if we are serious about growth then we need to use those networks too to
make our world stronger and better and the place we want for our
children.
I salute all of you here today. I know that this is the beginning of your
formal journey together but that you have been sharing for many years
already.
Thank you for adopting the "Hambisanani" model.
Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: (021) 467 2523
Fax: (021) 425 5689
E-mail: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education, Western Cape Provincial Government
17 August 2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://ww.capegateway.gov.za)
