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BACKGROUND:
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WINTERBERG SCHOOL TRUST
There had for many years been several farm schools in the
Winterberg district, each offering learners an education up
to the level of Grade 7. Children who wanted to extend their
studies to Grade 8 and beyond had to find boarding and
attend schools in larger towns, including Queenstown and
Wittelsea. The latter situation was financially most
unsatisfactory for parents. During the political unrest of
the 1980s farm workers had an additional concern: the safety
of their children attending school in the townships.
Discussions arising out of these concerns led to the
establishment of the Winterberg School Trust – a vehicle
through which the community could begin to address its
educational problems.
The Trust, which was registered in 1990 has 18A Tax Status,
is a registered NPO (non-profit organization) and a PBO
(public benefit organization). The Board of Trustees is an
elected body consisting of 4 farmers, 4 farm workers and 2
invited members. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
WST PROJECTS The Projects of the WST
have always developed out of the needs identified and
expressed by members of the Community.
With a seed grant form the Paul and Stella Lowenstein Trust,
the WST purchased 4ha of land on which the people of the
Winterberg Community built a two-classroom secondary school
for their children in Grades 8 and 9.
The Community School has developed
substantially since its inception in 1993. The generous
donations of individual and corporate funders have over the
years enabled the WST to build an additional 9 classrooms in
which approximately 220 learners from Grade R to Grade 9 are
now accommodated. The process of amalgamating the farm
schools in the Winterberg has been in accordance with the
vision and regulations of the Department of Education (DEC).
The legitimization of the process was initiated by the DEC
during October 2002. A Project referred to as Whole School
Development now operates to support the school in terms of
the curricula and extra curricula activities and also in
terms of the provision of materials and equipment.
In 1992, a local farmer’s wife – Barbara Scott - was
employed by the Primary Science Program to run an inservice
training Project for the local teachers. It became apparent,
through her experiences as well as those of Joanne King who
was teaching in one of the farm schools, that teachers in
the Winterberg were sadly under-qualified, ill experienced
and in need of urgent assistance. It was also clear that the
efforts of NGOs in the area were not very effective, as
there was little coordination of activities and no follow-up
classroom-based support.
In 1994 the WST employed Barbara Scott to coordinate a
Project for Teacher Development. The building of a Resource
Center provided a central venue for teachers from the then
isolated farm schools, to come together for regular
afternoon workshops. The successful impact of the workshops
was largely due to the individual classroom support that
followed each new learning experience.
The Project for Teacher Development is no
longer as intensive as it was during the 90s. Teachers have
assumed greater responsibility for their learning and have
over the past 2 years also shared their skills, knowledge
and experiences with approximately 100 colleagues in the
neighbouring Ntabathemba and Tarkastad communities – this
through a program of ‘Outreach’ workshops. The work of
Teacher Development Project has since the beginning of 2005
been sustained, no longer as a separate Project but as an
integral part of the Whole School Development Project.
In 1994 the WST employed Joanne King to coordinate
activities for the Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Project. 11 Pre Schools were established on selected farms
in the Community and unemployed volunteers trained as
educators. One of the women empowered in this way – Phyllis
Mabece – is now a permanent WST staff member with management
responsibilities spanning 2 of the 5 Community Projects.
The improvement in the provision of transport has over the
years also allowed the Pre Schools to amalgamate – again at
the site of the Winterberg School Trust campus. There are at
present 2 Schools that continue to make a remarkable
difference to the abilities of children entering Grade 1.
In 1997 Safmarine financed the building of a Community
Center that houses a Toy Library. The Library forms an
integral part of the Early Childhood Development and Whole
School Development Projects.
During 1995 members of the Winterberg
Community expressed a strong desire to ‘go back to school’.
In 1996 the Adult Literacy Project was launched. Local
facilitators were trained in English Literacy, Xhosa
Literacy and in Numeracy. By the end of 2000 approximately
50 adults had enthusiastically participated in the Project
and many had passed several of the IEB examinations. The
Project, which by the end of 2000 had satisfied the original
needs of the recipients, was replaced by the Skills
Development Project. 15 Unemployed women,
who wanted to learn to sew, joined the Skills Project at the
end of 1996. The Project was so successful that a second
intake of women was motivated to join at the beginning of
1998. The curriculum was extended to include training in
Fabric Painting. The building of a Skills Center in 1999
provided for the further expansion of the Project. The
curriculum was again extended and Pottery included.
Although the Skills Development Project
has attracted Beginners every year, the training need has
after 8 years been satisfied and new recipients are no
longer enrolled. 2006 has been a consolidatory year in the
history of the Project. The training of the remaining
Intermediate and Advanced groups has been completed, while
the income-generating, Luncedo production group has
continued on its journey to becoming a profitable,
self-sustainable business. The Effective
Parenting (EP) Project was implemented from the beginning of
2000. It developed out of the recognition that if the
quality of education children were receiving was to improve
and be sustained, then initiatives for parents through
another Community Development Project were needed.
The EP Curriculum has over the past 4
years included input on First Aid, Childhood Development,
Forms of Abuse, Financial Management and Poverty
Alleviation. Parents have attended workshops both at the WST
campus and within farm-cluster groups. The farm-cluster idea
was introduced into the Project in 2002 enabling learning
opportunities, both in terms of parenting skills and
possibilities for personal development, to be taken to the
people. The Curriculum now reaches approximately 300 adults/
parents, with the WST also offering counseling support to
individuals and families experiencing particular social
problems, including for example the affects of HIV/ AIDS.
The AIDS Education Project was developed during 2001 with
the recognition that HIV–infection had become a reality
which had started to impact on the lives of people in the
Winterberg Community. The AIDS Project operated within the
same cluster-groups as the EP Project.
Although continued AIDS Education remains
a critical issue, the work in this Project is no longer
separate, but rather an integral part of the Effective
Parenting and Whole School Development Projects. The WST
thus continues to educate people about the disease and
provides counseling and support for infected and affected
individuals. Work on the Youth Empowerment
Project was initiated in 2003. In 1998 the WST had, without
the Financial support of the Department of Education (DoE),
extended the Sosebenza School Curriculum to include Grade
10. It was hoped that the DoE would support the
establishment of the Further Education and Training (FET)
band by providing classroom facilities and learning
resources for Grades 11 and 12. However, by 2003 it had
become unlikely – particularly in light of the DoE’s
Realignment of Schools’ Policy – that the latter vision
would ever be realized. Further, during
the course of 2003 a survey was conducted to determine the
whereabouts and occupations of the 1998-2002 Grade 10 school
leavers. The statistics revealed that the majority of
previous Grade 10s had not pursued a further education,
mainly due to the financial implications of fees, transport
to and boarding in other communities. The WST consequently
worked to address the needs of the youth in the Community
and a partnership was formed with the Ikhala Public FET
College in Queenstown.
As a satellite of the latter College, the
WST was from 2004 able to offer learners with a GETC
Certificate (Grade 9) the opportunity to enroll for the
National Certificate (NQF2) in Business Studies. In 2005,
following the enthusiastic response of students, the
curriculum was again been extended to include the National
Certificate (NQF3) in Business Studies (equivalent to Grade
12). The Youth Empowerment Project is
providing young adults with the opportunity to further their
education in a relevant and affordable manner, while
simultaneously improving their chances for future success. |
Winterberg
School Trust