For Principal Marjorie running her educare is her contribution to building the rainbow nation.
“Some of the schools phoned us when our children started Grade-R to thank us for the good job we’re doing – they said the children are brilliant. You become very excited when you get a call like that telling you you’re doing a good job.”
An entrepreneur at heart, Marjorie used her own funds to build a shack extension which she intended to use for a Grade-R classroom. The introduction of increasingly stringent safety and health regulations for educares prevented her from reaching her goal.
Undaunted, in addition to working for a Diploma in teaching, Marjorie began attending monthly Training Teachers in Townships workshops by Starting Chance. Through commitment to improving the quality of education in her educare, Marjorie won an opportunity to enter the 3-year Starting Chance Programme.
Marjorie’s educare operates from a facility for which she has a long-term lease with the City of Cape Town. Many educares struggle to find sufficient room to create a good outdoor play area – so Sakhuluntu is an unusual opportunity for a Shack to Chic upgrade. With the help of Marc Bolsterli at Gapp Architects, and the generous financial support of the HomeChoice Development Trust 2018 has seen the site transformed into a state-of-the-art educare with an excellent Grade-R learning environment. In the process, many local community members have had opportunities for employment – an increasingly welcome contribution in the tough economic conditions South Africa finds itself in.
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