The donation was made recently at the school by Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Sports and Recreation in the presence of students, teachers and alumnis of the school – Minister of Arts and Culture Paul Mashatile and Deputy Minister of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Obed Bapela, and also the Johannesburg East District director of education Raymond Martin. Mashatile is a patron of the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust which has issued 126 bursaries to Alexandra students for university study.
The donation was in the form of a fully equipped science laboratory from EduSciMat Foundation and full bursaries to two students – Pertunia Mamoloko and Busisisiwe Dladla – who obtained university entry passes in science in matric last year. The donation was also in recognition of the school’s best matric results among the five secondary schools in the area.
Mbalula called on local leaders and wealthy people to lead in uplifting their communities and institutions in order to minimise reliance on external donors or philanthropies. “We should pay back to society for our successes, and education is central to this. It is irreplaceable but requires passion, enthusiasm and belief in one’s abilities. The science lab will nurture this belief and help students to excel in science and maths which many township children are afraid of. Because of its (lab) experiential nature, it will encourage them to consider careers in science which is essential for the country’s developmental needs. My foundation sponsored 10 students to attend universities countrywide last year and we intend to sponsor two more students from this school next year if they get good results,” he said.
Thanking the foundation, the Principal Zoleka Lebelo said the lab was the first for the school and a timely contribution. “We have improved our matric pass from 51% to 88% and increased the number of students qualifying for bachelors study at university from 20 to 63 from 2012 to 2013. With the lab, we expect these numbers to increase drastically,” she said.
The Director of Education said the laboratory would help the school aim for 100% pass rate in science this year. He urged the students to value and maintain the equipment for their use and for future students.
A grade 12 student Bongani Jokweni vowed to achieve 100% pass in science this year. “We will use the lab to experiment on broad and amazing things in science. It will make us think out of the box and discover opportunities and careers which we would never have thought about,” he said.
