Two schools benefit from Bank’s policy

NELSPRUIT – Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to education and community development, Nedbank has just completed the construction of a school hall at Zinikeleni Secondary School and a refurbished assembly and classrooms at Ezenzeleni Primary School in Mpumalanga through an investment of more than R600 000.

Situated in Carolina, under the Albert Luthuli Local Municipality, the two schools are part of a farming community with a very high unemployment rate. “We identified the needs of these schools while providing them with uniforms and stationery during last year’s Nedbank Back to School campaign.

We then decided to strengthen our relationship with them as we believe that education is key to unlocking a knowledge-based economy,” said Kone Gugushe, divisional executive for corporate social responsibility at Nedbank during the handover of the hall.

Worth R400 000, it will serve as a multipurpose centre for writing examinations, school governing body and community meetings as well as sport, arts, cultural and other activities. Ezenzeleni Primary School, which is nearby and serves as a feeder school to Zinikeleni, received more than

R230 000 to refurbish classrooms and the assembly.

Research shows that effective schools are built on strong leadership, quality teaching, resourced learners, adequate infrastructure, community involvement, and proper academic support.

This investment forms part of Nedbank’s Fundisa holistic programme that follows a two-pillar education intervention model.

The first pillar focuses on education across an individual’s life stages, starting from early childhood development right through to tertiary education. The second pillar enables holistic support for beneficiary schools, resulting in a more effective school system.

The Fundisa programme aims to build effective schools through infrastructure development, teacher training, building leadership capacity and providing classroom-based support.

“Education is one of our corporate social responsibility’s focus areas and we are determined to enable as many learners as we can to concentrate on their studies rather than on school resources or infrastructure,” added Gugushe.

To date, Nedbank has invested over R22 million in teacher and learner development programmes aimed at improving education in the country, thereby contributing to the national development plan and millennium development goal of eradicating poverty.