Same Foundation upgrades primary school
COSMO CITY – Computer centre, a science and maths laboratory and library are some of the buildings that were recently upgraded.
Tirisano-Mmogo Primary School in Cosmo City recently received a R2.7 million upgrade.
The South African Medical and Education (Same) Foundation officially opened the newly renovated primary school on 20 May.
The upgrade to the school includes a new computer centre, a science and maths laboratory, a library, senior classrooms, grade R classrooms, ablutions blocks as well as a security system with a 24-hour armed response.
Major donors of the project include BT Communications, Tirisano Trust, NBC Holdings, Eduloan and SMEC South Africa.
Tyrone Pols, project manager at Same, identified that the poor state of education, particularly in science and maths, is well documented in the country and the disparity in the quality of education across income quintiles, is clearly noticeable.
He realised that these challenges were influenced by factors such as inadequate infrastructure, learning resources, equipment, technology and educator-support programmes.
“Sometimes we take for granted the conditions that our no-fee schools operate under, and miraculously expect them to deliver results under immense financial and human resource constraints,” he explained.
He further indicated that reports from the South African Human Rights Commission and UNICEF stipulate that a child in the poorest income quintile in South Africa compared to a child growing up in the richest income quintile, is three times less likely to finish secondary school.
“The Same Foundation’s mandate, at its core, is to reduce this disparity,” he said.
The Tirisano-Mmogo project – one of many projects undertaken by the Same Foundation across the country – was born in 2014 out of a vision for sustainable, quality education.
It is the starting point of a long-term community-driven approach, where in the near future the landscape of education in Cosmo City will change dramatically. Already within one year Tirisano-Mmogo Primary has seen a 20 percent increase in the pass rate of their Grade 7 class.
Same Foundation, along with strategic partners will implement focused teacher and pupil support programmes to schools in all the communities that the foundation works in.
Details: Same Foundation, 011 781 1510.
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