Roseneath Primary School’s library received a facelift on 14 September thanks to the work of the commercial banking unit at the Standard Bank in Rosebank.
The team of 27 volunteers were hard at work painting murals, covering new books and building chairs at the school in Parktown when Rosebank Killarney Gazette visited.
Event manager, Simone Burts from Random Acts of Kindness (Rak) explained that the Standard Bank has been running the library project across the country for the last three years.
“The project aims to instil a love of reading in the foundation phase,” said Burts. She explained that Roseneath primary was one of the schools suggested by the Department of Education to receive support from the Standard Bank.
“Before we arrived, the walls were cracked, the paint was peeling off the walls, there was old shelving and outdated books. We sent in a contractor the week before to paint and create shelving and the Standard Bank is here to do the rest,” said Burts.
Principal, Jeanette Ndala said the school caters for 1 180 pupils between grades R and seven. “The library was previously used as a classroom and people hardly ever took out books. I’m on top of the world that the Standard Bank has come on board and will make my children read.”
Classes will now visit the library during allocated periods in the day and the library will also be accessible for children to visit and loan books from after school.
“Because we are a Quintile 4 school and parents weren’t willing to pay to upgrade the library, we weren’t able to buy more books. Now the children will be able to read new books. I have found that there is no love for reading among the kids at the school. They prefer to watch TV or look at their cellphones. We hope to now instil that love for reading,” added Ndala.
A Standard Bank employee volunteer, Sbonelo Dube spoke to the Rosebank Killarney Gazette while she was painting ottomans for the children. “I’m excited to give back in this way. Education and reading create a good foundation to groom children to become better citizens,” said Dube.
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