Good work draws to a close

TEACHERS Across Borders South Africa (TABSA) began its 14th, and perhaps final year, with a major teacher training project in Pongola, KZN.

When we last interviewed TABSA Director Yunus Peer in 2012, he was determined to bring the programme back to KwaZulu-Natal after many years in the Eastern Cape and most recently in Mpumalanga. Mr Peer, who lives in Hawaii and teaches at Punahou School, alma mater of US president Barack Obama, was back in South Africa in March this year to meet with the KZN HOD and administrators from the Umkhanyakude District in Northern KZN.

TABSA will be working with 568 teachers of maths and science in Pongola during the winter school holidays.

Mr Peer has indicated that this may be the last year of the teacher training programme as TABSA will focus instead on its computer and uniform projects for rural schools. While the project has been enormously popular with local teachers, the Department of Education has wavered in its support of the project, making it difficult for TABSA to continue to commit to returning every year.

“After 14 years of workshops attended by 4 000 South African teachers and more than 100 US teacher volunteers, perhaps it is time to regroup,” said Mr Peer.

The Department of Basic Education estimates that well over one million pupils have benefited from their teachers’ upgraded skills. Fund-raising is becoming more difficult as economies weaken. The TABSA team consists of full-time teachers who sacrifice their summer vacations, prepare National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) specific lessons for local schools, then raise funds in the community to pay their way here.

United States schools, churches, and students as well as local businesses such as First Car Rental, Capital Office Machines, and the Cassim Peer Family Trust support the project in South Africa.

TABSA opened its eighth computer lab in a rural school last month. Currently the eight labs serve 4 000 students per year. TABSA partners with Cornell University to ship the computers to South Africa. Capital Office Machines, Port Shepstone, volunteered its services to install the machines.

Sixteen Dell desktop computers with flat screen monitors and an LCD projector were donated to Ensimbini Combined Primary School in Gamalakhe. According to principal, Simbongile Nxumalo, in time, Ensimbini plans to open the lab to the community.

“We are extremely honoured to have the computers at our school. From a storage room we now have a first class computer room. I would like to thank Mr Peer and all those for donating the computers to the school. These computers will surely benefit the pupils and the community, in which we have a high rate of unemployment,” said Mr Nxumalo.

For more information on the organisation, visit the TABSA website at https://www.tab-sa.org