School gets upliftment from fund-raiser
BEACON Hill High School in Mitchells Plain organised a fund-raising drive dedicated to improving the literacy of its pupils, hoping to uplift the Beacon Valley community and inspire its children through a live broadcast of the GoodHope FM Breakfast Show, a book sale and a food fair.
The high school hosts youth at high risk of dropping out and abandoning their education. It has 1 025 pupils, with classes taking up to 42 pupils, which is beyond the recommended class size for optimal learning and the facility’s capabilities.
Most of the families are unable to pay school fees. Only 6% of pupils pay fees, with 70% to 80% of parents on social grants.
Ray de Wee, the event co-ordinator said: “Our number one goal is to get learners to read. We have Grade 9 level students who still read at a Grade 6 level.”
During the past week, the school encouraged pupils to read newspapers donated by Independent Media. Specific articles were cut out and lessons were planned around relevant news topics, such as the water crisis.
“You don’t just read a newspaper for the sake of reading. You can use that information to uplift yourself,” said De Wee.
The fund-raising drive collected books from the public to be sold at a discounted price. Though they want the pupils to have access to books, the school believes pupils should take ownership of their future rather than handouts.
Meanwhile, the home economics class cooked up international cuisine dishes, selling them at R200 a platter. Funds raised from the food fair were used to facilitate the library with books and computers.
“Most schools where learners tend to drop out are schools that don’t provide their learners with research facilities that equip them to write papers and essays,” said De Wee.
The school aimed to raise R250 000, of which they raised R90 000. Yet, De Wee says, “we are grateful. It is short of our goal, but it is a lot of money and it goes a long way”.