New shoes instill pride in pupils
A SOLID pair of school shoes could be the simple spark which lifted a poor child’s confidence enough to walk them through successful schooling and a better life.
This was the message from education MEC Mandla Makupula when he handed over 250 pairs of sturdy school shoes to some of Mdantsane’s poorest primary schoolchildren yesterday.
He said something as simple as a pair of shoes went a long way towards instilling pride, self-confidence and a sense of belonging.
Shoes worth R50 000 were donated by Mdantsane City.
Under its mother group, Rebosis Property Fund, the mall handed over school shoes to children in six of the nine primary schools across the community.
The management of the mall worked with the education department to identify schools whose pupils were most impoverished.
The schools are Sandisiwe, Sakhikhaya, Lwandisa, Funulwazi, Nontsikelelo, Inkqubela, Embekweni, Isibane and Nobhotwe primary schools.
The shoe-giving campaign is an effort to improve school attendance and bolster education in the Eastern Cape, and Makupula said it was heartwarming to see the mall ploughing back to its community.
Wendy Zitha, marketing manager of Mdantsane City, said school shoes were one of a pupil’s most important needs.
“It’s the condition of the shoes a pupil is wearing, or sometimes the lack of shoes, that communicates the pupils’ neediness.
“If their feet are taken care of, then they will be able to sustain the entire body as well.”
Forty-one school shoes were donated to Sandisiwe primary school pupils from Grade R to Grade 3.
School head of department Mthetheleli Mandungwana said: “These pupils are from incredibly impoverished areas, and these school shoes will have a huge impact on their schooling.”
Makupula said the department was working hard to ensure that it carried out its most important mandate, which was to support, monitor and guide schools and look after their basic needs, thus enabling the school to carry out its core function of teaching and learning.
In Duncan Village, businessman Mandla Makinana donated new soccer and netball kits to pupils of Lujiza primary school.
Makinana said he wanted to facilitate sports development in township areas and keep children at school. —