Fundi Foundation partners with Thembisa High School

Fundi Foundation announced a partnership with Thembisa High School on June 12.

Although only a few representatives were able to attend due to Covid-19 regulations, the mood was cheerful as children got new school bags and uniforms, and an incentive programme to promote top learners was established.

Speaking at the event, Fundi CEO Makgau Dibakwane expressed the hope he felt for the future when he looked at the group of young people before him.

He highlighted that Fundi’s relationship with the school was part of a broader commitment to the education ecosystem in the Thembisa community, which included early childhood development centres and primary schools, all of which are critical to building a system of quality education.

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“The challenges you are experiencing now – many of which we do not understand – are shaping you to reach for a better future. As Fundi, we are here to support your dreams and aspirations.

We will walk alongside you and your teachers to help make them a reality. We are committed to playing a positive role in your lifelong education journey to know more and be more.

“The Thembisa Inclusive Educational Transformational Programme (TIETP) will help to address many of the complex challenges acting as barriers to education in this area. With other stakeholders, we will work to overcome them by pooling financial resources, skills, networks and local knowledge and bring positive impact and change. This programme starts today, with you.

“An incentive scheme has also been launched in each grade to keep learners motivated and improve their results. This will see the top three learners win prizes of R700, R500 and R300 respectively at the end of the year. The money will be loaded onto a FundiCard for them to use within our Fundi merchant network, including Pick n Pay, Shoprite and uSave. We believe this will give many learners something tangible to work and strive for and are excited to see what positivity and commitment it unlocks in class.

“While this is arguably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of bringing real change, it represents a tangible start that we look forward to building on. By taking a different approach to community partnership in this area, we want to create a new model that enables long-term learner success and allow the potential of Thembisa’s youth to be unlocked and reimagined,” said Dibakwane.
Principal Steve Ngwane noted the extensive engagement that had taken place with Fundi before reaching this point of partnership.

“Challenges facing our learners cannot be viewed in isolation and include deep socio-economic challenges, such as drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment, hunger, poverty and violence. Schools are a space of refuge for many. They must become places that create long-term sustainable change. We need committed partners to assist us to achieve this vision. This is why today’s launch is so positive. Together, we can undoubtedly do so much more,” said Ngwane.

The Fundi Foundation’s first response was to address some of the most pressing concerns at hand where an immediate difference could be made and felt, with over 2 000 learners enrolling at

Thembisa High School this year, 439 of whom are in matric. This includes delivering a six-month supply of sanitary towels to the school’s 1 032 female learners, as well as donating 50 entire school uniform packs to learners in need and 500 waterproof school bags to learners who did not have bags to carry their books.

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