UPDATE: Sizani Combined School still needs your help

Sizani Combined School has managed to temporarily keep four of six workers, but not for long.

The school at Foxhill, which educates 856 children, found itself in crisis after requesting a re-grading.

Until recently the school, whose pupils are largely from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, was ranked at quintile four – the same as Umhlali Preparatory which has students from mostly middle-class homes.

Because of its ranking, Sizani was disqualified from having a state feeding scheme and therefore applied to be re-graded as quintile three.

The grading system is in terms of the Norms and Standards Act in 1998 which is meant to rank schools according to their infrastructure but is widely criticized for being an ineffective and outdated system.

Now that the school’s ranking has been lowered, an unforeseen consequence is that it can no longer charge school fees and the school will lose about R25 000 a year – the salaries of six full-time extra workers.

Principal Ntombenhle July said a qualified teacher and a librarian had volunteered to continue working until they find other jobs. The caretaker’s salary has been halved and another teacher has agreed to stay on until the end of term on 14 June.

“The other two were also keen to volunteer, however they stay far from the school. They cannot afford to pay for transport.”

To help the school raise funds, Ballito residents Megan Allan and Paul Sparks and former Sizani principal Thula Zondi started a non-profit organisation: ‘Sizani Dream Trust’.

“The initial idea for the trust was to raise funds to maintain the school, but now that we have this crisis in hand, we are focusing on raising R25 000 a month to pay these workers, However since we have already lost some teachers, we are aiming for at least R300 000, so that we will have enough for a year. We currently have managed to raise R6 000 and thanks to all those who have donated,” said Allan.

She said they hoped someone or a company would adopt one or more of the teachers and pay them, a minimum of R5000 a month.

For more information on how to help the school you can visit the school’s website www.sizaniprimaryschool.co.za, click on the Sizani’s Dream tab and the banking details will be there. You can also call Allan at 083 797 1980.

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