Her determination to empower and unwavering discipline to raise a strong, independent and proud next generation sets Stanger Primary School on a path of success.
Meryl Williamson has been the underprivileged school’s principal since 2013 and is dedicated to maximising the potential of her pupils and staff.
Born in Stanger, Meryl went to the school herself. She became a teacher and after 13 years of teaching in SA she went to London. That is where she said her real education began.
“I got a scholarship to do my doctorate in London. When I got there, I realised I knew nothing about education. I had to completely re-skill myself,” said Meryl, who is the eldest of three children.
What was supposed to be a four-month exercise ended up becoming a ten-year growth journey.
“I was promoted year on year and became an advanced skills teacher training international teachers coming to the UK to achieve the British teaching standards which were incredibly high and advanced.
“I would go to the feeder schools and support the principals in turning around their schools by modeling good practice. I loved it and it was wonderful to have your competence and skills acknowledged.
“They do not nurse incompetence, if you do not make your targets they invite you to leave.”
While she loved her work overseas, her heart longed to come back home with one clear vision for the future.
“Coming back, my only agenda was and is to give back. Charity begins at home and I figured there is no point in me giving my everything to those British kids, when I can make a difference right here in Stanger.”
Back home though she was faced with more challenges than she imaged and had to re-adapt to life here.
“The school was in chaos – it had insufficient facilities for proper learning and teaching to be implemented and executed. We had just over 360 children from grade one to grade nine – no grade R. I introduced grade R in 2014 which started with 14 children. Now, we have 113 pupils. We have a total of 801 pupils with about two classes per grade.”
She introduced a new blue and yellow school uniform, raised funds to refurbish the former hostel at the school into classrooms, bathrooms and a library and installed projectors in the classrooms. Her changes however were not always met with open arms.
“I was called in by the department of education and told to leave my British practices in Britain. But I continued. I believe in what I am doing and I am strict. Children need you to give them boundaries and love in order to get the best out of them. If a child does not come to school, I will go into the township and find out what the problem is because I care.”
Currently Meryl is on a major mission to raise R1 million to complete the building of the much needed multi-purpose school hall.
“We have to rent the local hall which costs R8000 a day for any special school functions. We want to build our own which can also be used for indoor soccer, squash and badminton and we can rent it out for income. We are always in need of funds as less than 60 percent of our pupils pay their R600 annual school fees. Therefore I constantly raise funds to raise standards. Poverty is not an excuse for failure.”
If you would like to get involved in the fundraising for the school hall, contact the school at 032 552 2894.
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