Creating space for learning and fun, Zilungisele Primary gets help from Innovative Methology

Two new Grade R classrooms and a new block of toilets are giving students at Zilungisele Primary School a better platform to start their schooling careers.

The Groutville school has been open for over 100 years and badly needed an upgrade.

The school does not charge fees, given that just less than half of the students are orphaned or from child-headed households and the remainder’s parents earn marginal incomes.

Funds for new infrastructure are tight and the 689 pupils from Grade R to Grade 9 have been forced to share classroom space, said principal Nduduzo Ngcobo.

The Grade R toilets were also inadequate and not designed to be used by younger children.

“Last year when Covid-19 hit, we were badly affected. All of our toilets were declared unsafe by the Department of Public Works,” he said.

Help arrived in August 2020 when Innovative Methology NPC began construction on the new buildings.

Innovative Methology are a registered Not for Profit Company (NPC) that have been operating for over 40 years, building community infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

The company manages both the fundraising and building processes from start until handover.

The 2 classrooms and toilet block were built using local labour and suppliers.

The building process was funded by MySchool, MyVillage, MyPlanet and Builders SA who raised the money though their in-store card swipe programme, where R2 is donated at no extra cost to the consumer.

The swiping of those cards raises more than R8 million per month which is then donated to deserving organisations and projects countrywide, said Simone Gagiano of MySchool, MyVillage, MyPlanet KZN.

“It has now been 21 years of giving back and we currently have almost 8 000 causes that we help out with across South Africa,” she said.

Zilungisele Primary was selected because of its urgent need for space and its role in the Groutville community.

More space also equates to better pupil/teacher ratios which is very important from an academic perspective and leads to a reduction in disruptive behaviour, said Ngcobo.