Lanxess rallies to education in KZN
Rally to Read is an educational campaign or road show which delivers hope to rural school pupils, their teachers and their parents for a better future.
A total of 4 512 pupils will benefit from this year’s Rally to Read, an initiative by LANXESS.
German specialty chemicals company, LANXESS, participated in KwaZulu-Natal two Rally to Read this year for the fourth time since 2011. The weekend event held on Saturday, September 27, was organised by an international investment holding company in association with the READ Educational Trust.
Rally to Read is an educational campaign or road show which delivers hope to rural school pupils, their teachers and their parents for a better future. During this event, sponsors, organisers and participants of the rally visit the most remote and needy schools in rural areas to deliver books, teaching aids, science kits, sports equipment, educational toys and other material – all of which are taken for granted at urban schools.
The initiative is a South African success story that shows how much could be achieved when the private sector, the public sector and non-governmental organisations partner towards delivering hope to rural pupils, their teachers and their parents for a better future.
The total contribution of this year’s KZN two Rally to Read sponsorship by all sponsors is valued at R750 000 for 12 selected schools within the Drakensberg area.
2014 served as a beginning of the three year cycle of the rally in the Drakensberg area. Employees from LANXESS personally delivered the educational materials to Bhekuzulu and New Canaan Primary schools.
In both schools, the Read Foundation representative and LANXESS signed a declaration of a three-year partnership, which will help the sponsor assess its return on investment and evaluate the progress of literacy levels among the pupils as well as the success of the literacy programme over a three-year period.
Speaking at the rally, Zakhele Mlambo, Principal of Bhekuzulu Primary School, commended the Read Educational Trust and sponsors for choosing his school as one of the beneficiaries.
“This initiative is phenomenal for our school and it addresses government’s call of private, public partnership that aims to close gaps on education challenges within our communities. As a school, we will do our part to ensure that we use the material effectively and also to keep them safe,” said Mr Mlambo.
Speaking during the rally to Read Gala Dinner, Carsten Gerdes, Chief Executive Officer at LANXESS Newcastle, said the company is proud to the part of the life changing experience in KZN.
“LANXESS has been participating in the Rally to Read for the past four years and is committed to educational development of children within the community. Education remains one of the company’s four key focus areas of corporate responsibility and it is the most powerful weapon to fight poverty. At LANXESS we believe that a key to a successful life is through education. When you teach a child to read, he will be able to educate himself and that is a gift no one can take away,” said Mr Gerdes.
Read Foundation, the NGO partner in this project, operates as a teacher development agency in the field of language, literacy and communication and is a leader in the fields of educational assessment, materials development and resource provision. The foundation provides frequent guidance, monitoring and evaluation of the programme at the benefiting schools to ensure the material is being fully utilised.
LANXESS has more than 1 000 employees in South Africa, with 155 of them based at the Newcastle site.
In its 16 years, the objective of the Rally to Read is to improve the quality of education at rural schools as a lot of them lack educational material for both teachers and pupils. The rally is also aimed at enhancing pupils’ communication skills and literacy levels on a three year annual cycle for participating schools.
