Education Projects
Zithulele Preschool
The original Zithulele preschool closed in 2003 due to mismanagement and lack of funding. Although children under the age of 5 years are not legally required to attend school in South Africa, it is widely accepted that these early years are a crucial time for learning and preparing them for school. From talking to the community we established that having a preschool was a priority for them and we endeavoured to ascertain why they thought it had failed. We re-established Zithulele preschool on 15 April 2009. This followed a great effort to renovate the rondavel (round house) building and a community cleanup of litter in the area. Now we have twenty-seven children and one amazing teacher and you can clearly see the difference she is making.
A locally elected management committee is responsible for the running of the school, while the parents have committed to playing an active part in the cleaning and maintaining of the premises. We are now raising funds for a teacher's salary and to cover the running costs of the school.
We are also reaching out to support other preschools in the area by giving them teacher training, resources and general assistance. We want to make Zithulele preschool a centre of excellence where less experienced teachers can come to learn and gain fresh ideas.
A locally elected management committee is responsible for the running of the school, while the parents have committed to playing an active part in the cleaning and maintaining of the premises. We are now raising funds for a teacher's salary and to cover the running costs of the school.
We are also reaching out to support other preschools in the area by giving them teacher training, resources and general assistance. We want to make Zithulele preschool a centre of excellence where less experienced teachers can come to learn and gain fresh ideas.
Zithulele Library
Jabulani has recently opened a library specifically for children that is operating in conjunction with the (?existing) library next to the community centre. With the help of many kind donors and volunteers, the rondavel situated next to the preschool has been cleaned, renovated and painted. New windows have been added and electricity installed. Zithulele Community Library thus opened its doors on 18th October 2011 with a celebration attended by over 200 local people!
The library is currently open from 08h00 to 16h00 on Wednesdays and all the children from surrounding schools are welcome to come and do homework and research projects; or just to relax with their favourite Xhosa story book. With the library Jabulani hopes to instill a love for books and a culture of reading in the youth; open their minds to new opportunities and teach them that their future can be as bright and hopeful as their dreams allow. The library is looking to acquire more children's books, especially in Xhosa as these are very difficult to find.
The library is currently open from 08h00 to 16h00 on Wednesdays and all the children from surrounding schools are welcome to come and do homework and research projects; or just to relax with their favourite Xhosa story book. With the library Jabulani hopes to instill a love for books and a culture of reading in the youth; open their minds to new opportunities and teach them that their future can be as bright and hopeful as their dreams allow. The library is looking to acquire more children's books, especially in Xhosa as these are very difficult to find.
