Phuthanang ECD Centre (in partnership with Jasper Power company (Flagship Project)

The beginning of 2020 saw the commencement and construction of the ECD Centre in Daniëlskuil.  This project was born out of a need to address the infrastructural condition of an ECD Centre in the community. The project is being executed in partnership with Jasper Power Company. Upon completion of the project, the ECD Centre, through a lease agreement, will be operated and run by Phuthanang ECD. This is an existing local ECD Centre from Daniëlskuil, and will be relocated from the current garage premises to the new, well-equipped ECD Centre.

Bursary (Top-Up) for post-school studies: Rural Education Access Programme  (REAP)

The Bursary Programme gives effect to the Trust’s vision of ensuring that academically deserving students from poor and working-class backgrounds, who are admitted to study at public universities or colleges, are provided with financial support for their undergraduate study programmes and are supported in order to succeed. The top-up bursary aims to provide relief from the pressure of immediately having to find work in the holidays to pay rent to their parents or allow them to stay in school to study. In short, the additional sum takes considerable pressure off them and gives them choices, academic and otherwise.

Once a young person has been awarded the bursary, they receive a financial top-up that considers the learning situation, and includes the NSFAS/SETA allocation, psycho-social support and a laptop computer.

In 2020, the Trust awarded bursaries to three learners from the Daniëlskuil and Postmasburg areas to pursue their tertiary studies at various academic institutions in South Africa. It was the first year that the Trust implemented the bursary programme, which covered full tuition, accommodation, textbooks, transport and a living stipend. In addition, the Trust gave academic and psychosocial support to help the students adjust to tertiary study, and to deal with other challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the students did experience challenges in adjusting, the bursary programme provided all the necessary and relevant support for learners to complete their first year successfully.

In 2021, the Trust supported fourteen students – that is, three University and eleven Technical and Vocational Education and Training College students. All the bursars, including the continuing students, received the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary.  With that, the Trust appointed an organisation known as the Rural Education Access Programme (REAP) to manage its top-up bursary programme.

Training and Resources in Early Education (TREE)

In 2022, the Trust saw a need to increase the quality of education in its host communities. To bring about the achievement of this mission, the Trust has onboarded TREE, which aims at increasing access to quality education in the ECD phase for all children, through superior quality training, educational resources provision for children, and for adults and caregivers, from under-resourced communities. TREE provides the following services to the ECD practitioners:

- Classroom Practice Workshop (CPW):

The CPW is a programme that upskills ECD educators with guidelines for a series of supported themes which are linked to many learning and creative activities, in order to make learning simple and fun.

- Basic Course in Toy Making:

The purpose of the toy-making course is to teach ECD practitioners to focus on the five development areas of ECD learning: cognitive, social, emotional and physical, speech and language development, fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

NQF level 4 FET Certificate in ECD:

The aim is to improve the capacity of ECD teachers to provide quality education for lifelong learning, access to higher education, and increased chances of employability.

Daniëlskuil High School Technical Project:

In partnership with Jasper Power, the Trust responded to a proposal submitted by Daniëlskuil High School for funding, based on a change in their school’s academic offering. In 2020, the school was in the process of including technical classes for students. These classes would make the school the closest technical high school for students from both Postmasburg and Daniëlskuil. MVD Kalahari Consulting Engineers and Town Planners (Pty) Ltd has overseen implementing and managing the construction of the electrical classrooms on behalf of all the stakeholders.

Field Band Foundation

In 2022, the Trust approved the Field Band Foundation, which aims at providing after-school training in music, performance and life skills for young people in under-resourced communities. The services provided to the band in Daniëlskuil include, but are not limited to, four rehearsals of two hours each, after school. Life skills are implemented within each rehearsal, and ongoing training is provided to the tutors of the band and the tutors-in-training.