Helping to ensure quality education in a holistic environment
The Themba Trust has acknowledged the important role that quality, values-based education plays in overcoming poverty and improving the quality of life of rural families and communities. As a result, creating an environment for excellent education and enabling access to such education for children from disadvantaged families, including orphans, forms a core part of the work of this organization.
History of Themba Schools
In 1986 the Themba Trust founded the Sinethemba Secondary Boarding School, in response to the need of the children of farmworkers in this deep, rural area of South Africa. Initially, the school was fully donor funded, although it was a government school. The hostel providing accommodation to the children attending the school was operated privately by the Themba Trust. Sinethemba grew to become one of the top three schools in the province of Mpumlanga and had a strong agricultural-technical focus, which attracted boys to the school. In 1995 the Themba Trust founded the Siyathemba Secondary School, again with a hostel, in order to provide quality education to girls interested in business-orientated subjects. During the 15 years of its existence to date, Siyathemba achieved 100% Matric pass rate of its girls, with only one exception!
This fantastic academic achievement, and the Christian character of the Themba schools, which also promoted traditional African cultural activities, increasingly attracted parents from urban areas, who wanted their children to be educated in a quality, safe environment. By 2006 about two-thirds of students at both schools were from homes, where the families were able to afford both school and hostel fees. One third (approx. 150 students) continued to be funded through donations for the hostel accommodation raised from donors, mainly in Germany and in the USA.
A new approach since 2010
In 2007 the Themba Trust started with a transformation process, based on the changed environment and the immediate needs of the community of Dirkiesdorp. After much research and planning, as well as ongoing stakeholder communication, this resulted in the following:
- Sinethemba Secondary School is now a co-ed Boarding School serving both boys and girls. There are 120 children from poor, rural homes who attend this school owing to scholarships raised for their boarding fees by the Themba Trust, while the rest of the students are from mainly urban areas, with their families paying all fees. Donations for the Themba Scholarship Fund are welcome!
- Siyathemba Secondary School is now a day-school, still serving only girls, but now focusing on the needs of the children from the immediate environment of Dirkiesdorp and surrounding farms. The decision to close the hostel initially serving this school was taken by the Themba Trust in order to ensure that the school relieves the immense pressure placed on the other government school in Dirkiesdorp, Injabulo, which was seriously overcrowded. The Mpumalanga Department of Education is funding Siyathemba school and paying rent for the school building to the Themba Trust. No donations for Siyathemba Secondary School are administered by Themba since January 2010. Themba still supports Siyathemba through providing accommodation to educators at the school, while providing Christian religious education based on Lutheran conviction at the school is part of the agreement with the Department of Education.
- Plans for a new private boarding school, the Themba Lutheran College, to be initiated by the Themba Trust with the specific aim of developing future Christian leaders for South Africa and the rest of Africa. The new private school will still serve students from poor, rural communities through the granting of scholarships to attend this new school. Currently, the Themba Trust is working with the Department of Education of Mpumalanga to ensure registration of the new private school.
For more information about each of the three schools, kindly click on the links with their names above.
Future vision
The vision of the Themba Trust extends beyond the secondary schools it is currently focusing on, to further education and training of youth to prepare them for a successful life serving their communities in future. Currently, this is achieved in two ways: firstly, former Themba students from Dirkiesdorp are given the opportunity to study through UNISA, while working in entry-level positions to gain work experience. Secondly, research and networking has started to establish a number of learnerships at the Themba Trust in the near future, working with the relevant SETAs. Watch this space!
"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor." - 1 Samuel 2.8 |
