County works to help township project
Efforts are being made across Warwickshire to help children in townships in South Africa get a better education.
Staff at Warwickshire County Council are holding a ‘non-uniform day’ and a raffle on 31 March to raise money for a project that will help youngsters learn to read.
And four schools in Studley have joined forces to lend their support to the scheme.
Children living in townships can struggle to learn to read and write in English because it is often their third, fourth or even fifth language.
The project will see children in the townships working in groups to write and illustrate a story. It will be printed in English on one side of the page and in their mother tongue opposite.
The aim is to print copies so each child has a copy to take home to enjoy with their parents.
Tim Lee, headteacher of St Mary’s C of E Junior School, led a group of Warwickshire heads who visited Cape Town last year.
He is currently hosting South African head Sonia Leibrandt, who is visiting schools around the county. Sonia is working for the Imibala charity, which raises money to buy much needed equipment for schools in townships.
Sonia is also spending time at the four schools in Studley, which have come together to back the Township project.
Mr Lee said: “Schools in the townships struggle to get enough resources together, but there is tremendous enthusiasm for learning. If we can help to provide the materials then we are increasing the opportunity for these children. We are also engaging our own pupils in the scheme and using the links that we have made to inspire lessons and to show the children that there are others in different parts of the world who do not have the things we take for granted.”
You can get more information about Imibala at http://www.imibala.com
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