650 000 primary school children in South Africa do not attend school. 40% drop-out before Grade 12 and 60% of the country’s schools do not have libraries. Furthermore 66% of South African schools are situated in ‘High-crime’ areas, which are plagued with the realities of drugs, abuse, sexual abuse, gangsterism and violence. The South African Human Rights Commission in March 2008 released a damning report that depicted that 63% of schools are exposed directly to gangsterism.

With on-hand experience of the above atrocities within the communities with which we work, The Mustadafin Foundation identified and acknowledged the need to focus on education more than 20 years ago. The Foundation enhances within its vision to create independence through its educational programmes and to motivate and encourage the seeking of knowledge from the cradle to the grave. We are ever willing to foster an environment of literacy and learning within the poor communities in the country.

Background:

Mustadafin’s first educare was initiated during the Crossroads violence in 1986, when care and schooling for children were disrupted. With the energy of the late Evelyna Nlhlanga, Mustadafin established the first daycare centre: Try Again Educare in Phillipi.

Many more followed thereafter and to date Mustadafin supports 22 pre-schools, 5 of which are run completely by us and 3 others which we help on an irregular basis. The Foundation also organizes literacy classes, assists with bursaries for higher education and regularly sends drop-out youths back to school.

Thanks to the assistance of the Canadian Government and The Tygerberg Council, The Foundation was able to complete 6 school structures in areas most plagued by poverty and unemployment.

Educational Objectives (WHAT WE DO)

The Foundation is actively involved in the upliftment and education of people in impoverished communities. Educators at our pre-schools have had no formal training but have been enlisted for their love and passion for child development. The Foundation has undertaken to train these individuals so that they may have the necessary skills needed to teach. Our objective is to fulfill the rights and obligations of all children, which includes receiving a sound education; safety; security; and basic living needs such as food and clothing.

Strategy:

We have introduced a literacy programme within structures that already exist in impoverished areas to train educators. Each of our teachers is sent to a registered training institution for part-time learning whilst still providing educare at our pre-schools. All of our teachers have reached at least a level-1 training ability out of a level-5 course before being enlisted. We can proudly say that 2 of our educare teachers have reached the highest level to date and thus far Mustadafin has trained over 200 pre-school teachers and are still developing and improving through the help of partnership with government and various institutions.

Amongst other services, The Foundation provides food; clothing and educational toys and equipment for each centre. A minimum of R60.00 payment per month requested from the parents is not meant to cover the whole costs of educating the child but rather for sustainability. Often this amount is considerably reduced where income is low or irregular.  Children are left at the centers for as long as 12 hours per day thus receiving three nutritional meals provided for by The Foundation.

Synopsis:

• Training and qualifying individuals from the communities to become teachers
• Identify training and educational needs
• Create training centers to support education initiatives
• Provide nutritional meals daily to each centre
• Provide clothing when a need is identified
• Provide educational toys and equipment for each centre to encourage sustainable learning

Click here for list of pre-schools

Click here for curriculum

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