NABEELAH MOHEDEEN
A cash donation from the Management College of South Africa (MANCOSA) means more classes at Regina Coeli Primary School now have data projectors and the promise of future involvement at the school could result in a boost for its feeding scheme and library projects.
On Friday January 22, Mancosa marketing and recruitment manager Hashim Bobat handed a cheque for R25 000 to Regina Coeli Primary School principal Hilton Alie. The money will be used to buy data projectors.
At the handover ceremony, Mr Bobat said his colleague, Lisa Johnson, who was a pupil at Regina Coeli until 1997, had nominated the school.
“The school also has a feeding scheme for its pupils, and that is one of the next projects Mancosa would like to become inlvoved with,” he said.
“We are even prepared to partner with other institutions in order to make the sponsorship a long-term deal, as the school has many more needs, such as space, recreational facilities, and a school hall, which are things we can respond to,” he said.
He said Mancosa planned to get involved in the school’s library project next, by helping to find books to fill the shelves.
Explaining why she nominated the school for a hand up, Ms Johnson, who works as office administrator at Mancosa, said: “I didn’t realise how tough it was at the school, how less fortunate our circumstances were at the school, until I moved on to another school in Grade 4. We had broken windows, no toilets on the premises and packed classrooms.
“A lot has changed around the school since I attended. The playground seemed so small. When I was here, it was divided – girls one side and boys one side. When I came back today, I got the sense of feeling like a little kid again. I am happy knowing that I made a difference to the school, no matter how small.”
Mr Alie was thrilled with the sponsorship, describing it as “a wonderful opportunity created by Mancosa to enhance the learning experience of the children”.
Many of the school’s pupils come from poor areas, and Mr Alie said that while he saw the teachers as the most valuable resource for learning, he realised that bringing multimedia into the classroom would enhance the pupils’ learning experince in the 21st century.
“We will now work on installing the projectors in the classrooms so that the pupils can benefit from them,” he said.