Education Programme

The Donald Woods Foundation supports education programmes from primary to tertiary education and across the country, from the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, to the Eastern Cape. Our flagship schools programme, nearing the end of the planning phase, is called ‘Masakhane’ – the Mbashe 100 Schools Programme, which is a partnership between the Donald Woods Foundation and the Eastern Cape Department of Education. The various programme components are as follows:

To build capacity in up to 100 schools in the Mbashe region, tackling quality and effectiveness to ensure a sustained level of education. This programme looks at aspects across the board from buildings, water and facilities, equipment and educational materials, to teacher training and management development, educational support, resource mobilisation, by employing specialists with a track record of achievement in attaining similar success in rural schools in the Eastern Cape, by identifying and tackling any and every aspect of schooling, from site specific issues and obstacles, to less visible obstacles in policy, strategy and planning.

The programme aims to address any and every aspect of education and the development issues affecting school life for teachers, administrators, students and the wider community in which they exist. Central is a strong investment in human resources in the region and training, but also looking at issues and challenges in the wider community which impact of the quality and effectiveness of schooling in Mbashe. This intervention aims to affect the lives of not only the students in the area, but to varying degrees, the 250 000 people who live in the area, from adult education to small income generation initiatives to develop business planning for commercial markets. Wider issues will include HIV, safety and security for students, food gardens, heritage and community-building in general.

Integrated cluster approach to maximise sustainability. The Foundation’s approach is a phased development, focussing not just on the schools’ educational requirements, but all aspects of development in the region with a cluster approach involving 10 clinics with an average of 10 schools per clinic in each area. This approach involves a long term commitment by the Foundation through initiatives, support and follow-up to ensure sustainability.

Community buy-in and ownership. This programme is designed in a four-way partnership between the Foundation, the Eastern Cape Department of Education, the individual school and the surrounding community. The programme begins with the 60 schools between the Mbashe and Xhora rivers and develops to the 40 schools between the Xhora and Mncwasa rivers.

Government role and partnership. The Foundation will at the outset agree boundary lines in this partnership, so as ensure it is the government Department of Education that carries out the priority duties of the Dept of Education and that none of these duties are duplicated by the Foundation. The Foundation’s role will be to work around these areas to support this process, assist with quality improvement from recruitment to extra training, professional development, incentivisation and staff retention to wider community components as well.