Eskom Foundation invests in education in the Eastern Cape

The Eskom Foundation has donated R1.8 million to five schools in the Eastern Cape to help improve Mathematics and Science results in the province.

The province experienced a drop in the 2015 matric results which stood at 56.8 percent – a decline from the 2014 pass rate of 65.4 percent.

 Vivian Westphal, Acting Director at the Eastern Cape Department of Education, said following the province’s poor performance during the 2015 matric results there was a need to partner with stakeholders to improve them.

“This is to assist with intervention strategies as mathematics and Science are gateway subjects, particularly for artisan skills. Learners need to do well in Maths and Science as they open many doors to fields like engineering.”

Westphal said the department was grateful for Eskom Foundation’s donation adding that it would make a huge difference to the five schools.

The schools within the Uitenhage District, namely Lungisa Senior Secondary School, Humansdorp Senior Secondary School, Nico Malan Senior Secondary School, Petensie Senior Secondary School and Hankey Senior Secondary School have been chosen to start with the programme.

As part of the donation, Eskom appointed non-governmental organisation (NGO) TracSA, which specialises in supporting maths and science subjects in high schools, to implement the programme.
 
The NGO will assist with vocation guidance through a mobile laboratory, mentoring and a computer resource that contains programmes that are available to teachers and learners from Grade 10 to 12.

Cecil Ramonotsi, Acting CEO of the Eskom Foundation, said it was part of Eskom’s plan to uplift communities where the company supplies electricity.
“We believe in investing in communities that we operate in to make a difference in people’s lives.

“The Eskom Foundation is very excited to share the good work we are doing with various partners to improve the lives and socio-economic conditions of people in the Eastern Cape,” said Ramonotsi.

He said Eskom was big on corporate social investment and spent about R26.2 million on these programmes in the Eastern Cape during the 2015/16 financial year.

Both the Eastern Cape Department of Education and Eskom have great expectations for the project and are confident that the R1.8 million injection would make a positive impact in the province.

*Pholisa Hashe works for the Eastern Cape Department of Education.