Blog Post

My first school was a one classroom shack made of zinc walls and cow dug floors, and we had one teacher that taught all classes. And that was the best schooling experience that I ever had, and that was all because of my teacher. She had the most profound and significant impact on my attitude towards learning and empowered me with the basic skills that have shaped my education journey. I am deeply indebted to her. It is dedicated teachers like her that are keeping the education torch on and changing the lives of countless families from the most disadvantaged communities in South Africa. It is evident schools like mine with identical conditions still exist after the 27 years of democratic government in South Africa.

I believe the unequal education standards in the country exacerbates to inequality that exists in society. This is what drove us as the founders of the Funda Trust. I am proud to part of the trust’s flagship project called the Fundisa Teacher Training and Development programme. The project seeks to capacitate and upskill teachers to be catalysts of change in the overall transformation of culture in underperforming schools in
the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

I am also humbled and equally inspired by the principals, teachers, pupils and parents who have embraced and took ownership of the project even before it has started. Their enthusiasm is the fuel that drives and ignites the project forward.