HAMBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- About 50 teenagers and young adults are embarking on a final chance to pass their high school exams through efforts of a community-based group that formed in 2009 to address social issues in their village.
The Hamburg Social Development Project is a group of 10 community leaders, including the high school principal, teachers and former teachers, with the goal of addressing the needs of children in this resource-starved setting who are not receiving an adequate education under the existing public school system. HSDP’s first priority is to help teenagers who have dropped out of school because they failed their matriculation exams and are unable to retake Standard Grade 12 due to a change of the national syllabus in 2007.
Through 2009 the group worked hard to register as a non-profit organization and set and prioritize goals and to communicate to the community their ideas.
The group has made amazing strides in just the last six months. They negotiated with St. Charles High School in Hamburg the use of three classrooms for the finishing school. They will also have an office at the school. HSDP member Mr. Paliso negotiated with the Hamburg community to be granted 5 hectares of land with the longer-term goal of building a community center at which will be the finishing school, the HSDP office and skills training centers, such as plumbing, carpentry, construction, and engineering. The skills training center is necessary for those students who do not have the means to go to college. Hamburg is in the very rural Eastern Cape where jobs are scarce and the quality of education is poor. With specific skills, young adults can aspire to become professionals.
On Jan. 18, the finishing school opened its doors. On the first day, there were 15 young people who registered. The next day 21 showed up. On the day I visited a week later, there were 46 students who were eager to get started. The news had spread beyond the three nearby villages – Hamburg, Bell and Bodium – to villages a bit further away – Lovers Twist, Wesley, Tceku. These students have a deadline of December 2010 to pass their final exams under the rules of the new curriculum. They cannot take the test again if they fail.
HSDP member Thelma Ncumani, who also is principal of St. Charles High School, gave the students a little pep talk. “This is your last chance. We want plumbers, electrical engineers. You must be very serious. This is for Hamburg. This is for you. We don’t want you wandering around the streets,” she told them.
I spoke with a young woman named Portia, who is 23. She finished school in 2004, but did not pass her final exam. She was very excited to take this class so that she could graduate. I asked her what her dreams are. She said, “I want to matric and then help my community.”
--Amy Zacaroli
The Hamburg Social Development Project is a group of 10 community leaders, including the high school principal, teachers and former teachers, with the goal of addressing the needs of children in this resource-starved setting who are not receiving an adequate education under the existing public school system. HSDP’s first priority is to help teenagers who have dropped out of school because they failed their matriculation exams and are unable to retake Standard Grade 12 due to a change of the national syllabus in 2007.
Through 2009 the group worked hard to register as a non-profit organization and set and prioritize goals and to communicate to the community their ideas.
The group has made amazing strides in just the last six months. They negotiated with St. Charles High School in Hamburg the use of three classrooms for the finishing school. They will also have an office at the school. HSDP member Mr. Paliso negotiated with the Hamburg community to be granted 5 hectares of land with the longer-term goal of building a community center at which will be the finishing school, the HSDP office and skills training centers, such as plumbing, carpentry, construction, and engineering. The skills training center is necessary for those students who do not have the means to go to college. Hamburg is in the very rural Eastern Cape where jobs are scarce and the quality of education is poor. With specific skills, young adults can aspire to become professionals.
On Jan. 18, the finishing school opened its doors. On the first day, there were 15 young people who registered. The next day 21 showed up. On the day I visited a week later, there were 46 students who were eager to get started. The news had spread beyond the three nearby villages – Hamburg, Bell and Bodium – to villages a bit further away – Lovers Twist, Wesley, Tceku. These students have a deadline of December 2010 to pass their final exams under the rules of the new curriculum. They cannot take the test again if they fail.
HSDP member Thelma Ncumani, who also is principal of St. Charles High School, gave the students a little pep talk. “This is your last chance. We want plumbers, electrical engineers. You must be very serious. This is for Hamburg. This is for you. We don’t want you wandering around the streets,” she told them.
I spoke with a young woman named Portia, who is 23. She finished school in 2004, but did not pass her final exam. She was very excited to take this class so that she could graduate. I asked her what her dreams are. She said, “I want to matric and then help my community.”
--Amy Zacaroli
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