Basic Education Minister, Mrs Angie Motshekga, joined by Mpumalanga MEC of Education, Mrs Regina Mahaule, and Glencore SA Coal CEO, Mr Clinton Ephron, officially handed over a multi-million rand school, built at a cost of R75 million on 12 June 2015.
The new school is part of a major relocation project linked to Glencore’s Tweefontein Optimisation project. The project represents a R8 billion investment by Glencore, with 780 full time employees that produce 8 million tonnes of saleable coal per year. During construction, the project created over 2600 jobs and a number of business opportunities for local entrepreneurs through local procurement.
Amongst other facilities, the school, which caters for pre-primary, primary and secondary grades, consists of 32 classrooms, science laboratories, a home economics facility, wood and metal workshops, a library, a computer centre and a school hall that accommodates 1200 pupils.
Mr Ephron stated that the new school will not only afford learners an opportunity to learn in an environment that is conducive to learning, but inspire them to compete with other learners globally. “We are proud to deliver this state of the art school. The Makause School is a demonstration of our commitment to South Africa and the local communities where we operate. A good education helps to provide a strong foundation for children to achieve their potential. This school was built to ensure that the children of Phola have access to the best possible educational facilities, helping them to become South Africa’s champions of tomorrow,” said the CEO.
The continuation of the private sector in supporting education initiatives enables Government to reduce the infrastructure backlogs across the country. The new school has added to the 109 schools already built as part of the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI), established to address issues of school infrastructure in this country. Minister Motshekga said that, “For children to excel, they need a conducive and inspiring environment and this state of the art school will be a beacon of hope for this entire community. We are confident this school will produce the future innovators needed to take South Africa to the next level, and fuel economic development”.
The Minister further emphasised that quality and efficiency need to be applied throughout the schooling system. One of the Department’s priorities is to ensure that every child receives a book in every learning area and the curriculum remains the core business of the Department. Minister Motshekga encouraged the school principals to focus more on learner performance through the monitoring of teachers to ensure that they do their work as expected. “Let us work together and make it a point that we have effective learning and teaching in all our schools,” the Minister concluded.