With budgets being battered by the ever-increasing cost of living, buying back-to-school items such as stationery has become an unaffordable luxury for many families, especially those living in economically stressed areas.
To assist some of them, especially parents, Golden Valley Casino and Lodge in Worcester has donated stationery to the value of R37 000 to the Welville and Bo-Doorn Rivier primary schools. Each school relies on three teachers to care for the educational needs of a total of 117 children living on farms.
Welville Primary’s 52 Grade R to Grade 6 learners all come from neighbouring farms. The school’s principal Annuscka Swanepoel is also one of its three teachers. After contacting the casino for assistance the school received R17 000 worth of stationery from Golden Valley.
Bo-Doorn Rivier Primary is a multi-grade school situated 35 km outside Worcester. Parents of most of the pupils who attend the school earn a minimal wage from doing seasonal work on farms. According to the principal Juliana Burger, the school even lacks basics such as transport. Currently, learners have to walk up to 4 km in all weather conditions just to get to school. To assist them, Golden Valley donated stationery to the value of R20 000.
Commenting on the donation, Golden Valley general manager Keenan Bergins said: “Many South African schools look for additional funding from the private sector, but the situation at most rural farm schools is dire. State funding is insufficient or non-existent, parents earn low incomes, and these schools are not surrounded by large, wealthy businesses they can turn to for assistance.
“However, what these schools lack in terms of resources they make up for with the passion of their teachers. The principals of both schools are determined to provide their pupils with the best possible learning environment, and we are delighted that we could assist by providing them with stationery for the year.”
The stationery donated by the casino includes A4 note books, copy paper, Pritt, calculators, rulers, erasers, A4 flip files, colour paper, pencils, retractable crayons, colouring pencils, plastic for covering books, pencil bags and much more.
