The Witzenberg’s new Junior Town Council was recently elected.
The Junior Town Council (JTC) consists of four representatives of the six high schools in the Witzenberg Municipality.
Ceres Secondary, Bella Vista High School and Iingcinga Zethu Secondary School attended the event. The other high schools could not attend.
The JTC elective workshop took place on 27 July at Bella Vista Secondary School, in Ceres under the watchful eye of the IEC that was represented by Michael Hendrickse, Chris Balie, Gert Roscher and Stephanie Steinberg.
The JTC is an initiative by the local Education Forum NPC, under leadership of Daniel Dirks (Managing Director) and Arnold Mei (Project Manager). The two and Hendrickse (Head of the IEC in the Western Cape) shared speeches and emphasised the importance of a Junior Council. Hendrickse alluded to the participation’s great importance, saying how glad he was for every learner there; they had a voice and were becoming beacons of hope to their fellow learners.
The objectives of the Junior Council include the following:. Establishing an organisation that will represent the aspirations of the youth of Witzenberg and to offer the youth a mouthpiece with regard to civil matters.. Stimulating the Junior Councillors and their co-learners’ interest in matters regarding their area.. Developing the Junior Councillor’s leadership in order to encourage an active interest in civil, administrative and communal matters.. Executing the objectives of the Junior Council by embarking on projects that will be beneficial to the community and especially to the youth.. Stimulating a mutual understanding and appreciation among schools in and around the Witzenberg and promoting relationships among the different language groups.. Embarking on any necessary programmes or projects in order to promote the above objectives.. Promoting mutual respect and an understanding in the community that is based on good relationships.. The Junior Town Council will focus on both school-outreach and community-outreach programmes.
