Kagiso Trust InBrief Issue#17 August 2015 Aug 2015 | Page 17

www.kagiso.co.za

D

espite the criticism, this Free
State district has performed well,
clinching the top performing
district position in the Free State
for the past two consecutive
years. It was not by chance that the district
has been performing so well and Kagiso
Trust, through its Beyers Naudé Schools
Development Programme (BNSDP), bears
testament to this.
On 15 May 2015, the Thabo Mofutsanyana
Education District (TMED) held their annual
awards whose purpose is to acknowledge
and celebrate educators who excel in their
profession and assist learners to perform. The
event, which coincided with the Honourable
MEC Tate Makgoe’s birthday, was a festive
affair.
It was evident that the educators in
attendance were fuelled by a love and pride
of teaching and love and humility for their
learners. MEC Tate Makgoe, consistent with
the TMED awards theme, expressed his
gratitude to the educators for expressing
“something inside so strong” within each of
them: the love of teaching.
Working in 166 schools in the Thabo
Mofutsanyana district, the BNSDP has
supported the Free State Department of
Education (Free State DoE) in assisting
educators to unlock their potential and be
the change they want to see in their schools,
communities and society. The first step of
transformation, according to the BNSDP,
comes when educators, together with the
key stakeholders of the schools, attend a
weekend retreat. The retreats are a series
of workshops which force educators and
school staff to reflect on how their actions
as individuals and a collective either help or
hinder their schools to perform.
The honest, sometimes painful, workshops
dig deep and unearth the real reasons
why schools are underperforming and
assist educators to compile a list of things,
determined by the attendees, each individual

should do to ensure their schools are the
schools they would be proud to be a part of.
With a change of attitude, the recognition
of where one has dropped the ball and a
renewed belief and excitement for education,
the educators go back to their schools
“revitalised” as some have said. They go back
ready to implement the transformation.
Transformation can be a difficult and tedious
task, however the educators persevered and
reminded each other of the promises they
each made to play their bit in improving their
school. This consistent approach to everyday
spent in the classroom accumulated to the
success of the schools.
Gradually, schools’ performance increased,
learners started to notice positive change in
their educators and, seemingly miraculously,
the Thabo Mofutsanyana district’s star shone
brighter than any other.
Complementing the BNSDP retreats, MEC
Tate Makgoe and district officials never
failed to encourage learners and educators.
The MEC ensured that each learner and
educator believed that they are champions
and instilled a culture of excellence; being
a rural or farm school was no excuse, the
MEC stressed that the African child has the
potential and their educators are more than
capable to release it.
And so, understanding where they went
wrong in the past, the Thabo Mofutsanyana
district corrected their ways, regained selfbelief and pride in their abilities with the
assistance of their district, province, Kagiso
Trust and other key players to become the
best performing district in the Free State
in 2013 and 2014 and the best performing
district in the country in 2014.
Despite the odds, this mostly rural district
realised the change they wanted to see in
their schools. Soon enough they will realise
the fruits of the resulting ripple effect.

August 2015 Kagiso Trust InBrief | 17