Building Stronger Schools Program
AEP recently launched an exciting new initiative called the Building Stronger Schools Program. The first project under this program will be implemented in early 2007 at Diepsloot Combined School located just outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Learn more about the origin of this program in the AEP News Room.
The Building Stronger Schools Program is aimed at supporting and improving the quality of education offered by African schools serving impoverished youth. This program is designed mainly for the primary school level to make education more equitable for the poor. Project activities supported under this program are varied:
- distribution of books and other teaching materials;
- building new school facilities like classrooms, libraries and latrines;
- providing teacher training and development programs; and
- executing other programs that build stronger schools to better meet the needs of disadvantaged youth in Africa.
This new program effort to benefit Diepsloot Combined School is being led by AEP volunteers Michael and Lora Spector. Initial funds are being raised now through the “Run for Education in Africa” team that will compete in the Chicago Marathon in October 2006 and the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2006. Learn more about the AEP Run for Education in Africa team.
Diepsloot Combined School and Diepsloot Community
The Diepsloot Combined School was established in April 2001. The school started with less than 300 students but today enrollment is over 1,500. The school children attending the school come from the Diepsloot community, which has a population of 150,000, 73% of whom live below the poverty line.
The community is considered a "squatters camp" or "informal settlement" where the informal shack area outnumber the formal housing area 4 to 1. The roofs of the informal housing are non-insulated metal which causes the houses to be very cold in winter and very hot in summer. The shacks are serviced with occasional water taps and the units have no bath or shower facilities. Sewage services are largely absent in the community.
Diepsloot is a young community with a third of the population between 20-29 years of age. Over 75% of the population is under the age of 40. The community suffers from high unemployment and poverty. The majority of the residents have a total household monthly income of 1500 Rand (approximately $230). Diepsloot is one of the most diverse townships in South Africa with more than seven different cultures represented within its boundaries.
The Africa Education Project is proud to partner with the Diepsloot Combined School and the Diepsloot community to improve education and the lives of those who call Diepsloot home.
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