Al Baraka Bank Invests R35 000 in Extra Matric Tuition,

Al Baraka Bank Invest R35 000 in Extra Matric Tuition, Support and  Stationery at Disadvantaged School

A massively under‐resourced high school on KwaZulu‐Natal’s lower south coast, which serves severely disadvantaged rural learners desperate for an effective education, received a R35 000 post‐COVID support injection, providing Matric learners with extra classes, additional tuition and vital stationery ahead of their exams. 

The donation, made by Al Baraka Bank, also included the recent awarding of laptop computers to the school’s top three Matriculants. 

The Bank adopted Sinevuso Secondary School, outside Ixopo, in 2014 to mark its Legacy Corporate Social Responsibility Project in celebration of the company's then 25th anniversary and has provided ongoing support ever since. 

Al Baraka Bank’s Sustainability and Social Responsibility Officer, Ms Fathima Mohamed, said of the donation: "For several years the effects of COVID‐19 have been severely felt in, especially, South Africa’s rural schools, limiting teaching and, cruelly, further handicapping learners already facing unique educational challenges, including insufficient funding from the state, a lack of resources and, in many instances, a lack of water, sanitation or electricity.” 

“Our intention in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2022 was to provide the tools necessary to afford Matric learners at Sinevuso Secondary School every opportunity to pass their final exams. To this end, our financial contribution proved successful with the 2022 Matric pass rate jumping to 83,7% from just 76,4 % in 2021 and 75,7% in 2020,” she said. 

She stressed that many of the school’s learners came from brutally disadvantaged homes, further compromised by attending an appreciably under‐resourced school.  

“Learners here deserve the opportunity to excel in spite of the economic and educational challenges they face.” 

“Our role was to enable them to benefit from comprehensive stationery hampers and an all‐embracing catch‐up programme ahead of their important final exams at the end of 2022, so enabling them to go on to tertiary education and enjoy a better quality of life," said Ms Mohamed. 

The bank's school support programme enabled learners to remain at school and to participate in additional classes, better preparing them for their examinations. In addition, the sponsorship covered the provision of extra‐special tuition in a number of the more challenging subjects. 

"Every South African child has the right to education. Unfortunately, and in spite of almost 30 years of democracy, education in this country remains skewed, with many educational institutions in depressed and disadvantaged areas remaining hugely under‐resourced, impacting negatively on both the ability to teach and learn effectively.” 

“Given Government’s inability to realistically fund education, it falls to the private sector to assist and Al Baraka Bank believes it has a moral obligation to play a role, contributing to the education and betterment of South Africa’s youth now and into the future,” she maintained. 

Pic Cap:
Laptop computers were presented to Sinevuso Secondary School’s top three 2022 Matriculants by Al Baraka Bank. The gesture followed the Bank’s financial support for a detailed catchup programme towards the end of last year to improve the pass prospects of learners.