From the news desk

MP schools hosts charity golf day

Share this article

A group of Mitchell’s Plain schools kicked off their first annual charity golf day at the Rondebosch Golf Club on Thursday in the hope of assisting all schools in the area that bear the brunt of poverty. Called “Golf for Education”, the event was organized by the Progressive Principals Association (PPA). The PPA is a body formed in 2011 comprising of 100 principals in Mitchells Plain and the Western Cape to lobby for quality education.

Glendale High school principal, Achmat Chotia, said the initiative started when principals from the areas came together and decided they need to find a way to break the barriers blocking these students from reaching their true potential.

20141009_121222

“It is more about representing the plight of the poor and the issues that we face at our schools on a daily basis,” says Chota, who serves as the PPA’s public relations officer.

Chotia was one of the founding members, along with Spine Road high school principal Riyaadh Najaar and Brian Isaacs, the principal of South Peninsula high school. Former minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, serves as its patron.

One of the more pressing issues is that Mitchell’s Plain needs a high school specifically in Tafelsig and instead of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) extending some model C high schools, the association has taken the initiative to instead build new schools or are looking at addressing issues such as this.

To organise the event, the PPA reached out to corporate businesses, local businesses and the broader community to come forward as sponsors as a form of social responsibility. Kennedy Manda from printing firm RICOH, one of the 20 sponsors, said they are giving back to the community of Mitchell’s Plain as they have been doing business at many of the schools in the area.

20141009_121918

He says that they will continue to support the initiative into the future so that all children can have access to good education which will assist them to not only improve academically but also in sport.

The head of department at Eisleben road primary, Ryan Crouse, believes that only good can come of this association. He says the golf day is just another venture that will help them promote the work that they are doing, adding that the PPA has also created unity among all the schools in the area.

Crouse says that apart from raising funds to assist in maintaining schools when they are broken into and vandalised, they also aim to invest the money into sport infrastructure to promote and enhance the interest in sport.

The event hosted 114 players and great prizes were up for grabs. The PPA aimed to raise R500 000 for education. VOC (Imogen Vollenhoven)


Share this article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

WhatsApp WhatsApp us
Wait a sec, saving restore vars.