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FUNDING NEEDS –
(at 18 July 2007).
BUILDINGS:
The school buildings will cost around R6 million (£425,000) –
the land is owned by the Vrygrond Trust and is therefore free.
Our present commitments and money in the bank leave us with a
shortfall of approx R500,000 (£36,000).
We pressed the trigger to go ahead in the belief that we will
find the shortfall one way or another. Payments are staggered as
the building goes up, and the last payments will be due in
November, as the contractors finish the job. Any donations to
help us close this funding gap will be extremely welcome.
EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT:
This is now by far the biggest and most worrying money issue we
have. When we originally planned the school, it was essential
that the State Education department bear the annual running
costs, which they have agreed to do.
However in discussion with our key funders, it became clear that
we would really like this school to be a lot better than the
average State school for this area.
The key factor is that the kids from places like Vrygrond start
their schooling, in fact their lives, with a crippling
disadvantage in almost all the key areas, compared to “middle
class” children. They are on average 2 to 3 years behind the
benchmarks for kids of their age in all the critical development
stages (language, writing, motor skills, socialisation). The
only way to address this is to apply special needs
educational input to supplement what the Dept of Education
provides. And of course this costs money.
At present the cost of all the extra educational
interventions will run at around R66,000 (£4,700 or $9,500) per
month. That is a daunting amount to raise on a regular
basis, and at the moment I have little idea where this money is
going to come from.
These needs are discussed in more detail elsewhere on this site
under “Educational Issues”, and are summarised below in the
table of costs.
If we cannot find this money, then obviously we cannot implement
these extra teaching items. At worst, the school will then be
run as a normal State school. This will still be a wonderful
achievement, but it will be disappointing that, having got so
far, we cannot take that final step to make this school a
model of how to address the special social and educational
disadvantages of poor children.
Below is the breakdown of the extra costs. Since so many of
Vrygrond’s funders and supporters live in UK, I have entered the
Sterling equivalents at R14 to £1.
We desperately need ideas or help in how to fund these
educational costs.
If you would like to see
how to make your donation then click
here. COSTS OF ADDITIONAL
EDUCATION INPUT TO VRYGROND SCHOOL
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RANDS PER MONTH
(£ Sterling) |
TEACHERS: The WCED (W. Cape Education Dept)
will pay for 9 teachers. We need 12 (one for each class
of 30 pupils). So we need 3 more teachers at R9,000
(£650) per month.
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R27,000
£1930
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TEACHING ASSISTANTS: We would like each class
to have one Teaching Assistant to reduce the
pupil-teacher ratio. That is 12 Assistants at R2,000
(£145) p month.
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R24,000
£1720
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REMEDIAL TEACHING: We have agreed a proposal
from an established group, Wordworks, specialising in
remedial teaching. Their brief is to set up and train
volunteers so that after the first year their
intervention will reduce dramatically.
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R6,000
£430
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| SOCIAL WORKER: WCED will not pay for a
dedicated social worker just for Vrygrond School. Many
of the children will have serious family problems at
home, and the intervention of a Social Worker is
critical. |
R8,000
£575
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MATERIALS: Remedial teaching books and games.
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R1,000
£75
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TOTAL:
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R66,000
£4720 |
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