French boost for Soweto schools
20 June 2003
The Gauteng education department and the French embassy in South Africa launched a capacity building project for school principals in selected areas in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg on Thursday.
The main emphasis of the project, which is France's contribution to the education action zones (EAZs) established in Gauteng province in 1999, is building administrative and management capacity at schools.
The education action zone schools were selected because of poor matriculation results.
Gauteng education MEC Ignatius Jacobs, French Ambassador to South Africa Jean Cadet, and representatives of the National Business Initiative attended the launch at Lamula Jubilee Secondary School in Meadowlands, Zone 5.
The project, to run over the next three years, was made possible by the signing of a R6.6-million financial assistance agreement by Education Minister Kader Asmal and Ambassador Cadet in February.
The first group of 10
Soweto school principals and four members of the department's EAZ team have already returned from a four-week training programme in the Colleges of Education of Creteil and Nantes in France, as part of the project.
A second group is due to leave for France later this year to undergo similar training.
"France is proud to support the transformation of dysfunctional schools in the Gauteng province and to fully and directly participate in the uplifting and development of the skills of South African children from disadvantaged communities," the French embassy said in a statement.
Daniel Jeanne, a French educational expert, has also been seconded to South Africa to share his experiences of France's EAZ programme.
The project will initially focus on 20 high schools, together comprising 19 500 students, 530 teachers, 96 heads of department and 20 principals.
The project is expected to benefit at least 80 000 students, 2 800 teachers, 600 heads of
department and 76 principals in Gauteng, after which it could be duplicated in other provinces.
Source: BuaNews
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