New UK schools competition encourages study of life in RSA
The Help a South African School Competition is encouraging UK schoolchildren to find out about the lives of children in South Africa; while donating unwanted books to schools on farms and in other rural locations.
To enter, classes must produce and submit a project book that covers four aspects of South African culture. These are:
- ‘The Rainbow Nation’
- ‘A day in the life of a South African farm child’
- ‘New South Africa: learning from political history’
- ‘Growing our fruit’
The project book can include anything from drawings to poems, letters or photographs – the more creative the better.
To complete their entry, schools are being asked to make a donation of unwanted maths, science or English text books, or reading books, to farm and rural schools in South Africa, who often have extremely limited access to educational resources. The books will be collected from participating schools on Friday, May 11th.
The competition is open to all junior school children in years 5 and 6 in England and the equivalent school years in the rest of the UK. There are three prizes – the first placed entry will receive £2,000, second place £1,000 and third place £500. Every school that enters will also receive a certificate from the UK’s South African High Commissioner.
The South African fruit industry and its growers’ association, Hortgro Services, is supporting the competition. Jacques Du Preez, Product Manager at Hortgro said: “For every fruit farm worker in a South African farm there are, on average, four dependents that rely on them. The industry provides education, housing, health and social care and we hope that this competition will increase awareness and provide further support for our employees and their families.
“We are delighted that UK schoolchildren will learn about South Africa and South African culture, helping children and families in our country at the same time.”
Schools that wish to enter the competition must sign up online at www.helpasouthafricanschool.co.uk. The first 100 schools to register will receive an entry pack.