Bringing South Africa's school drop-outs back to class

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

By Mark Nonkes & Chimuka Hamudulu

It was the final wash. The hand-me-down school uniform was finally too threadbare. It had survived five other children. 

“The more it gets washed, the more it gets worn out,” says Winnie Mabandala, a mother of eight.

When the uniform arrived at 8-year-old Mlungisi, just as he was ready to enter Grade 2, it was too embarrassing. 

“I had to ask him to stay at home until he had a uniform,” says Winnie, 47. “I felt heartbroken.”

In South Africa, where primary education is free, school uniforms and materials are often too expensive for low-income families to afford.

Winnie, a single mother, earns only a few rand a week from washing other people’s laundry. Even with government social grants, she is barely scraping by. Formal jobs in Winnie’s community are few and far between, with a 70 per cent unemployment rate.

“My house is a two-roomed house, and sleeping time is a challenge. Three children sleep in the kitchen, next to the refrigerator while the six of us squeeze into the next room,” Winnie says.

While her children are able to attend school, Winnie says there is never enough money to buy new school uniforms and they must be used over and over, for every child. 

The school principal, 57-year-old Nkwe Koboekoe says that while students are still admitted into class if they don’t have a school uniform, the social stigma is great. Children who are without a uniform are often bullied or humiliated by their classmates. 

“There is a sense of belonging,” explains Nkwe, who shepherds a school of 1,200 primary school students.

But when Mlungisi wasn’t at school, a World Vision child development worker quickly noticed. Visiting this primary school on the outskirts of Johannesburg every day, Norman Belushi says he decided to investigate.

Visiting Mlungisi’s home, Norman says once he understood the issue, he worked with the local World Vision office and provided Mlungisi the clothes he needed to return to school. 

“I was so happy, I felt like crying,” says Winnie, remembering the day the new uniform arrived for Mlungisi. 

Now that Mlungisi is back in class, he’s learning to read and speak in English. Mlungisi says his favourite subject is Zulu, his mother tongue, and wishes to become a doctor in the future. 

Principal Nkwe says emergency school uniforms is just one of many ways that World Vision is supporting his school. World Vision volunteers helped the school start a Saturday homework club, for students who needed extra help with their studies. The organization provided bikes to students who live a long distance and donates food to the most vulnerable families.