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ADOZEN under-resourcedschools in KwaZulu-Natal arenow the proud recipients of

brand new comprehensive maths andscience kits – equipment that will notonly benefit current pupils and teachersbut will have an impact further into thefuture of South Africa.

The extraordinary donation wasthanks to Umgeni Water, whichpartnered with Pinetown-basedEdutrade for the initiative.

The symbolic handover of the kitstook place at Umgeni Water’s headoffice boardroom in Pietermaritzburgon Monday, and was attended byrepresentatives from the 12 schools aswell as Edutrade and Umgeni Waterdelegates.

The schools are AmakholwaSecondary, Brettenwood High,Dingizwe High, Siyahlomula High,Ukukhanyakwezwe Secondary,Umlazi Secondary, Bangibizo Primary,Mpumelelo Primary, Mqhathi Primary,Table Mountain Primary, UmlaziJunior Primary and WoodlandsPrimary.

Welcoming the guests, ShamiHarichunder, Umgeni Water’sCorporate Stakeholder Manager, saidthe science and maths kit project hadbeen “a long time in the planning”.

“Our greatest wish is that theseschools put these valuable resources togood use – that they are used to helpchildren better understand the sciences,and that this translates into better examresults.

“Many schools are under-resourcedin South Africa, and while these kitswill not eradicate the backlog, they willhelp in some tangible way to improvethe understanding of science and mathsamong children.”

Umgeni Water CE Cyril Gamede,an engineer who is president of theEngineering Council of South Africaand also chairman of the University ofZululand, said, “Every successfulnation has a basis of science as aprecursor to that success. Against therest of the world, South Africacompares poorly in maths and science,and we have to improve these statistics,starting from primary level. You can’t

just intervene in matric.”To create more engineers for the

future, the pass rate in science andmaths needed to increase. Thatcannot be done only from high schoollevel, he added.

“These science and mathsresources will help make a difference.If more companies became involved ina small way, as Umgeni Water has, itcould make a difference and have aripple effect.”

He said the kits were an excellentstarting point for the future. “Science isquite an abstract subject. Takemagnesium. Many people don’t have aclue what it is, but now that thesechildren and their teachers have thesekits, they can see for themselves whatmagnesium is. They can carry outexperiments with the chemicalsprovided, and actually see what theyare learning about.”

Edutrade’s Nareshini Ranganthancommended Umgeni Water on itsinitiative, saying they were thrilled topartner the facility “on such a beautifulproject”.

“The schools we have chosen,while some are more needy thanothers, all share the same passion toimprove the quality of their maths andscience teaching and their exam marks.Chalk and talk is limited – today,learning has to be hands-on to make adifference.

“Matric level is too late to make adifference, so we looked at primary andsecondary school level when weplanned this project. Maths and sciencemarks and understanding cannot bedone in just one phase. You have tostart from Grades 4 to 7, to establish asolid foundation, and continue thatthrough Grades 8 and 9. So whenpupils have to choose their subjectsthey will have a decent foundation inmaths and science and hopefully, thiswill decrease the drop out rate.”

To make this happen, the resourcekits have been distributed to bothprimary and secondary/high schools, toensure continuity.

Teachers will be fully trained in theuse of the kits, and will be expected toprovide feedback along the way.

NIRASHA Sampson, Manager inthe Office of the Chief Executivesaid the water utility receivednumerous requests for help, but oneof the simplest pleas had touchedtheir hearts. “A school had asked usfor plastic bottles for chemicals.”

When Umgeni Water turned 40last year, CE Cyril Gamede, anengineer who is passionate about thesciences, had determined that as acelebration of the organisation’sbirthday, the utility would focus onproviding some sustainableeducational solutions for childrenand their futures.

“The request for water bottleswas the catalyst – and these 12resource sets will hopefully work assolid building blocks. The recipientschools have varying levels ofresources and equipment, but the

passion shown by the teachers andthe children is impressive.”

A list of schools was drawn upand they were all thoroughlyassessed before being shortlisted,she added. “The handover doesn’tend here. Progress reports will bemade every six months, and theteachers will be trained in the use ofthe kits and the chemicals, forinstance, so we can make sure theyare totally familiar with everythingand fully understand the equipmentand what they are working with.”

The materials within theresource kits, for instance chemicals,are sufficient for at least three years.Schools can order stocks fromEdutrade to replenish the kits whenneeded.

The kits are aligned with thenational curriculum.

IN 2012, Umgeni Water made adecision to adopt a structured approachin its corporate social investment. Itturned its focus to helping improve thequality of education in needy areas andschools, women empowerment andjob creation – and through those,improving the quality of life of peopleliving in the Umgeni Water operationalarea.

Through numerous projects andsponsorships, it has done just that,including rehabilitating and improvinginfrastructure at needy schools (forexample water and sanitation, andupgrading of laboratories).

It has also provided financialassistance to an organisation thatprovides equipment for cataractsurgery for people in disadvantagedareas.

One of Umgeni Water’s main areas

of focus, however, has been oneducation, and through variouschannels, improving the conditionsunder which thousands of children areforced to study.

Shami Harichunder, UmgeniWater’s Corporate StakeholderManager, said: “We are convinced thatour contribution will assist thesechildren – and other recipients – toenhance the conditions in which theyare currenty studying.”

Sustainable job creation is also aCSI priority. Umgeni Water hasassisted a group of people fromMaphephethwa, Inanda, inestablishing a co-op. The organisationhas provided funding to the membersof the co-op to establish a micro-business that will manufactureconcrete products, among them, bricksand blocks that will be sold the the

local community for construction ofhouses. In this way, Umgeni Water hascontributed to the creation ofsustainable jobs and income.

Another similar initiative involvessupporting the establishment of a smallpoultry farming home industriesproject.

Successful communityengagement is a critical success factorfor Umgeni Water during water supplyinfrastructure construction, andinvolves communities participating inthe identification, definition, and jointsolution-seeking with otherstakeholders in issues affecting theirsurroundings. Successful managementof this has resulted in a foundation oftrust being built with communitystakeholders.

This, along with Umgeni Water’sfocus on sustainable projects, as

opposed to “one-offs”, is a priority ofits social responsibility programme –an example being Imvutshane Dam,which it recently built outside Stanger.

“Our legacy to that communitywas the establishment of a soccer field– we also established food gardens forthe community.”

Harichunder said the donation ofthe maths and science kits to the 12needy schools reflected the seriousnesswith which Umgeni Water regards itssocial responsibility – and theimportance of education and learning.

“Science has an extremelyimportant place in our country, and wewant to ensure that by gettinginvolved, forming partnerships withschools, improving and enhancing themanner in which science is studied andcommunicated to pupils, they have abetter understanding of the subjects.”

SCHOOL SCIENCE KITSSCHOOL SCIENCE KITS

UMGENI WATER DONATESLEARNING AIDS TO NEEDY SCHOOLS

Seen at the Umgeni Water Science kit handover to schools are (back row) Thobile Cele, Thobile Makhunga and Nareshini Ranganthan of Edutrade, Cyril Gamede (Chief Executive of Umgeni Water), Doctor Ngema, A Mensah, Victor Duma, Ndumisa Dlamini and Wellington Sikhosana. Front row:VDJ Khamyile, Melusi Khena, Mdumiseni Ndlovu, Siphiwe Mbongwa, Neil Tommy and Felix Duma.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Shami Harichunder, Umgeni Water’s Corporate Stakeholder Manager.

40th anniversary giftto KZN’s children

Cyril Gamede, Chief Executive of Umgeni Water.

Nirasha Sampson, Manager in the Office of the Chief Executive.

Umgeni Water Chief Executive, Cyril Gamede presents Mdumiseni Ndlovu withSiyahlomula High School’s science resources handover certificate.

Wellington Sikhosana (right) receives Dingizwe High School’s handover certificate fromCyril Gamede.

Neil Tommy (left) and Dino Naidoo (right) of Woodlands Primary School with Umgeni Water Chief Executive, Cyril Gamede.