Extreme Makeover: School Edition, from kraal to classroom

    The challenge: Two classrooms at Sea View Senior Secondary School in Zithulele in the rural Eastern cape need to be made teaching-ready before school begins on January 21.

    The catch: They’re totally dilapidated – with broken windows and doors; holes in the roofs; no paint, desks, blackboards, posters, bookshelves, cupboards and so forth; and currently serve as a kraal for the village sheep.

    So, how does this happen?

    The project is being spearheaded by Tim Hutchinson, a teacher at the school, who’s teamed up with the Jabulani Rural Health Foundation to get donations from anyone willing to help buy materials for the renovations.

    The plan is for two teachers – each heading a team of five or six learners, a project manager and a couple of experienced builders – to renovate one classroom each. The teams will fix the broken windows and doors, paint and decorate, and make it a personal and inspiring learning space. At the end of it all, there’ll be prizes and a party.

    You can follow “Project Renovate” on Hutchinson’s blog and find out more about donating to the project.

    Watch this space to see whether they will succeed in turning these kraals into classrooms in time for the 2015 school year.

    Featured image: Sea View Senior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape. Image supplied.