Botshabelo
School in a Box
Urban Kids Educentre is a fully-functioning preschool that caters to underprivileged and emerging families living in the surrounding area. Urban Kids was started in 2011 with just 7 children, and now we have 94 children in 5 classes. It truly is a vibrant and very happy school – the playground is almost always busy and the kids love school. At the end of every year we have 20 students graduate from our Grade R programme.
Our fees are heavily reduced and subsidised by sponsorships and donors, this affords low-income families the ability to send their child to a brilliant school. And the most amazing thing we have seen over the years, is the realisation dawning on parents regarding the importance of education for their children. By the end of their child’s time at Urban Kids, they firmly believe it is important to make sure their child gets the best education they can afford. This is truly a change in the right direction! And this is not to mention the love for learning that is imparted into each child at Urban Kids. We have amazing teachers working at Urban Kids who give selflessly every day to their pupils – ensuring that they are ready for big school, and will continue to enjoy school as they move from Urban Kids.
WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT
school in a box
We are so privileged to play such a great role in the start of all these childrens’ lives and school careers – we can’t wait to hear of their wonderful Matric results in decades to come!
Our fledgling project: School in a Box aims to establish low-cost, insulated and fully equipped classrooms and/or whole preschools in impoverished communities (complete with trained teachers, curriculum, policies, daily planning and general admin). The long-term goal is to establish these preschools in as many municipalities of South Africa as we can. This will mean better-resourced preschools for poor communities, higher standards of teaching and a better foundational education for the next generation of this nation.
At the moment, the project is running in its developmental stages and we are currently building prototype classrooms at Urban Kids to establish the best way forward with School in a Box. These classrooms will benefit up to 40 children at Urban Kids but ultimately, many more, as we will be able to replicate these classrooms as part of the School in a Box project.
Our hopes and dreams for School in a Box are vast and daunting, but we believe that together with our community, donors and a whole lot of passion, we will see these dreams come to pass.