Wednesday, 15 October 2014

St. John's Convent School is located on a small agricultural holding in the eastern part of a town called Brokhorstspruit in South Africa.  It is an independent Catholic school, which depends on the support of the local community and donors from outside for sustenance.  It has a population of 210 students and 11 members of staff.  Out of the 210 students many are victims of abuse and some are infected/affected by the HIV and AIDS. These children are being looked after by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist who are the directors of St. John's Convent School.

The school was initially started to offer education only to these children that stay at the Alfonso Children´s Home. It later opened doors to cater to girls and boys who come from the nearby farms and the townships
around the area.

The primary aim of the school is to educate children in a manner that will not only promote their humanity but that has also respect for their wellbeing as future participants in a society founded on culture of human rights and which respects moral values of all people equally.

Currently the school can only provide education from grade R up until grade 9. The reason for failure of the school to offer lessons up to grade 12 is because it does not have classes to accomodate the FET phase (grade 10-12) including the science labs which is a requirement from the department of education. Therefore learners in the school only go up to grade 9 after which they try to look for places in grade 10 in other high schools.

Die Schwestern haben eine Vision:
Sie möchten die bereits auf Ihrem Grundstück vorhandene private St. John´s Convent School um eine Oberstufe (grade 10-12) erweitern. Das südafrikanische Schulministerium verlangt dafür den Bau von  Fachräumen (Biologie, Physik und Chemie). Erst durch eine Erweiterung der Klassen- und Fachräume könnten die Schwestern weitere Heimkinder und und Kinder aus der näheren Umgebung aufnehmen. Das Schulgeld der Kinder von außerhalb würde den Schwestern eine sorglosere Führung des Kinderheims ermöglichen.