A major R1 million upgrade of a Phoenix, Durban, school’s Consumer Studies kitchen facility has set learners on the fast track to invaluable life and entrepreneurial skills development, thanks to the recent intervention of the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT).
Greenbury Secondary School, established in 1979 and now serving the educational interests of more than 1,400 learners, boasts a proud academic record, in spite of facing severe socio-economic challenges and operating in a historically disadvantaged area of Durban; an area with high rates of unemployment, incomplete schooling, and other social ills.
Shifting its curriculum to better serve the diverse capabilities of its learners and the evolving dynamics of the job market, the school offering includes such subjects as tourism, metalwork, woodwork, drama, computer applications technology and consumer studies, and is rapidly gaining momentum.
Commenting on the SAMCT’s consumer studies kitchen upgrade donation, representative Mr Gaff Osman, said: “Consumer Studies learners here have achieved a 100% pass rate between 2020 and 2024, despite the kitchen used for instruction being no longer fit for purpose.”
“Sadly, the school has long had to make-do with a facility based on a 40-year-old departmental model, featuring outdated plumbing and electrical systems, insufficient storage, and inadequate workstations.”
He added: “This area of learning has grown significantly in popularity and the SAMCT was, therefore, delighted to be able to replace a centre no longer able to satisfy learning requirements, by providing the financial assistance necessary to assist with totally revamping the school’s kitchen, so ensuring that learners may be exposed to the very best educational environment.”
He indicated that the SAMCT was intent on playing a significant role in ensuring historically disadvantaged learners and those from under-served regions were afforded the same quality learning facilities as those enjoyed by their counterparts in better-resourced areas of Greater Durban.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. The organisation provides funding, services and other resources to improve the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged.
It has successfully delivered sizeable assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work to support needy organisations in the fields of healthcare, social development, poverty alleviation and education.
Mr Osman concluded, saying: “We are confident that this significantly upgraded facility – ensuring a safe, modern and functional environment – will greatly assist in empowering this school’s learners now and into the future with invaluable life and entrepreneurial skills, aligned with scarce skills development in South Africa.
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For more information about the SAMCT or its Greenbury Secondary School Consumer Studies Kitchen donation, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Executive
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za
www.samct.co.za