R460 000 Classroom Furniture Donation Gives Learners Access To Education After Flood Devastation
For Immediate Release:
1 November 2022
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Some 1 000 historically disadvantaged learners attending a Sea Cow Lake, Durban, primary school
once again have desks and chairs, valued at R460 000, after flooding wreaked havoc at the
educational institution earlier this year.
Water and mud swept through Dr. Macken Mistry Primary School in April this year, leaving in its
wake the destruction of buildings, the loss of records and educators’ materials, damaged computers,
and the annihilation of classroom furniture.
Hearing about the school’s plight and following a site visit to witness the ruination of its facilities, the
South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT) set about lending its assistance in restoring an
effective teaching environment for the school’s learners and staff, so ensuring minimum disruption
to curriculum execution – which was already adversely affected by earlier COVID-19 restrictions.
Commenting at a recent event to mark the official handover of 1 000 new desks and chairs, SAMCT
representative, Mr. Gaff Osman, said: “Until actually experienced, one cannot comprehend the
sheer force of nature. The havoc flood water wreaked here was all too apparent, with massive
infrastructural destruction and irreparable damage to numerous desks and chairs.”
He stressed that appropriate desks and chairs formed a fundamental part of the education process.
“Such classroom furniture plays a vital role in the effectiveness of a learner’s ability to remain
engaged, to show improved performance, and, ultimately, to learn. Indeed, desks and chairs are
rightly considered to form one of the most important components of the learning environment.
They must provide the correct fit for learners, be comfortable, allow for movement and promote in
our youngsters a good posture,” Mr Osman added.
Recovery from the carnage the school experienced has proved no easy task.
“Months of work has gone into bringing this educational institution anywhere close to effective
operationalization and the Principal and members of staff are to be complimented for the concerted
efforts they have made to restore the teaching environment. The scenes of devastation which
emerged as the flood waters receded provided a stark reminder of the huge cost restoration would
bring; a cost way beyond the financial means of the school or, indeed, a hard-pressed Department of
Education,” said Mr Osman.
He said that the SAMCT had made available R460 000 for the purchase of 1 000 new desks and
chairs for the school, so enabling learners ‘to once again take their places in the school’s classrooms
and to resume the education they so richly deserve.’
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.
This has ensured that the South African Muslim Charitable Trust is the beneficiary of this Shariah
suite of funds, enabling it to provide funding, services and other resources for the improvement of
the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged. It has been singularly successful in
delivering sizeable assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion –
and continues to work to support needy organizations in the fields of social development, poverty
alleviation, healthcare, and education.
Mr. Osman concluded: “The provision of these desks is but a small gesture, given the overall loss and
destruction this school has experienced, but is one which we hope will open the door to renewed
learner comfort, increased classroom engagement, and improved performance going forward.”
ends
For more information about SAMCT or its Dr. Macken Mistry Primary School desks and chairs donation, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za