Emmanuel Educare currently operates from a ramshackle shack in Mfuleni township, Cape Town, South Africa. The family who own the land want it back. Starting Chance aims to purchase a house nearby and convert it in to an educare with 3 classrooms, a sick bay and office, kitchen and ablutions. Help us to make it happen so that 50 children can start their education in a lovely learning environment.
Starting Chance is upgrading Emmanuel Educare so that the principal can register the school and access the government subsidy. This allows teachers to be paid a better salary and improves the quality of meals served to children. The family who own the land on which their shack/RDP educare is situated on have demanded that they leave in the New Year. Consequently Emmanuel needs new premises. The uncertainty has made it difficult to retain good staff and pupils, threatening Emmanuel's future.
Purchasing a suitable residential property for conversion to an educare is a cost-effective way to acquire land and provide a sustainable, well-designed and equipped facility which can then be registered with the Department of Social Development and the provincial Department of Education. Grant access enables principals to not only pay their staff better, but also provide more nutritious meals for the children and equip their classrooms better - even in tough economic times.
Purchasing and converting a property provides a permanent facility. On registration the principal can access government grants - a financial game-changer for this woman entrepreneur. Grants supplement income from fees which is erratic as many parents are unemployed and struggle to pay. By increasing income and improving the cash flow teachers can be paid better salaries which will reduce teacher turn-over and provide children with access to a consistently higher-quality learning programme.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).