May 2021.

Perdekraal East Wind Farm has announced its support of a collaborative education leadership programme, together with the Western Cape Education Department (Cape Winelands District) to help support school principals at a time when leadership is vital.

This one year programme, which launches in May 2021, is aptly named ‘Partners for Possibility Leadership Development & Principal Support Programme’ and is being rolled out at ten schools in the communities Ceres, Nduli/Vredebes, Bella Vista and Prince Alfred Hamlet.

“The need for robust leadership in education has been highlighted during the difficult Covid-19 pandemic period, especially where schools were also exposed the deep inequalities, as many community learners were less likely to have access to remote online teaching,” said Jo-Anne Brown, Economic Development Manager at Perdekraal East Wind Farm.

Nduli Primary School’s Principal, Ms Fezeka Lethunya, had this to say about the programme: “This programme is helping develop my leadership capacity in an under-resourced and consequently underperforming school. The skills and knowledge that I will gain from this partnership will help me involve parents in the education of their children. The partnership will also help us as principals to share best practices and build unity, which is needed in our schools.”

The programme engages business leaders in a challenging hands-on experience within an educational environment that is fraught with complex challenges that require skilled leadership. Through partnership with the business leaders the programme prepares principals, by equipping them with the skills and knowledge to lead change and mobilise communities around their schools, even during this time of COVID.

“The programme is all about creating collaboration and harnessing the strengths of people that are willing to work together for enrichment and the benefit of education. Knowledge and skills are obtained through training, and one-on-one interaction between principal and business partner and group discussion, which are then taken back to the school community for implementation,” added Brown.

The programme works by asking partners to effect change collaboratively at four levels in the school environment which includes the school principals; the school management teams; teachers; as well as parents and community.
“This programme focusses on the ABCD principles, which have been embraced in communities in the Witzenberg area. It is based on different sectors coming together to work at a common goal, by leveraging each other’s strengths,” concluded Brown.