Financial Inclusion Matters too

 “PNPS is very different to the schools I worked at before: we didn’t have parents supporting other parents”, says Crystal, her eyes moist, as she explained what she, as PNPS bursar, has witnessed.

She goes on: “Here we even have ex-PNPS pupils giving donations for current children’s school fees. I never heard of that in previous schools.”

We were sitting in the library, myself with Crystal and Tania (PNPS Business Manager), as I was seeking to understand what financial inclusion looks like at PNPS. Certainly, reading the dry budget figures hasn’t allowed me to grasp the culture of sharing that seems to permeate the PNPS parent and staff community. It turns out that there are multiple layers of sharing happening at our school.

About 10 years ago all Early Act fundraising went to charities. However, staff realised that there was significant need amongst the school families, and decided to allocate 20% of the Early Act income towards caring for the PNPS children. This is now known as the “Inhouse Early Act Fund” which helps to buy shoes, school bags and stationery for families going through a rough time. One year it helped purchase a birthday gift for a child where the family was under real financial strain. The fund also supports staff members in need: from providing refreshments for one staff member’s husband’s funeral to accessing emergency medical treatment for a staff member who arrived at work just having been stabbed.

Crystal explains that this ethos of being mindful of one another’s needs is also reflected in the sharing between parents and families. Prior to the Solidarity Fund, Tania reports that there were children whose school fees were being paid for by other people. Each of these situations was different: sometimes there was an agreement between two families, other times it was through anonymous giving. Tania helps facilitate these sharing relationships and care is taken to ensure that the child or the family are not made to feel like recipients of charity, but that their dignity is honoured.

Building bridges through building friendship

Ann’s eyes were vibrant as she told us how Uncle Sakkie had rushed from the car, come straight to find her, put his hands on her shoulders, while struggling to find the words to express his overflowing enthusiasm. Uncle Sakkie had just returned from the Grade 7’s Mandela Day visit to Klipfontein Primary School and he was so moved by the way the Grade 7s had behaved during the outing. I was intrigued to find out what had touched Uncle Sakkie to such a degree.

This incident happened, serendipitously, during the early birthing phase of the “Inclusion Matters at PNPS”. Our children are exposed to many intentional incidences of inclusion that we parents understand only in vague terms. Through “Inclusion Matters at PNPS” we hope to give parents tasters of the inclusion meal our children are having at school. Uncle Sakkie’s story is a good place to start as it highlights multiple layers of inclusion in action.

Sakkie Louw has worked as a cleaner at PNPS for 19 years. The children call him Uncle Sakkie which speaks to the way he interacts with them as he goes about his duties. I asked Uncle Sakkie about the visit to Klipfontein Primary. He told me how he was amazed at this school’s maintenance and cleanliness in spite of it being in an impoverished area, and he was blown away by the confidence of the little grade Rs who live in challenging circumstances. But he did not seem surprised at being included in the Mandela Day visit. Many other parts of our society view cleaning staff as one dimensional and therefore to serve their job description only, but Uncle Sakkie is used to being included at PNPS. Did you know that staff events include all staff, not just teachers? And that the staff room is literally for all staff, not just the teachers. Inclusion means that Uncle Sakkie knows that he can find the principal, tell her what is on his heart, and know that he will be heard.