TIYANI JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL: The profile (Mr. Yancy Radebe)
“ In winter, each mile we walk seems like two
But we know deep in our hearts that spring is gonna come”
The Tiyani Junior secondary school is a school that lives up to its burdensome name.
Built in the 1950’s during trying times, just after the establishment of the Apartheid policies by the then government of the day in South Africa.
The school’s name is from the Tsonga language which translates to” Be Courageous.” Located in Diepkloof, Soweto, South Africa, the school has witnessed the birth of many other schools around it that makes it look like the poorest pauper of all the schools in the region, where facilities are concerned. If facilities were shoes, this school would have just one pair. The funding provided to the school by the department of education has been allocated to different sectors based on directives and does not go a long way in seeing to the needs of the school. They have always been the odd one out. As bad as the situation may seem, the school is run by a team of very passionate and dedicated educators, whose most important duty is to instill discipline on their learners. This discipline is clearly evident in the result the school achieves in the Athletics field, where they obtain more medals than all their other counterparts in the region, every other year. This great accolade is but a small highlight of Tiyani’s schooling year. Something they always look forward to.
The School caters for learners that come as far away as neighboring Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Based on the research I made of the school, I was very appalled by the conditions the school is being run under. The school has been in existence for so many decades, producing among others the wife of the deputy president Mr. Jacob Zuma, yet little or no infrastructure development has been done here. Some of the parents cannot afford to pay the school fees, which resulted in the school management’s decision to apply to the department of education to declare the school a no fee institution. These are parents who are very needy and unemployed, yet still want the best education possible for their children.
I was impressed by the attitude of the principal Mr kabelo Michael Boikanyo says one of AEMRN coordinator
This gentleman has been with the school for a period of three months and recently left a well resourced school for an opportunity to try and change the plight of TIYANI as a school. He is a visionary who knows what he wants out of life. During our meeting the principal made mention of the fact that the department of education is always encouraging them as a school to go out in the market and seek funding from other sources. I don’t doubt his abilities at all. In his own words” It is pointless to fund a school which has people (PUPLIS and EDUCATORS) that will not strive to sustain the resources at their disposal”. Mr Boikanyo has a dream. He ‘strongly believe in something. When I asked him what he feels would be the ideal situation he would like for his school, he said. A situation where LEARNERS will begin to believe that the PROBLEMS besetting their school are NOT INSURMOUNTABLE even if they seem so at the very best of times.
I Yancy Redebe personally feel that TIYANI JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL has been waiting for a spring that is long overdue.
