The Thulasizwe Primary School in Boksburg celebrated the opening of a brand-new library and information centre this week which was donated by Hyundai Automotive South Africa and the Hyundai Motor Company, in collaboration with the Imperial and Motus Community Trust.
It is the 14th library that has been opened at selected schools in previously disadvantaged communities in the Witwatersrand region as a result of the partnership between Hyundai and the Imperial and Motus Community Trust.
āI have represented Hyundai at most of the library openings, and every one of them has been a very special occasion. It is our vision that these libraries and information centres will bridge the gap of illiteracy at primary schools in our communities and that it will prepare the learners for a bright future,ā said Niall Lynch, chief executive officer of Hyundai Automotive South Africa, at the opening ceremony on Thursday 28 July.
āOur aim is to assist these selected schools to provide a balanced and holistic education that will enable their learners to excel and realise their potential both academically and as young individuals.ā
The library and information centre at Thulasizwe Primary School in Windmill Park, Boksburg, was installed in one of the classrooms which was prepared for this purpose. The cost of the whole project, which includes the acquisition of books, computer laptops, learning aids such as a digital āwhite boardā, and the salary of a librarian for year, amounts to R 1,62 million.
The librarian will manage the teaching programmes and support the school for five years, while training staff members at the school to take of the role of librarians after this period.
Hyundai Automotive SA has also partnered with the Reel Gardening initiative to establish a vegetable garden at Thulasizwe Primary School. The aim of this project is to work together to educate and employ community members to establish their own gardens.
Reel Gardening consists of a vegetable garden kit which contains a biodegradable seed tape that can be planted straight into the ground. The tape takes all the guess work and confusion out of starting a vegetable garden. It contains high quality, non-chemically treated seed. The seeds are held within the tape at the correct depth and distance apart for the plants to grow.
Hyundai will introduce the Reel Gardening kits to each school to which a library is donated to help provide food security to underprivileged communities.
At the opening ceremony, Khany Magudulela, human resources director at Hyundai Automotive SA, encouraged the learners of Thulasizwe Primary to gain knowledge by reading and using the library. āReading can let your imagination go and let you create your own pictures. Book can keep you entertained even when there is load shedding,ā she said.
Reading and education can help you to go places, to get a good job and save money to travel and broaden the mind, said Magudulela.
In his address Mr Peter Moropa, principal of Thulasizwe Primary School, thanked Hyundai and the Imperial and Motus Community Trust for their involvement with education and the establishment of the library and information centre. āIt is only through education that learners from this community will be able to face the challenges of the future,ā he said.
Mr Nathan Harris, deputy principal of Windmill Park Primary School which received a library in February this year, said at the handover they āhave noticed that school attendance improved after the library was openedā.
