SCHOOL will be a whole lot more welcoming when learners at Leratong Primary School in Orlando East, Soweto return from the holidays, thanks to the Johannesburg Development Agency.
On 29 June, JDA employees, including senior managers, set off to paint 20 classrooms at the school, in an agency corporate social investment project. As part of its corporate social responsibility, the agency supports community projects or schools in the areas in which it does business.
Leratong Primary School was chosen because this year’s main focus was “to improve education and learning”, said Alice Moloto, the marketing manager of internal communications and special projects.
The school is on Mooki Street, near Orlando Stadium and is not far from the train station. The Rea Vaya Station is also nearby. Another of the JDA’S projects this year is to upgrade Orlando Police Station.
According to Leornard Visagie, a senior development manager at the agency, working with schools is humbling and brings pleasure. “Personally I enjoyed it very much,” he said of the day.
Visagie said the main objectives of the project were to improve the environment for the community and to position the area for economic investment.
A delighted Pauline Makhado, the school’s principal, could not stop thanking the agency for choosing her school. “The JDA relieved us. Although we receive maintenance money from the Department of Education, it is not enough because our school is dilapidated,” she said.
“We are excited as our children will learn in a clean environment,” she added, saying that she hoped it would have a positive effect on their attitudes.
Work done by the JDA along Mooki Street includes paving upgrades and landscaping.
The school accommodate 645 learners from Grade R to Grade 7.