Tembisa, Johannesburg, 10 April 2013 – In response to the devastation
left by heavy rains in December 2012, O.R. Tambo International Airport today
handed over four newly refurbished classrooms to Nyiko Primary School in
Tembisa.
181 children at the schoolwere forced to begin their academic
year in overcrowdedclassrooms, as a result of the damage. The refurbishment is
in line with O.R. Tambo International’s Early Childhood development programme,
which focuses on providing infrastructure and assisting in building as well as
maintaining schools within the airport’s community. It is within this context
that O.R. Tambo International Airport management and staff havecommitted
themselves to providing the community of Tembisa access to a conducive
educational environment. “The children at Nyiko Primary School have become a
part of the airport family. In our continued efforts to ensure community
development in and around O.R. Tambo International Airport, management and staff
have made it their personal goal to ensure that the future of the children of
Tembisa is not be compromised by the lack of a safe and well equipped learning
environment,” said Unathi Batyashe-Fillis, Communications Manager at O.R. Tambo
International Airport. The refurbished building comes complete with brand new notice boards and a
chalk board in each classroom. Employees at O.R. Tambo International have for
the past two years contributed to the education of the 1069 learners at Nyiko
Primary School. Mrs Tonia Mkhize, outgoing Principal at Nyiko Primary School said she is
grateful for the continuedsupport from the airport, especially duringthis time,
where urgent intervention was critical.
“It has been a very difficult
time for the school. We began the school year despondent due to our limited
resources. The building was badly damaged and this resulted in us increasing the
number of learners per class in order to accommodate all learners, leading to
ushaving to manage larger classes”, Mkhize added.
According to the
Chairperson of the school’s Governing Body, Collin Nkwinika, O.R. Tambo
International Airport has played a key role in empowering the children of
Tembisa. “As the School Governing Body, the assistance of this big corporate has
encouraged us to ensure uncompromised delivery of quality education which
contributes to the development of our community”, he said. For more information, please contact:
Unathi
Batyashe-Fillis Manager: Communication and Brand Management OR Tambo
International Airport Direct: +27 (0) 11 921 6087 Cell: +27 (0) 79 882
7307 Email: unathi.Batyashe-Fillis@airports.co.za |