Learners belonging to the Entrepreneurship Club of Windermere High School represented the Western Cape as one of the nominees for the Eskom Simama Ranta competition at the Indaba Hotel in Johannesburg on Tuesday 5 September.
The competition aims to promote entrepreneurial skills and development within the education sector so that learners can play a key role in the development of sustainable job opportunities in the country.
“The Entrepreneurship Club of Winderemere High School has proven beyond a doubt that this is possible,” says Bernard de Louw, a teacher at the school.
The club achieved the Provincial Winners award with a prize of R50 000 and they were overjoyed.
De Louw says the club was started in 2017 and has since gone from strength to strength. He says he couldn’t be more proud because despite gang-related activities in Factreton, learners of the club remain committed to their vision.
Says De Louw: “People see Windermere High School as the underdog school in the area, but this proves that excellence can be achieved in more ways than one.”
He attributes the success and the learners’ honour to principal Craig Leetz’s willingness to allow them to perform their activities.
“I also extend my gratitude to the parents of the learners involved in the club who gave them the freedom to participate, and our circuit manager of the Metro Central Education District, Ms Desiree Christian, for her unwavering support. Lastly the learners of the club that endure and sacrifice their personal time to create the products that we could achieve.”
De Louw says the club will use the prize money to start a school cafeteria as well as a printing facility and hopes to employ members of the community to work for them as they believe that entrepreneurship is the only way to promote sustainable job opportunities.
The club will also pay for the school fees and other needs of club members in the coming year.
The club will showcase its products at the Small Business Expo at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg.