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|Inauguration
Paarl School of Skills
Paarl School of Skills was founded in 2000 and was designed to accommodate learners who had not achieved in the mainstream. The school, which has an enrolment of 200 learners, offers - over and above the academic programme - a range of skills which will enable the learners to enter the labour market and obtain gainful employment. Skills such as building, plumbing, woodwork and metalwork are offered for the boys and catering, needlework and arts and crafts for the girls. The school has a well-equipped library and is situated on extensive grounds outside the town of Paarl in the Western Cape. It is staffed by a dedicated team of teachers, who are all qualified in specific fields and who are able to direct and assist the learners in their holistic development while at the school. Paarl School of Skills is indeed an unique school which makes provision for those learners who need extensive training in practical skills and the installation of a Khanya computer laboratory at the school is set to enhance what it has to offer its learners. Learners at the school have taken to the laboratory with a definite excitement. As many had not progressed in the mainstream, the very fact that they are able to DO something correctly in the laboratory creates a very good 'buzz' and there is a feeling of achievement in the air. Some even attempt to avoid other lessons and rather spend time in the laboratory. Initially, as with many new things, the staff showed a degree of resistance to the laboratory but this has totally disappeared and there is now a continuous stream of teachers to the laboratory as they use it to perform their administrative tasks before and after school and they also use the internet facilities for research and for e-mailing. They are enjoying the training provided by their Khanya facilitator and they have expressed the desire to go beyond the limits of the current training programme. The Khanya laboratory is set to form an integral part of the school's programme. The CAMI programmes are already showing signs of assisting the learners - they all have learning barriers, and the level of reading and math skills is generally of a very low standard. Having technological support makes the tedious process of learning to read properly far more interesting. The Eye Read programme, already piloted in a number of Khanya schools could become invaluable. Seeing results in the Khanya laboratory as the learners master the skills is akin to winning the lottery.
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