I n order for the Seven Passes Initiative to become a sustainable, efficient and effective organisation it needs to grow and establish a physical presence in the community it serves. For the past two years the area co-ordinator has had no office-base. While this has meant that his time in the community is clearly focussed on working with the children, the disadvantage is that he finds it very difficult to keep up with his administrative tasks. There is also no fixed place where children, parents or other members of the community can go in order to speak to a representative of the organisation if they are in need of assistance. In addition, as the organisation has become known and accepted the demands on his time have become unmanageable. It is thus necessary to expand our staff compliment.

High school students

High school students from the area attend schools in George (some 30km away). This is because there is no high school in the immediate area. Most catch the bus to school in the mornings. The distance to the schools means that parents seldom (if ever) have an opportunity to meet with the teachers and are seldom able to attend parent teacher meetings. We have found that it is very important to facilitate better communication between the school and parents to pick up problems as soon as they occur, and remedy them. The area co-ordinator has attempted to do this as far as possible, but between the three primary schools in the area and three high schools in George, the task is simply too large for one person. In addition, the area–co-ordinator does not have a background in education, social work or counselling and these are skills that are required to fulfil this task most effectively.

While the homework clubs have provided a safe and conducive space for high school students to do their homework, many more scholars would use the homework clubs if the facilitators of the classes were more skilled. We found that those students who attend the Wednesday afternoon classes offered by teachers from Glenwood House improve their marks, while those that only attend homework classes do not. We believe that we can improve attendance of homework classes, and have a real impact on the marks of students if we were to employ teachers to facilitate the classes.

The teachers would not only facilitate homework classes but would also:

• advise on subject choices;
• monitor the students progress at school;
• act as liaison between parents and teachers;
• assist students with career choices;
• assist students to apply for tertiary education on time and ensure that they have all the correct documents they need for this
• facilitate workshops and information sessions with universities and tertiary education facilities in the area
• seek information about bursaries and job opportunities for the students
• participate in and facilitate activities such as drama and annual prize giving functions.

Primary school students

The junior homework clubs have been more regularly attended by larger numbers of scholars than the senior homework clubs. This is important because we believe that if they establish a pattern of attending homework classes while at primary school there is a good chance that they will continue to attend when they reach high school level. Through these classes we have however found that there are a number of children who need specialised assistance and who have learning difficulties. Some of the children attending cannot read, even at age 10 and 11. The schools are unable to provide the support and additional assistance to these children that they need. We are also aware from a number of international studies that children with learning problems who also have conflict-ridden family backgrounds (as a number of children attending our classes do) and who are not able to achieve at school are at high risk of becoming offenders. It is thus vitally important that we provide the support these children need. This can only be done if we have skilled educators who can work with the children.

Computer Centre

The computer centre manager was appointed in September 2009. Since then he has provided classes to 23 adults, 24 high school learners and 22 junior school learners. The numbers constrained due to the fact that the school has only 20 computer available for use. There is however a demand for his services, and he has been approached by a farm school in the area (Oakhurst Primary) to offer classes at that school too. Without this service the high school students, in particular are unable to complete the research projects they are given as homework. This was a problem we had encountered repeatedly until his appointment. We currently have funding for the computer center and his salary until September 2010.