Thirteen years ago, the Volkswagen Community Trust helped build the Ikhwezi Lomso early childhood development centre that is today, the heartbeat of its community!
Eastern Cape, South Africa (09 October 2023) – The importance of early childhood development (ECD) cannot be understated, and facilities that are set up to ensure children get the best education early on, are the thriving pulse behind the communities they serve. Take Ikhwezi Lomso, for example, which has been providing quality education for thirteen years and making all the difference.
School principal Dominic Swarts believes that the foundation laid during a child’s formative years paves the way for future success. Quality education from an early age is the first building block to a child developing further through their schooling career and succeeding in the working environment.
Ikhwezi Lomso runs a Montessori programme that helps children become independent thinkers. Teacher “Tendai” Thandazwa Tutu believes the school’s programme is a special one as it helps children learn to read from an early age, and so much more.
What is truly special about this school is that it was built by the Volkswagen Community Trust thirteen years ago, in 2010 as a way to give children a good foundation in their education. With literacy being one of the primary focuses of the Trust’s Legacy Literacy initiative in 2017, they have been able to work towards making sure every child can read and write proficiently by age ten. To do this, the Trust employs township youth as literacy ambassadors.
In South Africa, it has been found that 82% of South African ten-year-olds struggle with literacy. Volkswagen’s commitment to South Africa’s youth is unwavering and this early childhood development centre is proof they are working to make a difference.
Since the opening of the Ikhwezi Lomso Early Childhood Development Centre, it has become a centre of the community and a source of pride for parents enrolling their children in the school.
Volkswagen’s mission transcends car manufacturing; it’s about crafting a brighter future for South Africa’s youth.
One just has to see the parents discussing the school to know its impact is being felt community-wide.
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