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Fact: Quality education can break the cycle of poverty and violence in South Africa and help a child thrive.

Child-friendly schools

Providing a holistic, quality and protective school experience can make a profound difference in the life of a child. In South Africa, a UNICEF-supported child-friendly schools programme is improving the quality of education by making schools safer for children, in particular girls, improving academic achievement and responding to the special needs of orphaned and vulnerable children.

Take Note

• 97 per cent of children are enrolled in primary education.
• 11 per cent of children drop out between primary and secondary school.
• Girls report high levels of sexual abuse, harassment and violence in schools.
• 7,216 schools don’t have libraries, 78 per cent are without computers, 5,233 schools do have not electricity, 939 schools are still in mud structures and 4,774 schools have no running water and basic sanitation.
• There are 2,5 million children who have lost at least one parent in South Africa.

Take Action

Help us make more schools child-friendly. UNICEF is supporting the Department of Education to expand the child-friendly schools programme in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Child-friendly schools work with the surrounding community to support orphaned and vulnerable children, incorporate school health programmes and feeding schemes, install proper sanitation and water and develop strategies to reduce gender-based violence and substance abuse. The initiative has proven effective in KwaZulu-Natal, where it was piloted in 52 schools, reaching 26,500 children. An accreditation system will be introduced to ensure that schools comply with a list of child-friendly criteria.

You Can Make A Difference

Our goal is to take the child-friendly schools programme to 18,000 schools in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo by 2010. The procurement and infrastructure activities described below are new activities for UNICEF South Africa. Construction will begin in 2007 and, if sufficient funds are provided to allow an economy of scale, the programme will be scaled up in 2008.

• With a gift of R600, UNICEF can help to train an educator on how to transform their school into a child-friendly one.
• A gift of R2,000 can train a community volunteer to support an orphan or vulnerable child in school.
• A gift of R5,000 can help to buy basic education materials for one classroom.
• A gift of R400,000 can build and equip a science laboratory.
• A gift of R400,000 can build a library.
• A gift of R100,000 can buy 1,500 books for a school library.
• A gift of R200,000 can build one standard classroom.
• A gift of R140,000 can help to renovate a classroom.
• A gift of R100,000 can build school toilets.
• A gift of R300,000 can provide a computer room with electrical fittings.
• A gift of R100,000 can provide a fence for a school.

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