Hope and high-fives as elite school changes lives

BANELE Phaladi wolfed down a thin slice of bread and kissed his mother goodbye before walking through the dilapidated streets of Alexandra to his colourful classroom at the Kgololo Academy.

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At this elite primary school in one of the most destitute areas of Johannesburg, classes are small, teachers enthusiastic, and every child is known by name a learning environment miles away from the under-resourced local state school marred with over-crowding and discipline issues.

Jumping between potholes and puddles, 12-year-old Phaladi passed the gates at dawn, welcomed with a cheerful greeting of hugs and high-fives from the school's staff and his fellow classmates.

The daily greeting "allows us to make sure everyone is seen, who's in a good or bad mood, but also who has been injured, sick or has a bruise," said Waahida Tolbert-Mbatha, the 45-year-old American founder of the Kgololo Academy - meaning "to set free" in the local Setswana language.

With only 173 students an average of 25 per class the independent school says it aims to provide children with "a world-class education, within their community".

"In the public school next door where classes have more than 50 pupils, the teachers have to focus on the few more advanced kids," said math teacher Portia Mamba, 32.