Our story · Established 2002
Two decades of change,
one school at a time.
Since 2002 the Adopt-a-School Foundation has worked to transform education and change lives in disadvantaged school communities across South Africa.
The Adopt-a-School Foundation supports the creation and enhancement of a conducive learning and teaching environment in disadvantaged schools — believing that all children deserve access to quality education, regardless of the socio-economic conditions into which they are born.
Through the implementation of our Whole School Development (WSD) model, we have developed schools in leadership, infrastructure, curriculum and social welfare. Our model has continued to evolve over time, based on our learnings, our experience and best practices within the sector.
How it began
A fax machine, and an idea.
In 2001, Cyril Ramaphosa was approached by his former primary school, Tshilidzi Primary in Soweto, to assist with the donation of a fax machine. When he returned to hand over the donation and saw the further needs of the school, the notion of the Adopt-a-School Foundation was born.
In 2002 the Foundation was officially established by a group of concerned individuals, including Cyril Ramaphosa and Dr James Motlatsi — striving to address the inequalities and inadequacies in South Africa's rural and disadvantaged schools.
"We strongly believe that education is the ultimate weapon at our disposal to eradicate poverty forever."
In their words
I believe everyone has the capability to collaborate and join hands to bring about meaningful change.
Our school's performance was below 80% in maths and science, and through you our educators are now able to perform above 90% in both subjects.
The JSE shares the belief that education is a critical driver of social and economic change, and we look forward to continuing the journey of growing shared prosperity.