Minutes:
TRUSTS FOR AFRICAN SCHOOLS
MEETING OF TRUSTEES ON TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2007
6.30 PM AT PORTCULLIS HOUSE ATLEE SUITE
Present: Norma Empringham, Heather Flint, Johnnie Morris, Tom Marshall-Andrews, Gill Marshall-Andrews,
Apologies: Tim Flower, Ben Howland, Will Jones, Luke Morris,
1. Minutes of meeting on 19 July 2007 were agreed.
2. Update on local trusts.
Eburru Secondary School
The school continues to make progress and is being nominated as the ‘most improved school in the region’!
The water tank is full and with careful rationing staff believe it will last for around 9 months. The availability of running water for cooking, washing, cleaning and drinking has transformed life for the whole school community. No longer do they have to trek up the hill with containers on donkeys to buy water from a communal tank.
There is electricity in the classrooms and dormitories. Evening classes for adults are being planned and the community leaders are now thoroughly involved with the school. So much so that there is talk of more flat land nearby being made available for the expansion that is going to be needed if the current popularity of the school continues.
Green Park School
The foundations have been dug for the new school but then everything stopped. It seems there are problems getting hold of supplies of cement. We understand that building has re-started but have no pictures to prove it.
GPS trustees are still trying hard to find a way of arranging transport for those children who are walking backwards and forwards to primary school every day. This is a dangerous walk as well as a tiring one taking over 2 hours each way. Several options for transport have been tried and none has been sustainable. Efforts continue!
Asako Primary School
The Hon Ali Wario, MP for the Asako area attended the most recent meeting of the trust on 14 September along with regional education officials. The headteacher is back in school and he will be receiving support from the Education Department to work up the proposals for presentation at the next meeting in November.
The fuel efficient cookers have arrived and the community has built a kitchen to house them. The manufacturers undertake training so several members of the school community now know how to use and look after them. They are expected to use around 60% less wood than the traditional open fire.
Books and curriculum resources for the nursery and lockable storage cupboards for the school are expected to arrive shortly.
The 4 staff funded by TAS are working well and the six monthly pay review has been agreed.
Proposals to be considered at the next meeting are likely to include metal doors and windows, inservice training, staff accommodation, curriculum resources and piping to bring water from the new borehole to the school.
3. Developments at Kimphe Langano (formerly Bishangari) School
633 children enrolled in September and are taught in 4 classrooms on a rota basis.
It is not clear whether it will be possible to establish a local trust to support this very needy school . The problem is there is no provision in Ethiopian law for such a body. We are exploring other options eg Association or Co-operative. The Education Bureau of Oromia are involved and working with the Office of the President to help get it off the ground but communication is slow. Omar Bagersh the owner of the nearby Bishangari Lodge has offered some very helpful advice and we hope he may be able to arrange a pro bono lawyer to advise us.
Will Jones is going out shortly and will be having meetings in Addis and at the school on 6/7 November. As a result of these we hope to establish a group of some kind which will be able to open a bank account and agree some projects for funding. The first priority is likely to be more classrooms and resources.
The position of L’Esperance the charity that has had a contract with the school for 3 years is still unclear. It will be necessary to clarify what is the extent of their commitment in order to ensure that we do not fund projects that are their contractual responsibility.
4. School Partnerships
Langley School in Bromley is putting in a second application to DfID for a Global Partnership link with Eburru. The first was refused on the basis that it was too one sided ie there were not enough curriculum ideas from Eburru. This has now been remedied and they are hopeful of success second time round.
Waldegrave School in Richmond is interested in a possible link with Madogo Secondary School in Kenya if TAS decides to establish a new trust there next year.
5. Website
Our website continues to be complimented particularly on its transparency and ease of access.
There is now a new link to the accounts and Annual Report held on the Charity Commission site.
6. Finance
We have around £42,000 in the bank thanks to a substantial donor. Journeys by Design is holding another £10,000 which will soon be transferred to TAS for Bishangari / Kimphe Langano School (plus another £4000 in an account in Addis Ababa) We can expect around £10,000 in Gift Aid. Tim Flower will give us a detailed report within the next 2 weeks.
7. Fund raising
The garden party was a delightful event and raised around £700 before Gift Aid. Many thanks to Heather and Tim for all their work and the use of their wonderful garden.
DfID refused our first application. Johnnie and Gill will discuss this further with them with a view to another application next June. Local schools have raised significant funds – notably £1000 from Wimbledon High School.
8. Disbursements to local trusts
It was agreed that where we agree to fund items over several years eg bursaries for 4 years or teachers on a 2 year contract, we should transfer the whole sum at the start thus effectively treating all projects as capital. This will simplify the cash flow and ensure that we do not have to worry about having enough in the bank to pay for things we agreed some years ago. It is for the local trusts to ensure the proper management of these funds.
It was agreed that we send out funds as follows:
Eburru
* £834 - salary increments for the teaching staff we fund to reduce the income gap between them and the government employed teachers.
* £3450 - inservice training for Solomon Muraya – 4 year Education degree
* £1154 - inservice training for Peter Kuiungui – 1 year PGCE in IT.
* £1115 - a ‘Master Plan ‘ for the school – a consultant recommended by the Education Dept will produce a plan for new buildings as the school grows in popularity.
* £2350 for the balance of 4 year funding for 9 bursaries in 08 cohort.
Total £8903
Asako
* £2650 - balance of 2 year funding for 4 teachers who started January 07.
* £1850 – balance of 4 year funding for 3 bursaries in 08 cohort
Total £4500
9. Possible new school trusts
A number of possibilities have emerged.
Madogo Secondary School is the school the children from Asako Primary will go on to – albeit very few. It is 80km from Asako. The school there is one of only 2 secondary schools in Ali Wario’s constituency and he would welcome another trust there. There is some talk of matching his Constituency Development Fund money with TAS funds in due course. It is hoped that it may be possible to go to Madogo in January.
Green Park – The children from the nursery currently go to Loldia Primary School in Kasarani, a growing mess of a place where the flower farm workers live. Loldia school is an excellent school supported very generously by a UK trust the Loldia Fund. There are currently 1400 children at this school and it’s overflowing. There are discussions going on with the Loldia trustees and some of the flower farmers to build a new school and take some of the pressure off Loldia. If that happened we could establish a trust to support the new school.
Buheezi School Uganda. We have been approached by a group who want to support this secondary school (some of them used to teach there) and who have around £15,000 raised already. Their problem is not knowing how to ensure that the money is spent and accounted for properly. They are interested in our model of support and may want to use TAS as a vehicle.
10. Other developments
John Spiers has suggested we talk to a charity called Build a School with a view to some sort of co-operation. This meeting will take place on 31 October.
11. Next meeting It was felt that we needed a meeting before Christmas in view of the strategic decisions that may need to be taken. Therefore it is hoped that all trustees will be able to manage
Thursday 29 November 6.30pm at Portcullis House.
