A school or program in an overseas community with great needs the normal fruit of a Love Must Act partnership. A variety of organizations build schools overseas, but because our schools are always the product of partnership, they offer several advantages that position them for long-term excellence, accountability, and sustainability.
Evaluating Holy Cross School, our model project in Makhanda, South Africa, Professor Nic Spaull of Stellenbosch University said: “I have visited many schools in many provinces over the last ten years,…the best schools serving the poorest learners. I can say without a doubt that the academic and non-academic support and care that the children at Holy Cross receive is far superior to any other school I have visited that caters to poor children in South Africa and many schools that charge significant fees.”
We are Pro-Poor and build sustainable results.
We describe a Love Must Act school not merely as one that serves a poor community but as one that is “pro-poor.” Here is some of what that entails:
We understand education to be concerned with the whole of the human person. This means striving for excellence in supporting the growth of a student academically, physically, socially, emotionally, psychologically, materially, and spiritually. To that end, we bring the highest standards to curriculum and intellectual development, but also to healthy living, sports, life sakills, religious awareness, personal responsibility, tolerance, and health.
We understand a Love Must Act school to serve not just its students, but the families of those students, and, in turn, the wider community. We insist on parental (or other adult) involvement and investment, but work to keep cost from being a barrier to any family’s participation. (At Holy Cross in Makhanda, for example, tuition is charged on a sliding scale based on economic ability, with tuition ranging from about $14 to $168 per month. All families receive some level of subsidy.) We support families through child-development workshops and support, pastoral care when appropriate, and when necessary, active intervention.
We believe the student-to-teacher ratio is vital, and strive to have as many educators per pupil as possible. At Holy Cross in Makhanda, the student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1 in a context in which the national average for South Africa is 32:1. We also recognize the importance of teacher pay and seek to be well above the local average for similar institutions.
We recognize that, in the context of poor communities, the principal challenge often is not merely offering access to schooling but removing barriers that prevent students from staying in school for the entire instructional year. To that end, we assist families in securing medical and dental care, nutritional support, pastoral care, social services, psychiatric services, and occupational therapy.
We work to ensure that other common hurdles to education in poor communities – violence in the home or community, substance abuse, excess fees, access to uniforms and textbooks, food insecurity, transportation – don't fuel absenteeism or otherwise don’t stand in the way of our students.
We honor students’ indigenous cultures by teaching in the language they speak at home, honoring their traditions, and trusting in their own abilities to meet and exceed community expectations for educational excellence.
We place special emphasis on reading and bring special expertise to teaching reading. We recognize that through the third grade, children learn to read. After the third grade, they read to learn.
How are we able to do all of this without incurring costs that are unmanageable for the partnership in the short term and for the sustainability of the school itself in the long term? While it may seem counterintuitive, we strongly believe that investing funds broadly and accountably – which is to say efficiently – is the surest path to maintaining sustainability in the long term. Addressing absenteeism and promoting family and community involvement at all phases, for example, are proven strategies for keeping costs low and outcomes high. We invite you to explore our page on accountability to learn more.