The Taiwe Secondary School in the Lejweleputswa district was awarded with a cash prize for its participation in the Eskom Simama Ranta Schools programme.
Chosen from amongst all participating schools in the province, this school from Theunissen, with its Starters Pioneers entrepreneur group, was announced as the winner.
The school received R50 000 for its project, which teaches learners how to knit various items, make bow ties and bake muffins to sell.
At a special function held on 26 January to honour young entrepreneurs in the Free State, the school was lauded for its work in cultivating entrepreneurship skills among the youth entrepreneurship development work.
Simama Ranta, which means “empowering the South African economy”, was initiated by the Eskom Development Foundation, in collaboration with the Education with Enterprise Trust (EWET).
This project aims to identify and acknowledge the secondary schools in South Africa that are leading the way in education initiatives aimed at entrepreneurship.
“Students face so many social ills,” said Boitumelo Sheane, a learner of the Taiwe Secondary School.
“The Eskom Simama Ranta programme has changed our fate and is shaping us as future leaders and entrepreneurs.”
According to Tselane Makatu, principal of the school, the win did not come as a surprise.
“We are a team of winners and we are not done. We will win the national prize next time around,” he said.
The profit made by the school’s entrepreneurship club is used to purchase sanitary towels, toiletries and clothing for child-headed households.
