Jane Bradshaw, former principal of Amasango career school, has retired after 22 years. The school accommodates street children who cannot cope in mainstream primary schools, because of their age or social difficulties.
Jane Bradshaw, former principal of Amasango career school, has retired after 22 years. The school accommodates street children who cannot cope in mainstream primary schools, because of their age or social difficulties.
Bradshaw has been involved with street children since 1991 and feels someone needs to come in with new ideas. "I retired because I am 60 years old, but I am not divorced from them," she said. "I will still be involved with the progress of the vision and I will be working for the Eastern Cape branch of the South African National Association of Specialised Education in order to achieve those goals."
She took a break from regular teaching when her family moved from Cape Town to East London and was praying for direction when Anglican Priest, Ed Gates approached her. Gates was involved with street children and knew that Bradshaw could speak isiXhosa, so he asked her to take the Amasango vision forward.
"All my adrenaline rushed and I felt that this was an answer to my prayers. I will still continue to lobby for schools like this," said Bradshaw. Today, her efforts to help and educate street children are an inspiration.
"I've worked with Jane for the past four-and-a-half years as a deputy principal. She was not only the school's principal, she was a care-giver and she always fought hard for the rights of the children," said acting principal, Linda Ngamlana. "She was always persistent in requesting the Department of Education to give Amasango a better place and it was only last year that she was granted such. Even though she is retired, she is still willing to provide assistance and guidance to the school."
Grade 7 pupil at Amasango, Unathi Faltein, said, "I miss her. She was a trustworthy teacher to me. I always trusted her with my secrets and problems. She was the best."
Amasango teacher Zoleka Kate said, "Working with Jane was an eye-opener. I learnt a lot of things about the teacher to child relationship that I did not know from the mainstream schools. "She taught me how to accommodate children from different backgrounds and the importance of referring them to the professionals whenever they have problems. Her absence now gives us a major challenge as to how far are we going to go with what she left us."
Amasango offers an accelerated primary education for more than 100 children, who enter the school at the grade appropriate to their level of education, not necessarily the one appropriate for their age.
The children's ages range from 5 to18. The majority are able to learn a skill that they will be able to use to find work, while some children go on to a mainstream high school. Bradshaw started the school in Grahamstown in 1995 using two shipping containers as a base.
