- Title: SWAZILAND: BACKGROUND FEATURE SCHOOL
- Date: 1st February 1998
- Summary: 1. HILLS OUTSIDE SCHOOL 2. WATERFORD COLLEGE ON HILLSIDE 3. BUS ENTERING COLLEGE 4. STUDENTS IN CAFETERIA 5. HEADMASTER PAUL MCDERMOTT IN CAFETERIA 6. VARIOUS OF STUDENTS 7. MCDERMOTT SAYING WATERFORD WAS ESTABLISHED AS A RESPONSE TO APARTHEID IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. IT WAS FOUNDED BY A MAN CALLED MICHAEL STERN IN THE LATE 50s AN
- Embargoed: 16th February 1998 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KAMHLABA, SWAZILAND
- City:
- Country: AFRICA Swaziland
- Reuters ID: LVAH1FFNU66M5VPMKXZWOE4J9R
- Story Text: In the five years since its first open elections, South Africa has struggled to come to grips with the legacy of apartheid.Yet in Swaziland, a unique college is doing its best to teach the next generation about racial harmony.
--------------------------------------------------------- The rolling hills of Swaziland - a picture postcard scene that's home to a unique school.
For thirty-four years it has been producing students whose examination results have taken them onto the world's best colleges and universities.
It's 7 a.m.and breakfast is being served for the school's 485 boarding and day students.They're from all over the world - from Australia to Zimbabwe and from Finland to Tanzania.
Paul McDermott has been the Principal of Waterford for the past two-and-a-half years.He arrived with three decades of teaching experience at schools around the continent.He says the mix of nationalities is a driving force behind the school's philosophy.
------------- CAPTION: PAUL MCDERMOTT, HEADMASTER, WATERFORD COLLEGE "WATERFORD WAS ESTABLISHED AS A RESPONSE TO APARTHEID IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.IT WAS FOUNDED BY A MAN CALLED MICHAEL STERN IN THE LATE 50s AND EARLY 60s.STERN'S POINT OF VIEW WAS THAT MULTI-RACIAL EDUCATION WAS THE NORM.HE FELT THAT THE EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION WAS APARTHEID AND THE EXPERIMENT HAD BEEN SHOWN TO FAIL AND HE SET OUT TO BRING UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE VARIOUS DIFFERENT CULTURES OF THE REGION." ----------------- Waterford is one of nine similar schools around the world.
This one in Kamhlaba just outside the Swazi capital, Mbabane, is the only one of its kind in Africa.
-------------- CAPTION: PAUL McDERMOTT, HEADMASTER, WATERFORD "WE TRY TO PRODUCE A PARTICULAR KIND OF STUDENT.THE SORT OF STUDENT WHO IS A MORALLY AUTONOMOUS INDIVIDUAL.WE ALSO TRY TO PRODUCE STUDENTS WHO ARE PREPARED TO LISTEN TO EVERYBODY ELSE'S VIEW.WE ARE A UNITED WORLD COLLEGEAND THAT IS DEDICATED TO PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING...
INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING IN THE SENSE OF POLITICS, CULTURE, EVERY OTHER POSSIBLE POINT OF VIEW AND THOSE INDIVIDUALS LEARN TO STAND ON THEIR OWN TWO FEED, THEY LEARN TO DEVELOP A SENSE OF THEIR OWN IDENTITY WHILE AT THE SAME TIME BEING TOLERANT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S POINTS OF VIEW (ENGLISH) ----------------- And they do so with few rules.There's no uniform.Classes are small - roughly ten students per class.And there's something else.
----------------- CAPTION: PAUL McDERMOTT, HEADMASTER, WATERFORD COLLEGE "THE ONE WORD YOU MAY BE SURPRISED THAT WE DON'T HAVE IN OUR MISSION STATEMENT IS THE WORD TOLERANCE, BECAUSE HERE I ACTUALLY LIKE TO ENCOURAGE INTOLERANCE AMONGST OUR STUDENTS.
INTOLERANCE OF THE IGNORANCE AND THE FEAR AND THE BIGOTRY THAT PRODUCED APARTHEID AND MANY OTHER PREJUDICES AND HATRED AND MISUNDERSTANDING AROUND THE WORLD." -------------------- This is a typical classroom in session.The students here are learning advanced economics.The teacher is 32-year old Zambian-born Chisenga Chikwenda.He says students at Waterford make teaching simple and fun.
------------------ CAPTION: CHISENGA CHIKWANDA, ECONOMICS TEACHER "I THINK IT'S BEEN VERY GOOD.I MYSELF HAVE REALLY GROWN AND DEVELOPED IN MANY WAYS AND TEACHING ECONOMICS HAS BECOME VERY EXCITING." (ENGLISH) ------------------- The same holds true for art teacher, Ramila Patel.
She's been at Waterford for over 8 years and says that each group of students is literally in a class all their own.
------------------ CAPTION: RAMILA PATEL, ART TEACHER "DEFINITELY.THAT'S WHAT MAKES MY JOB EXCITING.NO TWO YEARS ARE ALIKE FOR ME." ------------------ Maths teacher, Steve Andrews was on a sabbatical from his native Australia when he heard about Waterford.
He applied for a one-term contract thinking he'd return home three months later.That was two-years ago.
---------------- CAPTION: STEVE ANDREWS, MATHS TEACHER "I FIND THE STUDENTS HERE JUST REMARKABLE...FROM A RANGE OF BACKGROUNDS SO DIFFERENT AND YET MANY COMMON THREADS RUNNING THROUGH THAT, AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS I CAME." (ENGLISH) ---------------- The end of the school day usually finds the students in a range of unsupervised activities, the most popular...a game of pool.Pupils ages range from 12 to 18 - a period that history teacher, Pat Earnshaw says is the most crucial for development of young minds.
------------------ CAPTION: PAT EARNSHAW, HISTORY TEACHER "I'VE SEEN STUDENTS WHO COME HERE WHO HAVE PROBABLY NEVER MIXED WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE THEIR OWN RACIAL GROUPS, WHO AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS HERE SEEM VERY COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE FROM ANY CULTURE.I CAN SAY THAT'S ONE OF THE HIGH POINTS OF THIS SCHOOL." ------------------ Fees are high - around six thousand dollars a year - but the school says it doesn't mean it only takes in rich kids.
----------------- CAPTION: PAUL McDERMOTT "THERE IS A VERY COMMON MISAPPREHENSION THAT WATERFORD IS A REMOTE ELITIST INSTITUTION STUCK ON THE HILL AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COUNTRY OR THE REGION IN WHICH IT FINDS ITSELF.NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.WE DISCUSS THE ABILITYES OF THE STUDENTS FIRST AND THEIR FINANCIAL POSITIONS SECOND.EACH YEAR WE DISBURSE SOMETHING LIKE A MILLION RAND IN BURSARIES AND SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT.NOBODY IS EVER TURNED AWAY FROM HERE FOR FINANCIAL REASONS." (ENGLISH) ----------------- One such is 18 year old Reena Mellebi, a refugee from Southern Sudan.She's been studying at Waterford for just over a year - and says it's changed her life....in a way that lives up to the school's founding philosophy.
------------- CAPTION: REENA MELLEBI, REFUGEE "I LEARNED HERE THAT PEOPLE CAN MIX, PEOPLE CAN LIVE IN HARMONY, REGARDLESS OF RACE, RELIGION OR ANY OTHER DIFFERENCE.
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