MINISTER in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Collins Chabane has called on all alumni to support their old schools.

During apartheid these schools produced good results and catapulted their pupils into civilian life with knowledge and skills. They did this with minimal resources.

Many present academics, businessmen and leaders are the products of these schools.

The schools were also instrumental in agitating for democracy. The teachers taught their pupils to be ladies and gentlemen and encouraged them to break out of the lowly positions that blacks had been allotted.

Today many of these schools are shadows of their former selves. The teachers, who dedicated their lives to instilling better values and concepts into eager young minds, are gone.

The buildings are dilapidated, their history is forgotten and they do not play any part in nurturing future generations.

Chabane is right to call on the old pupils to resuscitate these schools. They can be great again with a little help from their old pupils.

The world over, schools depend on their alumni to continue their proud histories and traditions.

It is a great call and in line with what former Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane called for about four years ago.

Ndungane's Historic Schools Restoration Project aims to restore all the former mission schools that have fallen into disrepair.

He says schools should be like "yeast that would permeate all around them".