School closes for lack of funds
A special school for autistic children in Johannesburg will have to close its doors for a lack of funding, according to a report.
"We would have celebrated our 40-year anniversary next year," school principal Jenni Gous told Beeld newspaper.
The school needs at least R1 million to stay open and was expected to close its doors within eight to 12 weeks.
It had applied for funding from the National Lottery Board, but has not received any money.
The lottery board's spokesman Sershan Naidoo told Beeld that Autism SA had lodged its application on the last day, and that the board had received 8500 applications.
"Applications are judged on a chronological basis, so they will have to wait their turn. The advert asked organisations to lodge their applications as early as possible," said Naidoo.
The Key School was one of few in Gauteng that specialised in autistic chihldren, and most other such institutions had high school fees -- up to R20,000 per month, reported Beeld.
Gous said an estimated one in 100 people were autistic.
"A conservative estimate would put the number of autistic children in Johannesburg at about 35,000 - with only a handful of schools attending to their needs," Gous told the Afrikaans daily.
Picture taken from www.blackrockbible.blogspot.com
Comments
MommaC
But the god damned f*&^ing lotto can give money for a bloody KISSING CONTEST and a pingpong tournement?Geez, some days I seriously feel like going postal.
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Mellow
Shame I saw this on late news and was so heart broken its just sad how government is wasting money and corruption is hitting the roof when they can use it for a good cause and stop stealing from ppl. It really makes me sad :(@MommaC Morning sad neh
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ntyantya
What is our government doing about this? oh I forgot the minister of education is just a moron who has no clue what her duties are. Aaarh I despise our government, next thing that will happen is this kids will be raped or murdered or be abondedReport Abuse
ConcernedMom
I'm one of the parents whose child attends this school. You don't know the level of stress we'd all had since these news broke. We can't blame the lottery for deciding on what they decided upon. But we do plea with everyone else to help us as our kids need specialised care and can therefore not go to any normal school at this point until the intervention is completed. We plead with the public to please help us in anyway they can, prayers, funding, fundraising events, volunteering...anything. We'll greately appreciate it.Thanks.
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BraSipho
Unbelievable!But money for the ANCYL they have.
This is what happens when goverment gets involved in things like LOTTO.
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CNSongelwa
I'm also a mother of a Five year old boy at the school. I don't even think the Government knows what it means to have a child with Autism or even what Autism is, other wise the response would have been different. when my son was diagnosed with Autism in January this year all the Government schools had a 2year waiting list and the Key was the cheapest in the private sector other wise my son was going to stay at creches and nursery schools that don't understand him and tat can't help him. A lot of children and up been seen as disabled because of the leak of support from our leaders.Any one who can help the parents of the school keep it open please our babies need you know more than ever, I stay in Alexandra township and there are 13 primary schools the for "normal" children, but there is only one special school and its for the physically and mentally disabled kids. that ratio shows how our government chooses to ignore reality. :-(
We can't do this alone!
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Estene
I am also a mother at the school, my son is six years old and autistic. People who don't know these children - have no idea how profoundly a school is needed for their spesialised needs. We currently have 35 families fighting to keep the school running.As parents we cannot do this alone - we need all the help we can get to keep this haven for our angels open!
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helenpsar
It would be a HUGE loss and utterly sad should The Key School have to close doors...our children desperately need it..Report Abuse
Jamesy'smom
My little boy also attends The Key. this is a complete tragedy. 2 schools rejected my son before he found a school that accepted him for who he is. If anyone has any connections out there PLEASE HELP US. We would never forget it!Report Abuse
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