KHOJANE Mokoma, principal of Masaleng Primary School at Maralaneng in Ficksburg, Free State, is educating more than 1000 pupils with the help of 34 teachers in 23 classrooms. This teamwork has earned his school R50000.

It is all thanks to the schools component of the yearly Dettol Shona Khona youth education and development through sport campaign. The top two schools that collect the biggest number of Dettol soap wrappers win R50000 each and the two runners-up scoop R25000 each.

The schools also receive soccer kits, including coaching and practice equipment and qualify to send several girls and boys to regional soccer coaching and life skills training camps.

Pupils showing greater potential qualify to attend national camps. And brighter aspirants become part of the lucky 12 coached by retired soccer legends to crack a potentially life-changing visit to the famous Sao Paulo Futebol Academy in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"I am blessed to work with a great team of teachers, parents and pupils. Their cooperation and collaboration helped us to collect more than 4000 wrappers, which earned us the money that we might not have been able to raise as ours is a no-fee paying school," Mokoma said at the launch of the 2010 edition of the campaign in Johannesburg this week.

Boikemisetso Primary School - also from Free State - got R50000 for collecting the second highest number of soap wrappers.

Clayhaven Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal and Hugenoot Primary School in Johannesburg got R25000 each for having showed great enthusiasm in the programme.

Schools collecting at least 2000 wrappers are guaranteed a full soccer kit.

For this year, the schools component closes on August 31. The nationwide counting of wrappers will run from September 1 to 3. Regional soccer coaching and life skills training camps for 200 schools will run from September 17 to October 17. Top achieving youths will qualify for the penultimate camp for 600 kids from October 23 to 25, with the national camp for 60 pupils taking place in Johannesburg between November 12 and 14.

Added to the schools component, which is expected to touch about 1 000 schools, pupils between the ages of10 and 16 can ask parents, guardians or older siblings to buy Dettol soap and then SMS 33131 to be selected to be among the lucky 600 who will attend the regional camps.

The camps will be held in areas including Soshanguve, Polokwane, Thembisa, Pietermaritzburg, Soweto, Vereeniging, Empangeni, Newcastle, Marble Hall, Bushbuckridge, Umtata, Khayelitsha, George, Botshabelo, Port Elizabeth, East London, Mafikeng, Atteridgeville, Kimberley and Welkom.

Dettol Shona Khona is a corporate social investment project of Reckitt Benckiser and is supported by Sowetan and the Aggrey Klaaste Nation Building Foundation.

In five years, the programme has nurtured many youngsters, such as Tyroane Sandows from Gauteng, who is currently at the Sao Paulo Futebol Club.

Sifiso Mnguni is at Platinum Stars and Samkelo Qwabe is at Wits University. Kwanele Msibi, Tumiso Morerwa and Godfrey Molemela won places at the Safa-Transnet Soccer School of Excellence.