SPARK Soweto has been named as the top 3 finalist for the $250 000 (R4,6 million) World's Best School Prizes 2023.
The five World's Best School Prizes was founded in 2022 by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, Yayasan Hasanah, and the Lemann Foundation.
It was also established to share the best practices of schools that are transforming the lives of their pupils and making a real difference to their communities.
SPARK Soweto principal Nyambeni Nthabeleni told Daily Sun that she is humbled that, as a school, they have gone this far.
"Having made it to the top 3 finalists validates that anything is possible regardless of your socio-economic background. It further proves that greatness can be achieved in any space irrespective of the challenges in the environment around you," she said.
Nyambeni said she gives credit to the parents, teachers, and pupils of SPARK Soweto who have been working hard to ensure they create opportunities for donations or campaigns that positively impact the community.
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"These donations/campaigns are often directly linked to a need identified in the immediate community or prevailing issues in South Africa. These are issues such as littering in the community, GBV, bullying, and a lack of voting by the youth," she said.
"This journey began earlier this year when our Sam, Miss Mmbi, firmly suggested that we enter this competition. For us, it was merely to showcase Soweto's impact towards the community and hope that more private schools would join in. Then, we moved to the top 10, which was chosen by a panel. And finally, we are now in the top 3 of the World's Best Schools for community collaboration. I speak for all our stakeholders when I say what a wonderful honour it is. Making it this far is already a win for us," she said.
Nyambeni pleaded with the public to go to the World's Best Schools website and vote for SPARK Soweto under the category of community collaboration since this prize money would definitely go far in helping the community of Protea Glen and surrounding schools in the area.
