Funda Community College was founded 30 years ago by Professor Eskia Mphahlele. This erstwhile prestigious institution housed a number of organisations which formed part of an Education Cooperative at the time. These organisations were: The Council for Black Education and Research, the Community Development Projects Association, the African Institute of Art, the Madimba Institute of African Music, the Soyikwa Institute of African Theater, and the Part-Time University Students Association. These organisations collectively made Funda Centre to become a critical institution that brought about transformation in education and played an important role in the development of the Arts in Black communities of Soweto and other surrounding townships like Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Alexandra, Katlehong, Mamelodi etc.

We see everyday the dangers of drugs and the ripple effect they have on our already deteriorating psycho-socio-economic conditions. If we do not do anything about it, it will only get worse. The future of our beloved country lies boldly in our kids, very astonishingly. We must fight this war on drugs. This brings me to the most vital and painful truth, "Lelilizwe lizobuswa yizinyoni..."

Repeat of 1976. 1. Students suspensions 2. Pending Court Cases 3. Workers and Staff victimisation 4. Constitution of the Country Violation ( Convicted with no trial) 5. Praising of Apartheid methods and Tactics

The unemployment narrative doesn't mention that universities, such as DUT, withhold qualifications if students still owe fees, thereby rendering their graduates unemployable. This has far reaching impact in bringing about redress and employment equity when you consider the reality that the majority of students who owe fees are black, and from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is another way in which Black lives are affected by the NSFAS funding model. Inconsistencies with NSFAS payments to institutions impacts negatively those students who rely on NSFAS to settle their debt. DHET does not monitor this payments to institutions appropriately, hence students who are beneficiaries of NSFAS don't get their qualifications. How can we bring change in our communities if we can't work because we can't produce our qualifications?

Reform of Library and Petition By-Laws Consequences of the reforms being advocated: • Creating a process for citizen inititatives to be heard • Improving direct democracy in the city For the full proposed Petitions By-Law, please see Annexure A For the full proposed Library By-Law, please see Annexure B http://asri.org.za/sign-the-petition-for-public-library-and-by-law-reform-in-johannesburg/

There are children who live the in Marathon and Makouse informal settlements in Germiston who do not go to school due to the following: Not being able to afford school fees in near by schools. The nearest government school is full Not being able to afford transportation to other government schools There are children between the ages 9-12 who have not been to school in their lives. There is an urgent need to usher these children through the basic education system.

12 Million People go to bed on a hungry stomach every night in our country (http://m.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/?articleId=7906847)

Over the last year, South Africa has seen a rise in student protests calling for the decolonization of institutions and for the provision of free education. All across the country there has been explosions of student and worker anger directed at university management and the state for their failure to respond adequately to the anti-black, anti-poor and liberal state of our higher education system. Black students and outsourced workers can no longer be silent about their dehumanization in our institutions of higher learning. Black students and outsourced workers can no longer accept being marginalized on their own land. However, university executives across the country are silently using their institutional powers to stifle dissent by victimizing student activists. At the University of Cape Town, supposedly the ‘best’ university in Afrika, management has turned to repressive means and is intimidating and victimizing student activists. Outside of the gaze of the media and public scrutiny, Vice Chancellor Max Price and his deputies are silently executing a clear mandate: suffocate legitimate student protests by criminalizing, indefinitely suspending and expelling those the university regards as ring leaders instead of dealing with the issues raised by students. To date the University of Cape Town has: • Indefinitely suspended 3 student leaders from the university. • Indefinitely Interdicted 5 activists from accessing the university. Initially there were 16 students interdicted. • Charged 9 student activists through internal disciplinary procedures with the intention to expel Several students have now lost a whole term due to their suspensions and interdicts barring them from accessing the campus and it is predicted that UCT will target more black students. For black students access to higher education is political. Our histories have been shaped by poverty, a lack of human dignity and inequality due to being denied access to quality education. Furthermore, gaining access to higher education burdens us with the duty to break this cycle by actively challenging the neoliberal anti-black policies around housing, fees, institutional racism and patriarchy in order break open the ivory towers of higher learning for the majority of the people of this country. It is this cause that UCT is now criminalizing and victimizing black students for. We call on all progressive forces, parents, community leaders, alumni, civil society, politicians and the general public to put pressure on UCT management to lift the suspensions, remove the interdict and to seek alternative methods of resolving these conflicts so as to avoid denying students access to education at UCT.

This is a long term campaign that involves donating 15000+ books and setting up a libraries in various schools and development regions of Gauteng! Creating fun book clubs and end up having spelling bees in local schools. A child that reads is a nation that know..

Akhona is in grade eight. Like many of her classmates, she often misses school when she has her periods because her family cannot afford sanitary pads [1]. Akhona is not alone. On average in Mzansi. a girl will miss 60 days of school because of her period [2]. And some are forced to use socks, newspapers and worse because they can’t afford sanitary pads. Over time this can cause girls to drop-out completely. If they struggle through, they often find themselves unable to fully take part in school activities. Livity Africa's LiveVIPZA campaign, which initiated the parliament challenge, aims to present a plan in June on how to provide sanitary pads to low income communities to the Health Portfolio Committee. But the implementation requires that the Ministers of Basic Education, Health and Social Development kick start the plan. [1] I use a sock as a sanitary pad, says Langa learner http://www.groundup.org.za/article/i-use-sock-sanitary-pad-says-langa-learner_2418/ [2] Dignity Dreams article with information on how many girls miss school a month and in a year: http://www.ngopulse.org/organisation/dignity-dreams

Children from age 1 to 6 got a very innovative education and my intake of children in 1 year is the proof that We provided a holistic education .

Students are delayed to complete their studies due to outstanding results. If one subject's results are not released, they can't register that subject at the next level. At the end, they will have to come back for a full semester (6 months) or trimester (3 months), for just one subject. This actually needs an enquiry or Public Protector intervention. This has been a problem for many many years, with no improvement.