COMMUNITY LEADER
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School in Port mprehensive Bethelsdorp Co sticks on creativity day. Learners from ed ing their paint Elizabeth carry
“W
hen young people invest in their own education and take shared responsibility for school discipline and academic improvement we see dramatic results,” says Rob Taylor, Founding Chairman of Columba Leadership Academy in Johannesburg. Columba is a non-profit organisation that works with principals, teachers, local community members and corporate partners to engage young people in a programme of leadership development that elicits and unleashes their latent potential to be agents of positive social change. Taylor is also a Director and Founding 26
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Chairman of The David Rattray Foundation focused on improving learning and teaching in 14 schools close to Fugitives Drift Lodge in KwazuluNatal. He was the Founding Partner of Social Enterprise Africa dedicated to mobilising communities through skills and enterprise development as well as building school infrastructure in depressed areas of South Africa. Taylor says through their interventions they have seen a decrease in teenage pregnancies, school dropout rates, disciplinary incidents and, in some cases, Matric results have shown marked improvement. However, Taylor says there are many casual links that affect results
which are beyond their control. “We believe education is best taken rather than given. We also think our schools and our society at large would benefit from creating a social culture based on obligation or duties rather than rights.” He says all social ills that beset communities have an impact on what happens in schools and it can create enormous challenges for teachers and schools. “It is essential that effective support services be accessible to schools and teachers to ensure that social and psychological problems receive the attention they deserve.” Speaking about Columba, Taylor says
