Innovation for a Better World

Argility has formed a relationship with local social change organisation (SCO), Partners for Possibility*, who bring school principals and business leaders together to develop strong leadership capacity and principal support processes in schools.

In collaboration with Partners for Possibility (PfP), Argility has embarked on a project at Enkanyezini Primary School in Phiri, Soweto. Work is well underway not only to upgrade the facilities but also to add value to the school and assist in strengthening its academic offerings.

Argility’s divisional executive, Jai Kalyan, explains that PfP coordinates courses for the nominated business leader and the relevant school principal to identify needs and develop a strategy to address them.

“To date, the Argility team has been responsible for the re-opening of the school library which had been turned into a storage room due to lack of resources. We commenced a company-wide drive that resulted in the donation of many books from staff keen to be involved in this worthy initiative. Another exciting development is that our customer, Shoprite, donated 30 computers to the school. The Argility team then configured and set up the PCs on site,” says Kalyan.

He confirms that Argility staff are visiting the school regularly to assist not only with computer skills but with mathematics, science programmes and other academics.

The team has been responsible for the upgrading of the school’s playground area and other facilities by providing solar geysers for the kitchen, and a solar heating system is planned for future installation. The students previously attended classes in unheated rooms in the midst of winter.

Kalyan notes this is an incredible project. “The Argility team has much to be proud of in their work in this initiative. We have agreed to sponsor the soccer team with a sports strip. Our work is ongoing and forms an important part of our company culture and corporate social investment policies aimed at adding value to the broader South African community as a whole,” says Kalyan.

Dr Louise van Rhyn, CEO and founder of Partners for Possibility, says Argility’s contribution to the school is a significant example of where business can elevate South African education. “Argility’s contribution will make the staff environment more comfortable and assist in the efforts to grow the leadership ability of the school principal, who leads tens of teachers, hundreds of learners and thousands of community members,” concludes Van Rhyn.

Partners for Possibility: http://www.pfp4sa.org/