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ABOUT TIGER KLOOF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

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Tiger Kloof Educational Institution is situated 12 km from Vryburg in the North West Province of South Africa. It is a registered NPO (COMPANY REGISRTATION NUMBER : 92/02301/08 | PBO NUMBER 130001412 | NPO NUMBER 021-414) and is also BBEEE Level 1 compliant.

 

The main objective of the Institution is to provide educational opportunities and services that meet identified needs in the surrounding communities and promote nation-building.


The institution was formerly a mission school built by the London Missionary Society, but closed shortly after the apartheid regime introduced the Bantu Education Act. Following the advent of democratic rule, Tiger Kloof Educational Institution re-opened in 1995. In keeping with the original vision and mission of the Tiger Kloof as founded by the LMS in 1904, Tiger Kloof incorporates a number of educational entities, and provides various services, administered through a Board of Directors:

 

  • It is registered with the Department of Education as a 'Public School on Private Property', providing education to boys and girls from Grade R to Grade 12.

  • It has a pre-school unit which prepares children in Grade RRR and Grade RR for the Foundation Phase of the Combined School.

  • It provides and administers boarding hostels for Secondary school learners attending Tiger Kloof.

  • It sources donations to provide bursaries towards the costs of tuition and boarding.

  • It sources and generates funds and donations to provide physical, educational and human resources for the school to assist its learners.

  • It is an accredited construction skills training provider able to offer constructions skills training to youths and adults.

  • It provides environmental and agricultural training to young people and adults in the surrounding communities, with a particular focus on training and empowering `emerging farmers'. These programmes include: Organic vegetable gardening utilizing permaculture methods for basic household food production; Land care and Veld Management utilizing holistic farming principles for sustainable cattle farming.

  • It provides leadership development and team building utilizing community service, adventure and the environment.

  • It provides Conference and Wedding facilities with accommodation and catering.

  • It caters for Christian 'retreats'.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

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The Institution is governed by a Board of Directors. The appointed CEO of the Institution is the Director. The Institution is managed by the Executive Committee and Institution Management Team under the direction of the director. The Heads of the various sectors of the Institution report through the Director to the Board of Directors. 

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Tiger Kloof Combined School, which is one of the sectors of the institution's operations, is governed by the School Governing Body (SGB) and is managed by the School Management Team, under the direction of the Principal, an appointee of the Department of Education. The Principal reports through the SGB to the Department of Education, and through the Director to the Board. The Chairperson of the SGB and the Principal are ex officio members of the Board.

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The Chairperson of the Board and the Director are ex officio members of the SGB. The Principal is a member of the Institution Management Team, and the Director is a member of the School Management Team. A Governance Charter has been established to clarify roles and responsibilities and to ensure co-operative governance. The relationship between the Institution and the Department of Education is governed by an Agreement between the MEC for Education, North West Province, and the Board of Directors (signed May 2000).

ETHOS

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The ethos of Tiger Kloof Educational Institution and that of the Tiger Kloof Combined School, is one and the same. The ethos embraces the following aspects:

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  • To admit learners irrespective of class, nationality or faith.

  • To promote a high degree of intellectual, technical, vocational, spiritual and physical development in its learners.

  • To encourage the development of personal qualities of tolerance, compassion, humility, initiative, self-discipline, and moral and intellectual integrity.

  • To foster the ideals of social responsibility and a lasting commitment to service, both by encouraging understanding of international, national and community issues, and by involving learners in practical acts of service to the community.

  • To have a religious discipline and daily practice which will be conducted according to the Christian norm. Attendance of religious assemblies will not be obligatory for those who are not Christian.

TIGER KLOOF HISTORY

 

Tiger Kloof, in the dry North West province of South Africa, is no ordinary school. With its wonderful history, its tragic closure and the story of its rebirth after the ravages of apartheid, it tells a story of hope, a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of faith to overcome seemingly desperate circumstances.

 

1895 - 1962

In 1895 three Batswana chiefs, on a visit to London asked Queen Victoria, to establish a school for their people. As a result Tiger Kloof Educational Institution, just south of Vryburg, was opened in 1904 by the London Missionary Society and educated the elite of the Batswana people for 50 years, including the first two presidents of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama and Sir Quett Masire.

 

In fact, almost the whole of Botswana’s first cabinet, when it achieved independence in 1966, was made up of Old Tigers. The late Dr. Ruth Mompati, Nelson Mandela’s secretary and leader of the ANC women in exile was also a student here and also a Tiger Kloof board member. It is no exaggeration to say that Tiger Kloof was one of the great schools of South Africa.

 

Archie Mogwe (first defence minister of Botswana): 'Everyone who wanted to advance their education went to Tiger Kloof.'

 

In 1953 the South African government passed the Bantu Education Act, which made it illegal to teach academic subjects to black children. It stated that they should be taught as befitted their station in life, to do manual jobs for the white community. The missionaries, refusing to compromise with the apartheid government, withdrew in 1955 and the school was passed over to the department until 1962, when it was finally closed down. The landowner was given orders to bulldoze the buildings. Fortunately he got cold feet and most of the buildings survived. They still stand proudly alongside Cecil Rhodes’ ‘Cape to Cairo’ railway, visible from the road from Vryburg to Kimberley.

 

1990 - present

In 1990, following the release of Nelson Mandela, Old Tigers and local businessmen, galvanised by David Matthews, who had been a headmaster in Botswana, got together to make a plan to reopen the school. The old buildings, abandoned for thirty years and used as sheds for livestock, were renovated and the school was reopened in 1995. The church was rededicated in a ceremony lead by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whose mother had been a student at the school.

 

The school now has about 800 students. The pre-primary and primary schools are housed in what was once the girls’ hostel. The senior school of 420 has about 180 boarders. The difference now is that, while the school still has some students from further afield, it now largely educates children from the local townships and rural villages, many of whom need substantial bursaries to come here.

 

Tiger Kloof is committed to uplifting its community through an outstanding all round education. Academically the results are improving year by year and most Grade 12 students are now going on to universities. As a school committed to all round education there is an emphasis on the extra- curricular, with standards improving in many areas. In 2013 the Under 16 football team were champions of the North West, while other sports, the choir, debating club and the wonderful marimba band are given a high profile.

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