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Fin24 user Moegamat Sedick Soeker writes:
It was with great excitement that I saw Fin24 advertise for
contributions to celebrate Heritage Month.
It got me thinking about how we as teachers many years ago
encouraged our pupils to save, a culture that is now, in my humble opinion,
non-existent.
I taught at Rosewood Primary School, the eighth primary
school that opened its doors in the Bonteheuwel area in January 1963, with a
complement of seven teachers.
As the years progressed, the roll increased and so
did the teachers.
In the early 1970s or later, the school joined the Post Office Savings Club.
If I remember correctly, the Post Office Savings Club was
introduced in 1969 and we first had to test the waters before we could make a
commitment to our pupils.
But all our children, mostly from sub-economic houses in
Bonteheuwel, were keen and excited to join the savings scheme.
The first teacher who was in charge of this task was Mr
Lionel Wilkinson. Approximately 100-150 pupils joined the savings scheme.
Pupils first had to buy stamps, each costing 5 cents. They
had to fill their card with 20 stamps, which made their card worth R1.
If they had an amount of R1 or more, they did not have to
buy stamps any more. They were then issued with a pink post office savings
book.
From then on we could have their savings deposited straight
in to their savings book.
The pupils were encouraged to save at an early age. Rosewood
was one of the top schools out of all the primary schools which joined the
scheme.
When Mr Wilkinson went on his three months' leave he showed
me the ropes, and many more pupils joined the scheme.
I feel schools must make every effort to start a savings
scheme, despite the poor state of the economy or high unemployment rate.
Parents will buy cigarettes rather than saving the money. If
only they will take heed of the warnings on the packets: smoking causes lung
cancer! Smoking kills!
- Fin24
Help Fin24 celebrate SA's rich business heritage this Heritage Month by sharing your stories and pictures. Send your views to editor@fin24.com and you could get published.
