Adopt a Centre for Excellence
For years, donors who sponsored a child through KET’s Adopt a Child’s Education programme made a real and meaningful difference. Their generosity helped keep centres running, practitioners paid, and children learning. That support mattered — and it still does.
What we have learned over time is that the impact of that generosity has always reached further than a single child. Funds have been managed by principals and used to support their centres as a whole. Many children benefited, not just one. Adopt a Centre for Excellence is our way of honouring that reality — and building on it more intentionally.
From 2026, rather than linking support to individual children, we will focus investment at centre level — where it can drive the kind of change that lasts. Sponsored centres use funding to increase teacher salaries, address infrastructure needs, and progress toward higher levels of government registration. Each of these matters more than it might first appear.
Better salaries mean practitioners are more likely to stay. Every time a good teacher leaves because the pay simply isn’t sustainable, the children in her care lose continuity — and the training and mentorship KET has invested in her walks out the door too.
Safer, registered facilities mean parents can leave their children with confidence, and unlock access to government subsidies that reduce dependence on donor funding over time. The goal, ultimately, is for each centre to grow strong enough to come off the programme — freeing up support for the next centre in need.
What made this especially worth addressing is what our interviews with practitioners revealed: not one of them turns a child away because their family cannot afford the fees. They make a plan — inviting parents to volunteer, contribute in kind or find another way. These are women who absorb the cost of their own generosity, quietly and without fanfare. They deserve to be supported with the same commitment they bring to the children in their care.
This is what it means to move beyond short-term help and toward lasting change. It means backing principals to lead with vision, not just survive. It means recognising that a well-supported practitioner, in a safe and registered centre, is the most powerful investment we can make in a child’s future.
And for donors, the connection remains personal. Sponsors will be introduced to the principal of their centre, receive photographs of the children learning, and receive termly progress reports — so you can follow the journey, see the impact of your support, and know that your investment is growing something that will last.
The below centres currently seeking support. Adopt a Centre for Excellence at R270 per month or R3240 per year.
