Schooltrade is a virtual ?trading? partnership with trade currently taking place in Pietermaritzburg, between needy schools, well-resourced schools and the business sector. Trading includes help with structures, such as buildings and furniture; help with learning, such as textbooks; and help with sports development such as constructing fields.

The Shuttleworth Foundation?s involvement:

The Shuttleworth Foundation made a start-up grant in 2002 to facilitate the process.

Aims and objectives:

In order to achieve the objective of improving education, the aim of the project is to facilitate the trading of educational resources to needy schools.

Evaluation:

The start up phase is complete and the project is in its second year. A number of beneficial ?tradings? occurred last year: a needy school received a printer from a resourced school and assistance from a local business in setting it (and three new computers donated previously), up for use; another school received help in fixing the roof to the toilets; another school in clearing and leveling the fields for a playground.