By Nadia Lubowski, Managing Trustee, Anton Lubowski Educational Trust
We often ask: Why are our schools failing? But perhaps it’s time to ask a better question: What do our schools need to succeed?
In the global pursuit of educational reform, we tend to focus on curriculum, infrastructure, or testing outcomes. Rarely do we pause to consider something far more basic – whether a child has eaten that day. And yet, no syllabus, however well-crafted, can compensate for a child trying to concentrate on an empty stomach.
Hunger is a silent saboteur in the classroom. It dulls concentration, lowers motivation, and impairs memory. Conversely, when children receive consistent, nutritious meals, they not only perform better academically, but they are more emotionally regulated, socially engaged, and cognitively resilient.
Emerging science reveals something even more profound, the link between gut health and brain function. The gut, often called the “second brain,” hosts trillions of bacteria that produce neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which are key chemicals that affect mood, focus, and memory. When a child has a healthy gut microbiome, they are biologically better equipped to absorb information, retain it, and engage meaningfully with their environment. We want to be clear, when we speak about nutrition, what we are talking about and what we provide these children with are nutritionally dense, and healthy whole foods. A varied and complete meal, including whole foods.
In short, food is not separate from education. It is the foundation of it. But nutrition is just one side of the educational coin. The other? Teachers. We must begin to reverence teachers, not just respect them. They are not merely professionals following a curriculum, they are guardians of our collective future. Each lesson they teach, each moment they invest, ripples across generations. A teacher can inspire and empower a child to achieve so much more than they ever thought possible.
And yet, teachers are often overworked, underpaid, and overlooked. They are asked to be educators, caregivers, counsellors, and administrators, frequently without adequate support or recognition. When we fail to invest in their personal well-being, their pedagogical tools, and their professional growth, we do more than risk staff turnover. We risk a systemic collapse, which some may argue, we are currently seeing. We jeopardise the potential of the very children we claim to prioritise.
Imagine if we viewed education as reciprocal, a partnership between student and teacher, family and community, environment and earth. The classroom, policy and practice thereof holding space for deep learning, to shape the learning experience. What if feeding a child was seen not as charity, but as strategy? What if teacher development wasn’t a line item in the budget, but the very foundation of it?
At the Anton Lubowski Educational Trust, we believe these are not radical questions – they are urgent ones.
The path forward is clear; we must nourish both the body and the mind. We must honour and empower teachers. And we must stop looking for quick fixes and start building lasting foundations.
Because when we invest in children and in those who teach them, we don’t just build schools – we build futures. When we invest in children and those who teach and care for them, we don’t just build schools, we build futures. Active citizens that care about themselves, others and the earth
Here’s how you can help:
• Donate new or gently used storybooks: Early literacy builds a strong foundation for future success. Storybooks inspire imagination and help children fall in love with learning.
• Contribute to our nutrition drive: Just R40 provides a nutritionally dense hot meal through our soup kitchen, and R500 can feed an entire household of six, for two weeks through our food parcel programme. Every bit of nourishment helps families focus, grow, and thrive.
Banking details for food donations:
Anton Lubowski Educational Trust
Nedbank
Acc No: 1010133608
Branch Code: 101009
Account Type: Current Account
SWIFT Code: NEDSZAJJ
Registered in South Africa:
PBO: 930035321
NPO: 064 942
The Anton Lubowski Educational Trust (ALET) was established in 2009 in memory of Namibian anti-apartheid and human rights activist and advocate Anton Lubowski. Part of the leadership of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), Lubowski was assassinated in September 1989, just three months before Namibia’s first independent elections. Lubowski felt very strongly that education is the key to a better future and that education had the ability to unite people, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, gender, or creed. In his last interview given before he died, he insisted that education was the most important task of the new Namibian government.
The brainchild of Lubowski’s family, including his daughter Nadia Lubowski and widow Gabrielle Lubowski, ALET focuses on early childhood development in low socio-economic communities, paying special attention to the connection between school and home and helping to set children up for future success. ALET’s flagship project is an early childhood development and family centre in the Cape Town township of Philippi, an area that suffers high levels of crime, violence, unemployment, and poverty and where children struggle to access good quality education. ALET’s vision is to help every child coming through its programme reach their full potential and live a purposeful life, breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. Read more about ALET and Anton Lubowski’s legacy here https://www.alet.org.za/
