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Date: 1904 Type: School Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 27°03'18.67" S 24°45'22.56" E Alt: 1196m

It all started in 1895, when three Batswana chiefs, on a trip to London, met with Queen Victoria, to talk about establishing a school across the waters. Eventually, in 1904, Tiger Kloof Educational Institution was opened 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 1953 the South African government passed the Bantu Education Act, which made it illegal to teach academic subjects to black children. The missionaries, refusing to compromise with the apartheid government, withdrew in 1955 and the school finally closed down in 1962. The landowner was instructed to bulldoze the buildings. Fortunately he got cold feet and most of the buildings survived. And then!! In 1990, following the release of Nelson Mandela, Old Tigers and local businessmen 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. Tiger Kloof Educational Institution is a registered NPO and caters for children from pre-primary to matric with a total of 800 students. Tiger Kloof, is no ordinary school. It’s a place of rebirth, a story of hope and a testament to what is possible in this beautiful country of ours. (Sunshine Simplicities, October 2023)