I spent an hour with another inspirational South African yesterday. Dave Beetar has been the headmaster of my old school, Merchiston Prep in Pietermaritzburg, for a touch over a quarter century. One of 15 all-boy State schools in the country, Beetar’s charges are proof that old fashioned values are alive and well in the New South Africa.
As you’d expect, much has changed since my days of wearing a battered basher. Nowadays, high school rugby scouts offer scholarships to promising Merchie Mudrats from as young as 10. The total number of boys in the school has doubled from my time, but the Boarding Establishment has shrunk to just half the 120 when I lived there. And the school has expanded vertically, bringing in what used to be called pre-school children.
But in almost half a century, much of what made it such a great nursery still remains. Like its promotion of honour; instilling of values like integrity and courage; and the good manners bred through discipline. Psychologists tell us character is formed in the first 10 years of our lives. Schools like Merchiston keep churning out a fantastic product. Like old boy Jesse Kriel – who starts at Number 13 for the Springboks at Twickenham tomorrow.
