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/ 7 November 2006

School is getting tougher

Grade 11 learners will write a national examination at the end of next year as part of the national Department of Education’s efforts to prepare learners, teachers and parents for a “tougher” school-exit qualification. Schools will receive examples of what the examination, set by the department, would look like beforehand.

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/ 7 November 2006

Helping abused teachers

As a facilitator who interacts with teachers regularly it has struck me how often our teachers are the victims of abuse. One of the activities that the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) offers as part of a strategy towards HIV and Aids prevention and awareness is a workshop on violence against women exploring domestic violence.

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/ 7 November 2006

Using technology in class

During her speech at the Multimedia and e-Education Conference held on April 6 this year, Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, said: “Our goal is to equip every manager, teacher and learner in general and further education and training with the knowledge and skills to use ICT confidently, creatively and responsibly by 2013.”

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/ 7 November 2006

The children changed us

In 1994 I had the privilege of being seconded to a small school for deaf learners. Never in my wildest dreams could I foretell the impact it would make on all my colleagues and my life. We had only 18 learners then and we were four teachers of whom only the principal could speak sign language.

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/ 7 November 2006

Time for a new approach

Some learners make a bigger impression on you than others. Naledi was one of these. I met her at a secondary school in Soweto in 2002 where I was working on an HIV programme. Naledi was not the kind of person who waited for you to tell her what to do. In no time she had formed a small group of juniors to mentor and brought me an inspired poem one of them had written about the Aids virus.

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/ 7 November 2006

Double boost for radio learning programme

The Open Learning Systems Education Trust (Olset) received a double boost for its ground-breaking initiative of using radio as a tool to support teachers and promote multilingualism in classrooms. Its interactive radio-learning series English in Action is broadcast to schools through the SABC’s regional radio stations.

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/ 7 November 2006

Unions should be accountable

In June the Teacher published information about two agreements between the Department of Education and teachers’ unions that will affect the salaries of teachers and principals. The response to these articles from you, our readers, has been tremendous.

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/ 7 November 2006

Discover the joys of ‘Sodies’

There’s something to be said for a 4×4. Before I had one, I was one of those people who pooh-poohed the whole “Camel” macho off-roading, sleep-on-the-ground, mud-spattered wheel arch mentality­. And I despised the hordes who flocked to our beautiful beaches, zooming up and down, throwing sand in the faces of sedan drivers.