The Child Rights Media Code aims to make the shapers of public opinion more responsible for the powerful images they present to children, writes Edwin Naidu Would you allow your child to listen to Eminem, the foul-mouthed rapper who sings about performing disgusting acts with his mother and his girlfriend? The answer is as irrelevant […]

Playing with friends, reading, doing homework and performing community service may rank among the responses, but the most accurate answer is that they’re probably watching television. The lure of the box occupies many young minds, but how much of what they’re viewing is worthwhile? A recent global study on children and media violence by Unesco […]

Seven years after the birth of what Desmond Tutu dubbed the Rainbow Nation, incidents of racism continue to surface at schools in South Africa, writes Edwin Naidu The exodus of black pupils into once whites-only schools has not been an harmonious process, like in the song Ebony and Ivory. The number of high-profile racial incidents […]

Edwin Naidu reports on an ambitious plan by the Gauteng Department of Education to introduce computers to learners throughout the province and put the sparkle back into the city of gold The sense of excitement seen on the faces of educators, learners and parents gathered at Ikaneng Primary in Soweto last month for the launch […]

All nine hopefuls who made the final of the Anglo American/Sowetan 2001 Young Communicators Award showed they had the gift of the gab, reports Edwin Naidu The speeches at the final of the Anglo American/Sowetan 2001 Young communicators Award were of a high quality and touched on contemporary issues, such as South Africa’s ability to […]

Edwin Naidu discovers that for kids numbers fail to add up “I hate maths,” is the constant refrain from Brenwin, our eight-year-old who started grade three last month. His face lights up when one mentions reading or cars, particularly Mercedes McLaren and dethroned world champion Mika Hakkinen. However, when the subject turns to addition, subtraction […]

THE new school year got off to a dramatic start with Education Minister Professor Kader Asmal wielding a big stick during his surprise visits to schools where he found educators and learners still idle on the first day. The Minister visited schools in the Northern Province and Gauteng during opening day to ascertain whether learning […]

Edwin Naidu reports on trends in student enrolments for teacher training Registration is underway for the 2001 tertiary year but what lies in store for South Africa’s tertiary system? On the cards is massive change geared towards creating a coherent, seamless higher education sector. However, the proposed revamp put forward by the Council on Higher […]

On the surface, the matrics class of 2000 failed to disappoint when compared to the downward trend of recent years. However, beyond the results razzmatazz is the reality that at least another 500 000 adults have been unleashed into the real world, away from the innocent confines of the – sometimes carefree — classroom. Of […]

Edwin Naidu describes how the colleges will now become part of universities and technikons Teacher training is set for major change when 25 colleges of education are incorporated into the tertiary system later this month. The changes, aimed at streamlining teacher-training and bringing it under the higher education umbrella, come amid concern over dwindling student […]