Children in Volkstaat Orania learn with all the benefits of technology AN exclusively whites-only settlement hidden in the expanses of the rural Northern Cape, where the next generation of Afrikaners homesick for apartheid are educated under the fluttering Vierkleur flag and with the latest in computer technology? Surely nothing but a way-out fantasy — right? […]
The Gauteng Department of Education is finding focus and form under the leadership of recently appointed MEC Ignatius Jacobs. CALLS from Minister of Education Kader Asmal for schools to become the centres of community life have resulted in an innovation that Gauteng Education MEC Ignatius Jacobs hopes will change the mindset of the majority to […]
One woman could no longer stand by and watch the children suffering. Julia Grey went to see what her efforts produced It all started because Theresa Mkhwanazi couldn’t carry on just witnessing the daily abuse that children face in the miserable squalor of Cato Manor, an informal settlement packed on the hillslopes of Durban. Mkhwanazi […]
Educators due to teach in the new reception-year classes have been promised a pittance by the department. Julia Grey reports Picture this: an educator at a public primary school gets down to the business of teaching grade ones, while in the classroom next door, the grade R teacher guides the five- and six-year-olds through their […]
The past is far from over as an online database revisits South Africa’s past. Julia Grey reports History’s a funny business: the politics of capturing the past can lead to so many interpretations of one event that you would be forgiven for wondering if any of it really happened at all. Omar Badsha, director of […]
Julia Grey found uncertainty on the ground about what it means to be a dedicated maths and science school Letsibogo Girls Secondary school in Meadowlands, Soweto, is one of the 102 schools identified nationally to specialise in maths, science and technology education. In many ways, the school is an obvious candidate for the role, according […]
The long-awaited policy on early childhood development (ECD) is not all it was hoped to be. Julia Grey reports Critics of the ECD white paper, released in May, believe weaknesses in the government’s plan ”takes provisioning backwards rather than forwards”. So says Salim Vally from the Education Policy Unit at Wits University, who identifies ”children […]
The University of Fort Hare is helping teachers to embrace change in the new curriculum, writes Julia Grey When the University of Fort Hare started its distance education project (UFHDEP) in 1997, a staggering 40% of 60 000 teachers in the Eastern Cape were not adequately qualified. Mark Evans of the UFHDEP believes the project […]
Teacher warned to stop hugging or touching girls, writes Julia Grey A private school in the Northern Province has been rocked by allegations of misconduct, including a claim that bursaries are being granted in exchange for sex. Teaching staff at St Marks College made the allegations against deputy principal Frank Lebotsa and acting head Simon […]
The boys compete and make new friends, while the organisers battle efforts to stop the tournament. Julia Grey reports Opportunities for youngsters mad about soccer may be cut down because of a political wrangle between rival organisers. At stake is the future of a 30-year-old football tournament, the Bill Stewart Invitation Tournament. This interprovincial tournament […]