The Eastern Cape finally seems to have come up with measures to improve education delivery. Julia Grey reports The steep learning curve that the Eastern Cape Department of Education has been struggling along may at last be leading to some stability, as weaknesses in the system are tackled in earnest. Efforts to weed out corruption […]
Forty-five years after thousands marched in protest against pass laws, women are still second class citizens, write Julia Grey and Edwin Naidu South African women are still fighting to be accepted as equals and given the same opportunities as males in the workplace, including in the teaching profession. Discrimination continues to undermine the status of […]
Julia Grey visited a school for the severely mentally handicapped that is special in more ways than one: it not only caters for learners with special education needs, but does so with flying colours On the second floor of the school building, a vision fit to dazzle stands out with the swirls of colour and […]
Catering for school-going criminals is one of the many challenges facing special-needs education, writes Julia Grey Running a school where the only admission requirements are that learners are convicted criminals and of school-going age has it’s own special demands. Ethokomala in Mpumalanga is one of only two reform schools in the country that caters for […]
The most vulnerable in society are set to benefit from new plans to include disabled learners in mainstream education, writes Julia Grey The principle of inclusion has long been promoted by the Department of Education as the fairest approach to special-needs learners, who’ve been marginalised for decades in separate schools. But sceptics have warned of […]
Several schools in Gauteng have fallen prey to a computer company whose promises have left them offline and in debt, writes Julia Grey Debt amounting to millions has been added to the burdens of at least four Gauteng schools which found out too late that their trust in a computer firm was misplaced. On the […]
Julia Grey finds that when cultures clash, tempers run high Hoerskool Delmas in Mpumalanga displays its cultural heritage most dramatically: an authentic ox wagon, reminiscent of those used by the Voortrekkers, is mounted proudly in front of the school buildings. Principal Jurie de Jongh doesn’t believe this symbol of Boer history shows a bias in […]
Julia Grey spoke to learners who unearthed history in their own backyard Forced removals: The implementation of the apartheid principle of ”separate development”, in accordance with legislation such as the Group Areas Act (1950). Communities of different races were forceably relocated to areas designated for people classified as being of the same race. This is […]
The West African regional group Ecowas and Nigeria have denounced Togolese opposition leader Bob Akitani declaring himself president despite losing to Faure Gnassingbe, who polled 60% of the vote in results announced on Tuesday. Nigeria, the biggest regional power, had pinned its hopes on Togo forming a government of national unity.
Educators face the hardships of poorly resourced schools, hostile farm owners and a lack of crucial training. ‘We are struggling. There is no electricity, no toilets, and no running water – which is the biggest problem. Nobody supports us and nothing changes. There is no transport for the children. This year we also got nothing […]