Julia Grey visited a desolate school that is barely limping along Setting up in the morning for a day’s work can be a mission even for those with all the creature comforts of modern life – not least access to some kind of transport. So just imagine that simply getting to work involves walking for […]
Julia Grey visited an exceptional little school lost in the platteland Ahe town of Verkeerdevlei, lost in the Free State, is almost as short of landmarks as it is of people. The patch of swamp after which the town is named is about the only distinguishing thing about it (it is known as “the wrong […]
An improved matric pass rate did nothing to save a dysfunctional school from the wrath of a hands-on MEC, report Julia Grey and Jethro Kuzwayo MEC for Education in Gauteng Ignatius Jacobs showed he meant business with the department’s campaign for “teach and learn on day one” when he let rip at learners and teachers […]
The start of the school year was better than others have been in the past, but it was very far from perfect. Julia Grey reports The many years of nagging schools to begin the year professionally and on time seem to finally be making a difference, as the majority of schools kicked into action on […]
The community it is supposed to serve has moved on, just as the farm school is given new life writes Julia Grey ‘WFor thirteen years, Dikeledi Nthethe and Caroline Shai have gone about the business of teaching local farm children in the dilapidated stone building they called school. For accommodation, the two teachers lived in […]
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 […]
In Balfour, Mpumalanga, there are black learners who believe they are better off now that they no longer attend school with white learners. ‘I took the decision in my life to hate each and every white I came across – not only the elders, but also the kids.” Grade 11 learner Sizwe Shabalala made this […]
The history of farm schools has much to do with the present difficulties in which many of them continue to struggle. Reports Julia Grey Between a rock and a hard place is where the majority of farm schools are currently sitting – and they are likely to be stuck there for some time to come. […]
Scores of absent educators in KwaZulu-Natal have been getting their salaries although some have not been in a classroom since the beginning of the year. The missing teachers claim they have been intimidated by members of the community and do not feel safe at the school. According to a 1997 departmental agreement known as HRM […]
As the costs of schooling exceed the government’s limited resources, even the bare necessities can be painfully slow in coming. And no one knows this more than the educators and pupils at Mqanduli Primary School in Mahlungulu, near Umtata in the Eastern Cape. Stuffy and dilapidated rondawels have served as classrooms for 16 years but […]