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 […]

Julia Grey takes the mystery out of the structures and acronyms of the emerging education system The seeming complexity of its structures is probably one of the biggest hurdles to the South African Qualifications Authority (Saqa) selling itself to the public it serves. Add to this the reams of acronyms that go with it – […]

There are times to run and hide. And then there are times to stand up and be counted. the Teacher and Unicef, in partnership with the Department of Education, believe now is the time for girls and women to dig in their heels and insist on their rightful place in society. We are creating this […]

G e t t i n g F E T Your guide to further education and training for teachers South Africa’s oldest university is going all out to give today’s teachers what they need, writes Julia Grey Old and established institutions are well known for sticking to tried-and-tested ways of doing things and resisting change. […]

The attraction of free-roaming game draws thousands from afar to the Kruger National Park. But for learners at school inside the park, living with the animals is a way of life, writes Julia Grey In the heart of big five territory, Skukuza Primary School makes a mockery of what you’d expect from a school buried […]

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 […]