When the past just won’t go away Vryburg Hoërskool’s new principal believes he can heal the divided school – but not everyone agrees. Julia Grey reports February this year marked the 110th birthday of Vryburg Hoërskool. It was also the month when 15 ex-learners and parents of white schoolgoers went on trial in the local […]
A leadership crisis leaves Eastern Cape teachers in limbo, writes Julia Grey The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) went on a day-long strike last month to demand that the ”corruption, maladministration and inefficiency” of the Eastern Cape Provincial Education Department (Ecped) be investigated. Key demands from the provincial Sadtu organisation – which boasts a […]
Assessing the Department of Education’s (DoE) performance this year is no straightforward business. One thing the DoE definitely gets a positive mark for, though, is its launches. With practised pomp and fanfare, it gets the message across very clearly that its newest project or body is significant. Three that stand out this year are the […]
Last month’s performance in the streets of Johannesburg has reinforced the fact that Congress of South African Students (Cosas) has neither the organisational skills nor the leadership to direct its membership in a positive direction. Marches take a lot of effort and know-how if they are to be a lawful and successful demonstration of dissatisfaction. […]
If I was one of the matric Class of 2003, I reckon I’d be pretty peeved. There I am, pleased as punch with how well I’ve done to cross that mighty hurdle that everyone and their mum had said I had to cross since I was six, and suddenly there is a general public uproar […]
The cries of cultural ‘purists” are horribly reminiscent of the narrow-minded dogma so readily trotted out by religious fundamentalists. In the view of these purists, on the same day the world was created, so were the traditions and expressions of their culture. Some say their cultures burst forth fully formed from a holy egg; others […]
As Kader Asmal sidles off to quieter pastures, all in education must be wondering what to expect from Naledi Pandor, the new Minister of Education. Her track record, both as an educationist and a politician working in the structures of the government, certainly inspires confidence. She would seem to have the necessary experience and ability […]
The alleged incidents of rape in a primary school classroom in the township of Kagiso in Gauteng last month are so shocking that it’s an effort not to be left speechless by them. The story is this: the Grade 3 class had allegedly been left unsupervised for a week because their teacher was on study […]
As you may recall, my last editorial was a whinge about how difficult it is to be a journalist covering education — mainly because it’s a real challenge not to repeat yourself to death because change happens so very, very, very, very slowly. But let me tell you about some perks of being a journalist. […]
The fuss and fanfare that the highstake matric exams attract from the public and education departments alike is quite hard to fathom. It’s as if we all agree to buy into the idea that the results really are a reflection of the health of our education system, despite the many sides that are masked by […]