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/ 18 January 2008
Terror, anger and squalor best describe Skielik, an informal settlement of fewer than 50 shack dwellings on the outskirts of Swartruggens in the North West. Skielek which lies between the main road and railway line to Swartruggens, was the scene of a brutal gun attack recently.
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/ 10 January 2008
If nothing else, the country’s matric results are a loud and painful reminder that the education system is in need of a major overhaul. Although analysts and educational practitioners differ about what is to be done, what is indisputable is that ways and means must be found to accommodate failure and success.
If nothing else, the country’s matric results are a loud and painful reminder that the education system is in need of a major overhaul.
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/ 23 November 2007
Between last-minute exam preparations and anticipation of the summer break, students and staff at the University of Venda (Univen) are dealing with an irritating but nonetheless welcome source of interruption — noise from pick-axes, drills and grinders. Situated in the rolling green hills of Thoyohandou, Univen serves the surrounding impoverished villages.
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/ 14 November 2007
Since the advent of transformation in higher education, the University of the Free State (UFS) has been seeking ways to re-establish its regional and international influence. This week the UFS officially launched the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the university’s Bloemfontein campus, under the theme: "The study of Africa in the post colony."
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/ 14 November 2007
Concerns over the declining quality of law graduates are fuelling calls from top legal minds to probe the reintroduction of a five-year LLB degree. Leading the debate is Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe who has called on universities and the government to consider the re- introduction of the five-year training of lawyers.
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/ 17 October 2007
The University of Limpopo is crumbling under poor management and governance practices, a ministerial report has disclosed. Drafted by ministerial appointee Professor Bennie Khoapa, the report recommends that he and his task team help the university fix wide-ranging problems in the next eight to 12 months. These exist in areas such as financial administration, human resource management, academic planning, governance and management.
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/ 15 October 2007
A special task team representing South African universities is expected to report to Education Minister Naledi Pandor early next year about the feasibility of government regulation of tuition fees. The task team was set up under the auspices of Higher Education South Africa, which represents all universities, following a request by Pandor earlier this year that the sector consider whether fees should have a ceiling or be determined within certain parameters.
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/ 18 September 2007
"Of course they can," says Dr Venitha Pillay, feminist author and University of Pretoria academic whose single-motherhood status inspired her to undertake a study on women academics who are also mothers. Prior to conducting research for her book, Academic Mothers, Pillay found that most literature on women and work tends to be cluttered with arguments around balancing the two lives — motherhood and work.
”Kapok or snow, it’s all the same for us, baba,” remarks Xolani Khwinana, a scruffy 18-year-old from Zamimpilo squatter camp, west of Johannesburg. Despite being situated under long electric power lines, the settlement has remained powerless for more than 10 years. There are only five communal water taps serving hundreds of families and about 30 communal lavatories.