A Magaliesburg African National Congress councillor who started an independent school for underprivileged children is embroiled in a protracted legal battle after he allegedly failed to pay his teachers’ salaries. In May this year, the Teacher reported on Cornelius Cloete’s Magaliesburg Group of Schools, which has 275 learners. The 12 teachers currently employed at the […]
What would you do for a trip to one of the country’s famed national parks – with the added bonus of a photographic hamper that includes a camera? If you are lucky enough to be a South African learner, all you had to was be part of a team and come up with the most […]
A KwaZulu-Natal educator has not had a school to report to since March 2001 and his salary had been frozen since last November. He blames witchcraft and the incompetence of a district manager for his problems. Duduzela Yeni started teaching in 1986 and in 1992 was promoted to deputy principal of Mkhaliphi High School in […]
Paula Niel cannot take any of her four children to school because she does not have money to feed her family, let alone for expenses like their registration fees or school uniforms. She has repeatedly gone to the local school to beg the principal to allow her eldest son, Nathan and daughter, Felodine, to be […]
Mohlomi Dintsho, is a youngster with no faith in life and little hope in his future.The 15-year-old from Freedom Park in Gauteng prefers to stay home, smoke dagga and sniff glue, rather than go to school. He dropped out of school when he was 13 years old in Grade 6.Mohlomi and his sister were orphaned […]
The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) has threatened to boycott the June examinations if the Department of Education (DoE) fails to meet its demands. Addressing about 15 000 learners at a march in Pretoria last month, Cosas president Julius Molema warned that Cosas will defy Minister of Education Kader Asmal in the same way […]
On the face of it, Morongwa Primary School in Mogwase, North West province, could be a model of inclusion. Every morning the school is flooded by learners who not only represent a variety of social backgrounds but also a range of learning abilities and special education needs. But in reality it is a case of […]
Education is widely acknowledged as a key element in alleviating poverty. It is also important, especially in developing countries, to advance the democratic transformation of society. As Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni put it, ‘It [education] expands abilities and opportunities. It is a great freedom in itself, and opens the doors to other freedoms.” The […]
A multimedia satellite television network called Mindset has launched a TV channel focusing on mathematics, science and English and an educator development programme. Channel Activate, accessible on channel 82 of DStv, is targeting learners and educators in the Further Education and Training (FET) band and broadcasts nine hours on weekdays. Mindset Network is a non-profit […]
Marianne and Cornelius Cloete gave up their life in noisy Johannesburg suburbia and moved to a farm in Magaliesburg, the North West, in 1990. The move opened their eyes to the realities of rural living, and not all of them were pleasant. ”Coming from a place where schools are all over, we saw how children […]