The Open Learning Systems Education Trust (Olset) received a double boost for its ground-breaking initiative of using radio as a tool to support teachers and promote multilingualism in classrooms. Its interactive radio-learning series English in Action is broadcast to schools through the SABC’s regional radio stations.

An ambitious “high performance programme”, aimed at identifying young, talented soccer players and enabling them to reach their full potential, has swung into action. Part of the programme will focus on strengthening the life skills of the players, and teachers will be enlisted to help achieve this.

He used to be one of the stars in your classroom, an energetic and hard worker who always achieved top marks. But suddenly his performance slumped; he is aloof, arrives late at school, visits the toilet endlessly, is untidy and rebellious. You sense there is a problem, but you just cannot put your finger on it. "Dig deeper," urged Captain Jan Combrinck, "as these are some of the tell-tale signs of drug abuse."

The last thing Elijah Mathibela expected when his phone rang on Easter Monday was to be told of deaths in the community. The broken bodies of three young women were lying behind a shopping centre in Mamelodi West, Pretoria. They were murdered. Mathibela, the principal of Jafta Mahlangu High, could not help but wonder whether they were among his charges.

The classroom looks like any other, its walls adorned with an assortment of charts and posters. On the chalkboard are notes, probably scribbled during the last period on the day the school closed for the Easter holiday. A few cream-white chairs, which have been arranged in a circle in the room, seat a group of casually clad youths, aged around 18, and a few adults.

Three teachers who impressed the judges with their ability to inspire learners and achieve consistent results for up to 20 years won the seventh annual Aggrey Klaaste Maths, Science and Technology Educator of the Year awards, sponsored by Sowetan and the Telkom Foundation.