Interactive whiteboards result in improved test scores, particularly in English, maths and science. This is according to a new report on the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on learner achievement. The report, by European Schoolnet, examined the results of 17 studies on ICT produced in the United Kingdom and other European countries between 2002 and 2006.

President Thabo Mbeki has launched the first of South Africa’s six new e-Schools – schools equipped with a computer lab stocked with servers, PCs, printers, faxes, scanners and copiers linked via wireless connectivity. The launch took place at Maripe Secondary School in the Eastern Cape as part of the pan-African Nepad e-Schools demo project.

Education Minister Naledi Pandor has said she strongly supports the use of Afrikaans and other indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in schools. She was reacting to a DA media release in which she was accused of leading “an ideological crusade against Afrikaans”.

Acclaimed educationalist Dr Melodie de Jager has a mission in life: to remove barriers to learning. She passionately believes that to achieve their full potential, learners have to stimulate whole brain functioning. She has detailed her ideas and research in her latest book <i>Mind Moves: Removing Barriers to Learning</i>.

South Africa’s new low earth orbiting satellite — to be launched into space from a submarine in Russia this December — has been named SumbandilaSAT.Sumbandila means “show the way” in Tshivenda.