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/ 12 January 2006

A haven of hope

Johannesburg’s only school for learners with poor sight or multiple disabilities runs more on determination than hard cash. Bronwen Jones founded the Johannesburg School for Blind, Low Vision and Multiple Disability Children – also known as Beka – in Auckland Park in 2003.

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/ 12 January 2006

Myth busting

South Africa has a long tradition of private education. Some of the first education institutions in the country were missionary schools. The growth of private schooling accelerated during the apartheid period and by 1990 there were about 500 private schools in South Africa. Unfortunately, perceptions of private schools have remained largely unchanged since 1990, while the sector itself has changed significantly in the past 15 years. This has led to several myths regarding private schools that need to be dispelled.

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/ 12 January 2006

The public face of private schools

Private schools are often more the subject of myth than the gruelling reality of schooling. One stereotypical image of private schools is of boys in peaked caps playing cricket on fields surrounded by enormous oaks against the backdrop of a beautiful Victorian building. It is picturesque but doesnt capture the spectrum of private or independent schools as they are defined in the South African Schools Act.

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/ 12 January 2006

Polluted pasta causes toxin alarm in Italy

Italians tucked into their pasta on Wednesday with a little less relish than usual after learning that 58 000 tonnes of wheat infected with a powerful natural toxin had been milled into flour and sold on to the market. Police arrested Francesco Casillo, the director of the Molino Casillo Francesco, on Wednesday on charges that he imported the wheat which was contaminated with cancer-causing toxins.

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/ 12 January 2006

Foreigners save Scottish schools

News that an increasing number of teachers from the new European Union accession states are heading to Scotland to take up work has been warmly received by the General Teaching Council (GTC) for Scotland. The influx of teachers is seen as a significant achievement by the GTC and the Scottish executive.

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/ 12 January 2006

Kenyan activists call for minimum sentence for rape

An alleged ex-convict known only as ”Maranda” may have been responsible for the rape of five-year-old Peris Akoth at the beginning of this year, in Kenya. Then again, he may not. However, the case has already become a rallying point for anti-rape campaigners who claim that abuses such as these would be less likely to occur if Kenya had adequate legislation on the books.