Education MECs are taking to blitzing problem schools to sort them out. LEARNERS and teachers who like to be serial slackers had better watch out. These days, the next guy to walk into the shebeen during working hours might just be an MEC. Worse still, as Gauteng MEC for Education Ignatius Jacobs showed late last […]
WHILE the worst of the cyclones and floods seems to have abated, schooling is still on hold in the Northern Province. Department representative Rapule Matsane says that the 382 schools previously reported closed will remain so, while a further 322 in the Ellis Rus area are also not presently functioning. This brings the number of […]
Over 200 000 learners have been effected by the floods in the Northern Province. THE schooling of hundreds of thousands of learners has been suspended because of the floods that have ravaged the Northern Province. Department representative Rapule Matsane says that four of the seven regions have reported the closure of 382 schools. The estimated […]
Confusion reigns as an independent school forced to close goes to court ACTION by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to crack down on ”fly-by-night” independent schools operating illegally may open the GDE up to legal action. A Pretoria-based independent school, Way to Success Academy, late last month took the GDE to court for having […]
Minister of Education Kader Asmal launches an independent review of Curriculum 2005. ALTHOUGH Curriculum 2005 is being reviewed by an independent team of educationists, millions of government money is set to be spent on new materials for piloting Grades 4 and 8, to be phased in next year. Many are asking why Minister of Education […]
A home-grown version of Sesame Street, the world-renowned television series for young children, is to be broadcast later this year. TAKALANI Sesame, which incorporates 50% of the original American programme, and 50% local content, is being seen as ”a way to jumpstart learning” for the 91% of the 6,5-million South African children under six years […]
MPUMALANGA’S education department refused on Tuesday to comment on racism hearings at Hoerskool Balfour, after five black pupils accused white classmates of regularly beating them. One of the black pupils recently said on television that a white classmate beat him so severely he was treated for broken ribs. Ex-rays of the injuries were broadcast as […]
A NORTHERN Province primary school principal was arrested on Monday for the statutory rape of a pupil of 15 who bore a child. Aged 48, he is from Ga-Molepo village near Burgersfort, and is due to appear in the Nebo District Court on Wednesday. The head of Hlogotlou detectives, Inspector Kgobeng Magakwe, on Tuesday said […]
The divide between the haves and the have-nots is as wide as ever, but many of the better-off schools are reaching out to help OUTREACH programmes are often perceived as one-way affairs, conducted by schools with a surplus. While some might argue that most outreach programmes don’t go far enough, maintaining a stereotypical relationship between […]
School governing bodies’ election year brings up fresh debate IT’S election year again, as the three years of service for those on school governing bodies (SGBs) comes to an end, and new representatives have to be voted in. Posters encouraging parents to become more involved in their children’s schools were in evidence at a conference […]