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/ 5 May 2005

How safe are our schools?

Maximum security: In the United States many learners have to pass through metal detectors to determine whether they are armed before they can enter school. Photo: Psychiatry Education’s Ruin, Citizens Commission on Human Rights More and more learners are being caught with guns and other weapons at school, reports Leoni Benghiat Twenty years ago, violence […]

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/ 5 May 2005

A vision for learning

Minister of Education Kader Asmal is determined to make schools in South Africa safer. This is an excerpt from his speech at the launch of the Signposts for Safe Schools workbook in parliament There are certain fundamental principles without which we cannot give our children the education they deserve. We must provide a safe school […]

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/ 5 May 2005

Keep God out of public schools, says Mangena

South African schools are home to many faiths and all of them must be respected, writes Edwin Naidu Thou shalt not use public schools to preach about any particular faith, but rather about respect and the need for celebrating South Africa’s diversity as a nation. This was Deputy Minister of Education Mosibudi Mangena’s message to […]

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/ 5 May 2005

Telling a tale for our time

William Shakespeare is long dead but his dramas continue to play out in the global stage and on the big screen Othello, Shakespeare’s classic tale of treachery and betrayal, will open on the big screen in South Africa next month with far greater relevance than the Bard could have imagined. The movie, O, is based […]

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/ 5 May 2005

Socio-economic background is key to participation

Tshepo Magabane examines the extent of parents’ participation in decision-making on school governing bodies in relation to teacher employment A study exploring issues around school governance found that parents from upper and middle socio-economic backgrounds actively participate in decision-making at schools. The study examined six public high schools in the Bushbuckridge rural area in Mpumalanga. […]

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/ 5 May 2005

The academic glass ceiling

Areas of crisis at institutions of higher education – like falling student figures and low staff morale – are often spoken about. But one deep crisis that few mention is the gender crisis in the governance and management of these institutions. The absence of women in top decision-making and influential positions and structures in higher […]

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/ 5 May 2005

Growing teacher shortage

The incorporation of teacher training colleges into the tertiary system will add to the shortage of educators in the country, writes Edwin Naidu The closure of 105 teacher training colleges and the merger of certain institutions within universities and technikons will have serious repercussions for the profession in the long term, warns Johannesburg College of […]

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/ 5 May 2005

Helping to set the standard for health care

Award-winning academic Marie Muller, who has been the chairperson of Rand Afrikaans University’s nursing department since 1996, has been appointed as dean of the faculty of education and nursing. Muller, a recipient of a Women in Research Award by the South African Association of Women Graduates earlier this year, has had a chequered career since […]