I was recently asked to talk to the staff of a primary school in Gauteng about curriculum change. To begin with, I invited teachers to raise any questions or concerns they have with the curriculum. In this way, I was trying to ensure that I addressed issues that were relevant to them in the presentation […]
The International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) held its annual conference in South Africa in July. The title of the conference was School Libraries: Breaking Down Barriers. This conference was particularly pertinent to the South African context where only 27% of schools have library facilities. For many delegates, the highlight of the conference was having […]
For most youngsters, deciding on a career path is a daunting process. With little self-knowledge and even less experience of the world, it’s no surprise that figuring out a future is a terrifying prospect. Add to this financial constraints and an education system that is yet to clearly align itself with the world of work, […]
If you don’t clamp down on the farms feeding the "canning" industry you will lose the battle, warn critics of the government’s attempts to stamp out unethical hunting. In submissions on proposed new regulations to stop canned hunting, both pro- and anti-hunting organisations are unanimous that the 50-plus facilities breeding thousands of predators across the country are the chief culprits.
Language For Life is an OBE language learning programme on HIV/Aids for learners in the intermediate phase. The set comprises a Teacher’s Guide, Learner’s Book and a Reader. It aims to generate HIV/Aids awareness in the classroom through an activities-based approach. It looks to develop the skills of reading, comprehension, writing, speaking, listening and thinking […]
‘I like explosions,” says Chantall Bekker, when asked why she enjoyed this year’s science festival at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. Bekker was one of a group of 18 Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners who drove 12 hours each way in a minibus from Kingsway High School in Amanzimtoti to the Sasol Scifest. And every […]
Tanzania’s minister of agriculture has said that genetically modified (GM), nicotine-free tobacco is being grown in the country for research purposes. Yet, Tanzania’s planned regulatory framework for genetically modified crops has still to be debated by Parliament. According to the minister, the genetically modified tobacco has been growing for fewer than three months on a small farm in the area.
In the previous two columns of this series, I examined ignorance, risk-taking, the early onset of menstruation, psychological problems, family and peer influences and coercive sexual relations as factors in teenage pregnancy. In this column I will focus on socio-economic and cultural factors and the role played by health services. Adolescents who have children have […]
‘Children bearing children’; ‘this teenage catastrophe’; ‘our greatest demographic disaster’; ‘the premier social evil of the Third World’ … These are all ways in which teenage pregnancy has been described by academics. For many people, teenage pregnancy is a clear-cut issue. It is a social problem that has negative consequences for the individual teenager, her […]
History was made last month when the Education Rights Project (ERP), which began its work in February, was formally launched at Wits University in Johannesburg. The first such project in the world, the ERP is intent on pressuring the Department of Education (DoE) to meet its Constitutional obligation to the unqualified right to provide free […]