Despite achieving the best matric results in the country for three years in a row, the Northern Cape is not benefiting from the knowledge of school-leavers in the province. ‘We are suffering from a massive brain drain,” a worried Tina Joemat-Pettersson, provincial minister of education in the Northern Cape, told the Mail & Guardian. ‘But […]
As the number of children orphaned by Aids escalates, many hard-pressed NGOs are being forced to pay orphans’ school fees to prevent them from being excluded – despite the fact that exclusion on financial grounds is illegal. In the Ingwavuma District, for instance, which lies close to the borders of Swaziland and Mozambique in the […]
Britain’s <i>Guardian</i> newspaper remarked this week that the election of Pope Benedict XVI "will clamp the cold hand of foreboding round the hearts of all who care about the developing world". Indeed. It was also a bitter disappointment for forward-looking Catholics who want their church to contribute to the material upliftment of the world’s hungry and disease-afflicted billions, rather than merely minister to their immortal souls.
Barely three weeks after he was elected president of the South African Student Congress (Sasco), Siphiwe Zuma was tragically killed last month in a car accident. He was 23. Zuma, other members of Sasco and Julias Malema (Congress of South African Students president) were on their way to attend the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union […]
What would you do for a trip to one of the country’s famed national parks – with the added bonus of a photographic hamper that includes a camera? If you are lucky enough to be a South African learner, all you had to was be part of a team and come up with the most […]
As South Africa gears up for national elections, political parties have made their stands clear on all important issues, including education. Thabo Mohlala examined the policies and plans for education set out in the manifestos of all the major political parties and some of the smaller parties. There are many areas of commonality – but […]
It was a mixed picture of chaos and plain-sailing as schools reopened their doors this month. While education MECs like Ignatius Jacobs spoke with enthusiasm about the schools he and other dignitaries visited on the first day, many parents and learners had far less to cheer about. Thabo Mbeki Primary School (above and left) in […]
Get a free copy for your school of the basics of nuclear energy Eskom has compiled a CD containing the basic principles of nuclear energy internationally and in South Africa. If you would like to order a free copy of this CD for your school, send your name and postal address to: Annamarie Murray Eskom […]
The University of Natal has come to the rescue of a matriculant who, despite passing with four distinctions last year, had resigned himself to being another unemployment statistic. When Julius Mojapelo of Gauteng received his results in December last year, he realised that he had inadvertently forfeited his exemption – the big ticket for any […]
I was 14 years old when my dearest mother left me. It was the festive season, when many families get together and exchange gifts. For me this time was like a dark cloud. My mother was very sick and I didn’t know why she was so sick. My mother used to do many things for […]