Old paper is given a new lease on life as compressed paper bricks. The bricks are used as fuel for fires. Using paper bricks as a replacement for firewood reduces waste and ensures the number of trees used by the community is limited. The gardening and greening project at the school has become an asset […]
A hill in the heart of Soweto that used to be a dumping ground and a hub of criminal activity has been transformed into an art, culture and environmental centre called the Soweto Mountain of Hope – Somoho. Somoho was created by Mandla Mentoor, winner of the individual award in the Green Trust Awards last […]
Eric Njokweni attended school with Mandela in 1938 and 1939 during Level 4 and 5 classes (Grades 11 and 12) at Healdtown. Njokweni says Mandela was a friendly and outgoing individual who formed close and lasting relationships with his classmates and the civic authorities in Fort Beaufort. ‘He was an outstanding classmate, a friend and […]
Preparations are gaining momentum in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held next month but many Gauteng learners haven’t the first clue of what the fuss is all about. Learners interviewed by the Teacher had little or no knowledge about the WSSD and an even vaguer idea about what sustainable […]
It’s a world out of the ordinary: from state-of-the-art sporting facilities to a jam-packed extra mural diary, the girls at Kingsmead College can count themselves amongst the luckiest in the land. An independent school in Rosebank, Johannesburg, all the ingredients for an excellent education are on tap. Sporting facilities, for one example, include a gymnasium, […]
Changes in South African society and family structures are responsible for the increase in teenage violence in the country, experts believe. Murders committed by young people at schools and in the home are on the increase in South Africa, but the numbers can be reduced if there is more parental vigilance. – In 1999, Andreas […]
The national Department of Education recently launched the Crime Buster campaign, which aims to make training in self-defence techniques widely available to schoolgoers. Also known as the Ikusasa Lethu campaign (a Zulu term meaning ‘Our future”), the aim is to teach all girls learners, as well as boys under the age of 10, to defend […]
Schools are supposed to prepare children for the real world. Entrepreneurs day at St John’s Preparatory School in Johannesburg gives pupils a taste of what real trading is all about. On July 15 there was an air of anticipation at the school. As the bell rang, the relative calm exploded into activity. Footsteps pounded on […]
Trees are closely interwoven with our heritage and history. The Kwa-Thema Indaba Tree, for instance, is the spot on the outskirts of Springs in Gauteng where elders met and negotiated the start of the township founded nearby. There’s also a tree stump near the Tugela River Mouth that marks the spot where the Anglo-Zulu war […]
The existence of humans and trees is as intertwined as the gnarled roots of the thousand-year-old wild fig tree, a giant called the Wonderboom. Those who sit peacefully watching the hypnotic swaying of the kelp forests in Cape Town’s Two Oceans Aquarium or those who have watched the mist rise over the Knysna forest can […]