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 […]
THOUSANDS of South African teachers are poised to heed Cosatu’s call to go on a 24-hour general strike tomorrow. South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (SADTU) media spokesperson Hassan Lorgat says his organisation is ”standing with the poor” by calling on its 220 000 members to join the strike. He said that SADTU members would be […]
PARTICIPATION in today’s general strike by members of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), has been ”uneven”, according to Education Minister Kader Asmal’s spokesperson, Bheki Khumalo. According to preliminary figures supplied by Khumalo, 70% of all teachers in Gauteng were at school, whereas 80% of educators in Mpumalanga had responded to the call to […]
SEAN O’CONNOR reviews Learners with Special Needs by Jennifer Gous and Lungelwa Mfazwe (Heinemann, R 36,50) SOUTH Africans continue to feel the effects of an inefficient, discriminatory system that ”catered” to learners with special educational needs (LSEN — a horrible acronym) under the former government. Many of us don’t have an adequate grasp of what […]
Curriculum adviser EMILIA POTENZA answers questions from teachers about outcomes-based education (OBE) and Curriculum 2005. Q: I am a Grade 3 educator. I managed to attend a number of OBE workshops. My main problem is lesson planning for the three learning programmes: Literacy, Life Skills and Numeracy. I am puzzled as to whether I have […]
SOME hard thinking about where our children are at is long overdue. There are just too many disturbing signs that all is not well with the nation’s youth. It will be interesting to see what the government’s new diversity directorate says when it releases a report on values in schools next month. Hopefully we’ll be […]
”TEACHING kids business savvy goes beyond playing shop. Real job growth is essential for South Africa’s continued economic progress. One important enabler of job growth is the unleashing of entrepreneurial talent.” So says Judy Wade of McKinsey South Africa, a global management consultancy organising an international competition for budding local entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship as a school […]