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 […]
Slimy blobs of DNA extracted from an onion and floating in a test tube like tiny drifts of cloud evoke exclamations of delight from the group of 33 biology and natural science teachers – reminding them just why they had chosen the field of science. ‘It’s beautiful,” repeats Thomas Jafta, a biology teacher at Newlands […]
The struggle for free, quality, basic education continues, despite the Cabinet’s endorsement this month of a comprehensive action plan to address cost-related barriers that still hinder full access to basic education. The action plan is the product of the government’s review of school education costs, which Minister of Education Kader Asmal released in March. ‘Sixty […]
On the face of it, Morongwa Primary School in Mogwase, North West province, could be a model of inclusion. Every morning the school is flooded by learners who not only represent a variety of social backgrounds but also a range of learning abilities and special education needs. But in reality it is a case of […]
Several months ago, KwaZulu-Natal pupil Pumla Mlondo (20) didn’t think twice when her father told her to dispose of old oil and batteries in the nearby Tugela river. When her mother told her to throw the dirty laundry water into the river – she went straight ahead. When her fellow pupil, Elvis Xaba (18), told […]