Does the leadership of the education department properly comprehend the work Setas do?
We support the view, expressed by Blade Nzimande, that as many South African university students as possible should learn a local African language.
Learning an African language is essential to breaking down barriers, writes <b>Russell H Kaschula</b>.
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/ 13 January 2011
While education authorities claiming the first day of the 2011 school year "proceeded well", news reports on Thursday reveal a very different picture.
There is "no chance" the final matric exams will be postponed, the national department of basic education said on Wednesday.
Primarashni Gower says there is great concern about
the date grade 12 results will be made known.
The government is moving to cap fees at public schools at R2 000 a year and to compensate schools that grant fee exemptions.
The education department is to embark on an ambitious plan to roll out laptop computers to teachers.
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/ 24 February 2009
This is based on a policy that no learner should stay at the same primary school phase for longer than four years.
The Department of Education has said that all 2008 National Senior Certificate candidates will have their results before schools reopen.
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/ 13 November 2008
Less than a third of work permits intended to enable the appointment of foreign maths teachers have been taken up.
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/ 30 October 2008
Cabinet giving even more to education over the medium term, writes Primarashni Gower.
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/ 16 September 2008
Failed universities mergers are being examined for possible solutions, according to ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.
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/ 5 September 2008
Connie Nel and Lee Cahill explain the history and uses of a week that celebrates a life-giving natural object.
A plan to boost SA’s scientific research has taken a knock, after the Science and Technology Department failed to secure R180-million in funding.
Since 1984 Dr Nosisa Matsiliza, student of medical biochemistry and dietician, has been working to ensure that SA’s youth receive an education.
Education Minister Naledi Pandor and her predecessor, Kader Asmal, took a hard line on private universities, introducing tough legislative controls.
Falling standards and new curricula don’t bode well for high school learners, writes Thabo Mohlala.
Last year 17 institutions received R148-million in development grants above their research subsidies, from a total R1,38-billion in research subsidies.
Minimum admission requirements for programmes to be set
President Thabo Mbeki has brushed off criticism that he failed to show compassion by not visiting areas affected by violent attacks against foreigners around the country, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is arranging a series of protests to stop the use of a grade 12 history book it describes as ”biased propaganda … poisoning the minds of children”. National protest organiser Albert Mncwango said on Tuesday that the book, titled In Search of History, is currently being used by schools throughout South Africa.
South Africa’s skills problem remains massive, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Wednesday. ”The scale of the problem has become bigger in the interim. There’s a need for us to up our game,” she told a media briefing on the 2007 report of the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition.
The Education Department is considering reopening teacher training colleges, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. In a written reply to a question in Parliament by Desiree van der Walt of the Democratic Alliance, Pandor said the department is investigating options for expanding the provision of teacher education.
The national Education Department is proposing a five-week long school break during the 2010 Soccer World Cup to avoid pupil and teacher absenteeism and a chaotic transport system, a media report said on Wednesday. A proposed school calendar for South African public schools has been gazetted and posted on the department’s website.
The Department of Education is to investigate the extent of racism and other forms of discrimination in higher education, it said on Monday. A ministerial committee is expected to look into discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and disability, with a particular focus on university residences, said spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele in a statement.
AfriForum on Thursday slammed a guilty verdict against the principal of the Hoërskool Ermelo, who has been at the centre of a language row. AfriForum’s deputy chief executive officer Alana Bailey said the Mpumalanga education department’s verdict against principal Koos Kruger was a disgrace.
Nationalising the University of the Free State (UFS), ”to protect the national asset”, must start immediately, the African National Congress and its alliance partners said on Friday. About 1 000 workers from various unions marched to the UFS to hand over the demand, contained in a memorandum on racism at the institution.
The Department of Education criticised the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) on Friday for holding a meeting at 10am on a school day, leaving children unattended. Director general Duncan Hindle said a principal had expressed his concern that at least 10 classes at his school were affected.
South Africa can become a caring society despite the racist incidents at Skielik and Reitz hostel at the University of the Free State, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”We are a wonderful country with many talented people,” Tutu said in launching an exhibition honouring struggle stalwarts Walter and Albertina Sisulu.
Games such as ”hit me, hit me” and ”rape me, rape me”, where schoolchildren chase each other and then pretend to hit or rape each other, are being played at South African schools, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said in a report on school-based violence, which was presented in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
For an American TV audience, he had all the credentials to be a successful celebrity chef. Robert Irvine was a Briton, apparently with royal connections, a knighthood and experience that included cooking for four United States presidents. His show Dinner: Impossible quickly became a favourite on the cable channel Food Network.