For too long now it has become evident that South Africa has become a sick society. We are sick, pathetic people. The government, business and religious leaders, civilians, professionals – including educators – and ordinary South Africans all fall into this category. As a nation we sit on the sidelines and whinge, but how much […]
Christian groups clashed with Minister of Education Kader Asmal over Curriculum 2005, report Marianne Merten and Edwin Naidu The revised National Curriculum Statement has seen Minister of Education Kader criticised in print and broadcast media for his “undemocratic” and “dictatorial” behaviour. Opponents of the statement, including Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, MP, and leader of the African […]
Dear Hansie Cronje I am sorry to hear that your appeal to the high court to have the life ban on your plying your trade in South Africa was unsuccessful. The law must be respected, and given the severity of your crimes, it would be difficult to disagree with the ruling. But ours is a […]
A Christian-based group and Kader Asmal lock horns, reports Edwin Naidu Minister of Education Kader Asmal has become embroiled in a bitter row with home schoolers over Curriculum 2005. Asmal has been the target of attacks since the release of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in July. Parents and educators claim his behaviour regarding the […]
There has been an uproar since last month’s issue, when the Teacher ran a cartoon featuring a bishop holding his hands up and saying: “Our Father in Heaven. Thy condom has come.” Educators expressed disappointment and some have threatened to discard this newspaper the next time it arrives at their school. We have received a […]
Next month the role of teachers will be marked through a number of activities organised by the thousands of men and women who make a difference in classrooms throughout the world. World Teachers’ Day is observed on October 5 with the theme: “Qualified teachers for quality education”. It is a day ordinary South Africans should […]
HIV/Aids Q&A Across the world, Aids is increasing most rapidly in young heterosexual women. Britain has found that young pregnant women under the age of 20 are most likely to be infected – findings similar to South Africa. The teaching community in South Africa has been slow to rise to the challenges HIV poses for […]
Headmasters from all over the country are to discuss the impact of HIV/Aids on the teaching profession, writes Edwin Naidu Against a background that HIV/Aids will wipe out most teachers in Africa within a decade, principals from around South Africa will meet in Cape Town this month to address various concerns in education. The Manifesto […]
Women in South Africa would be better off performing their traditional roles – in the kitchen and having babies. Or would they? Even within the confines of the home they are still confronted by their most dangerous enemy: men. A rape occurs every 26 seconds in South Africa. Reports of abused women and girls (sometimes […]
The incorporation of teacher training colleges into the tertiary system will add to the shortage of educators in the country, writes Edwin Naidu The closure of 105 teacher training colleges and the merger of certain institutions within universities and technikons will have serious repercussions for the profession in the long term, warns Johannesburg College of […]
South African schools are home to many faiths and all of them must be respected, writes Edwin Naidu Thou shalt not use public schools to preach about any particular faith, but rather about respect and the need for celebrating South Africa’s diversity as a nation. This was Deputy Minister of Education Mosibudi Mangena’s message to […]
Deputy Minister of Education Mosibudi Mangena has a lot on his plate, writes Edwin Naidu One of the strangest anomalies in South Africa, according to Deputy Minister of Education Mosibudi Mangena, is that tertiary institutions are threatened by closure due to dwindling student numbers while construction of new jails is booming. “That’s a terrible reality. […]
In one of his first tasks since his appointment as MEC in charge of Education, Culture and Sport in KwaZulu-Natal, Lindumusa Gabriel Ndabandaba has begun proceedings to dismiss an educator who was absent from school for a long period claiming he feared for his safety. Ndabandaba said he will adopt a hard-line against educators who […]
Forty-five years after thousands marched in protest against pass laws, women are still second class citizens, write Julia Grey and Edwin Naidu South African women are still fighting to be accepted as equals and given the same opportunities as males in the workplace, including in the teaching profession. Discrimination continues to undermine the status of […]
Since late January, 12 working groups have been revising and streamlining Curriculum 2005. I asked a group of Senior Phase teachers in the Northern Province in May what their expectations of this process were. To begin with, the grade 8 teachers voiced their frustration at having to continue to implement Curriculum 2005 in its present […]
The Child Rights Media Code aims to make the shapers of public opinion more responsible for the powerful images they present to children, writes Edwin Naidu Would you allow your child to listen to Eminem, the foul-mouthed rapper who sings about performing disgusting acts with his mother and his girlfriend? The answer is as irrelevant […]
Playing with friends, reading, doing homework and performing community service may rank among the responses, but the most accurate answer is that they’re probably watching television. The lure of the box occupies many young minds, but how much of what they’re viewing is worthwhile? A recent global study on children and media violence by Unesco […]
Seven years after the birth of what Desmond Tutu dubbed the Rainbow Nation, incidents of racism continue to surface at schools in South Africa, writes Edwin Naidu The exodus of black pupils into once whites-only schools has not been an harmonious process, like in the song Ebony and Ivory. The number of high-profile racial incidents […]
In the past, learners with special education needs were confined to special schools, but now they are being mainstreamed, writes Console Tleane The integration, normalisation and mainstreaming of learners with special education needs (LSEN) is one area that has been identified as being in need of a totally new approach. There are currently 47 517 […]
Edwin Naidu reports on an ambitious plan by the Gauteng Department of Education to introduce computers to learners throughout the province and put the sparkle back into the city of gold The sense of excitement seen on the faces of educators, learners and parents gathered at Ikaneng Primary in Soweto last month for the launch […]
All nine hopefuls who made the final of the Anglo American/Sowetan 2001 Young Communicators Award showed they had the gift of the gab, reports Edwin Naidu The speeches at the final of the Anglo American/Sowetan 2001 Young communicators Award were of a high quality and touched on contemporary issues, such as South Africa’s ability to […]
Edwin Naidu discovers that for kids numbers fail to add up “I hate maths,” is the constant refrain from Brenwin, our eight-year-old who started grade three last month. His face lights up when one mentions reading or cars, particularly Mercedes McLaren and dethroned world champion Mika Hakkinen. However, when the subject turns to addition, subtraction […]
THE new school year got off to a dramatic start with Education Minister Professor Kader Asmal wielding a big stick during his surprise visits to schools where he found educators and learners still idle on the first day. The Minister visited schools in the Northern Province and Gauteng during opening day to ascertain whether learning […]
Edwin Naidu reports on trends in student enrolments for teacher training Registration is underway for the 2001 tertiary year but what lies in store for South Africa’s tertiary system? On the cards is massive change geared towards creating a coherent, seamless higher education sector. However, the proposed revamp put forward by the Council on Higher […]
On the surface, the matrics class of 2000 failed to disappoint when compared to the downward trend of recent years. However, beyond the results razzmatazz is the reality that at least another 500 000 adults have been unleashed into the real world, away from the innocent confines of the – sometimes carefree — classroom. Of […]
IT is encouraging that government is reviewing one of its flagship projects – Curriculum 2005 – so early in the day. It provides us all with a second opportunity to ensure that this bold experiment succeeds. The extremely important process of streamlining Curriculum 2005 is set to begin later this month. A Ministerial Project Committee, […]
Edwin Naidu describes how the colleges will now become part of universities and technikons Teacher training is set for major change when 25 colleges of education are incorporated into the tertiary system later this month. The changes, aimed at streamlining teacher-training and bringing it under the higher education umbrella, come amid concern over dwindling student […]
Six years after apartheid was officially laid to rest – at least in the statute books – the country’s class of 2000 matriculants have finally showed some signs of progress. Boasting a pass rate that had gone up by 9%, Minister of Education Kader Asmal was pleased at the 57,9%, success rate compared to 48,9% […]
If history is the future of our past, one wonders how the textbooks of tomorrow will reflect the government and politics of 2001. Who will write our history? Who will claim ownership of it? Too many questions, the answers to which will become available only to our children. The learners of tomorrow will get the […]