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/ 11 January 2008
Three days into the school year and Gauteng’s teenagers are already hanging around on street corners rather than in class. Bunking classes and smoking outside buildings are a common problem in some high schools, and truancy rates are high in many disadvantaged areas.
If nothing else, the country’s matric results are a loud and painful reminder that the education system is in need of a major overhaul.
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/ 28 December 2007
The decline in the matric pass rate is worrying, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria on Friday. The country needed to increase the number of candidates for entry to higher education levels, she said. Pandor said several reasons were responsible for the decline in the matric pass rate.
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/ 30 November 2007
Schoolchildren in grade three and above are to be tested annually for the next three years to ensure their reading skills are up to par, the Department of Education said on Friday. Education Minister Naledi Pandor would gazette a three-year ”foundation for learning strategy … that will involve annual testing”, the department said.
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/ 27 November 2007
Tertiary institutions do not have the capacity to enrol an estimated 100 000 extra students by 2015, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday. ”We need to look at the carrying capacity and whether it should not be considered for expansion to take on more young people,” Pandor said.
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/ 31 October 2007
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Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa refused to be drawn on his nomination as African National Congress president on Wednesday night at the launch of a fund-raising campaign for the University of Venda. He was hounded for an answer from the minute he set foot through the door of Gallagher Estate, in Midrand.
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/ 19 October 2007
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South Africa’s politicians are not immune to Rugby World Cup fever, with a fair number already in or on their way to Paris for Saturday’s final against England at the Stade de France. Leading the way, President Thabo Mbeki left for France on Friday morning, sporting his Springbok jersey and cap.
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/ 16 October 2007
The Department of Education is looking to regulate the responsibilities of senior teaching staff during strikes, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. ”Currently, I have no plans to declare teaching an essential service,” she said in written reply to a question in the National Council of Provinces by Motlatjo Thetjeng of the Democratic Alliance.
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/ 12 October 2007
Disgruntled University of Johannesburg (UJ) students on Friday decided not to attend a scheduled meeting with management to resolve campus issues. The university’s spokesperson, Sonia Cronjé, said the meeting between student representatives and management had been scheduled for 2pm.
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/ 12 October 2007
A meeting between disgruntled University of Johannesburg students and management is expected to be convened on Friday, university officials said. The students has complained that the Doornfontein, Soweto and Bunting Road campuses were being sidelined when compared with the Kingsway campus.
Those who fought against apartheid are not everyone’s heroes, the Afrikanerbond said on Tuesday. ”These heroes from the ‘struggle’ past are not the only heroes and definitely not everyone’s heroes,” said Afrikanerbond managing director Jan Bosman.
Municipal officials in the uThukela district were accused at President Thabo Mbeki’s imbizo (meeting) near Ladysmith of asking for political party cards before serving residents. An estimated 8 000 people packed the tents at the Uitval sports grounds near Ladysmith to meet Mbeki and hundreds lined up to have their chance to complain.
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/ 28 September 2007
The number of overcrowded schools has fallen from 51% in 1999 to 24% in 2006, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Friday. Further, ”the number of schools with electricity has increased from 11 174 in 1996 to 20 713 in 2006”, she said at the opening of Thengwe Secondary School in Limpopo.
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/ 17 September 2007
Proposals are on the table to increase the salary scale of teachers substantially, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday. Speaking in Cape Town after a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers, she said the entry salary for graduates to the profession, for example, will rise from R99Â 625 to R115Â 492.
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/ 12 September 2007
Mpumalanga and North West have spent R166-million on strike recovery measures, Education Minister Naledi Pandor told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. Replying to oral questions, Pandor said Mpumalanga had spent R96-million on teacher remuneration for Saturday and holiday classes.