Schooling

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will participate in the launch of the Gauteng paperless education system at seven schools in Tembisa on Gauteng's East Rand on Wednesday, 14 January 2015.

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, says the deputy president will be joined by among others the minister for basic education, Angie Motshekga, and the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura.

The launch of the pilot project, ‘the Big Switch On’, takes place within the backdrop of the opening of inland schools for the 2015 academic year.

More than 500 learners from the Surrey Primary School in Manenberg on the Cape Flats are benefitting from a feeding scheme run by the Department of Basic Education together with Foodbank South Africa and a breakfast cereal company.

On World Food Day, 16 October, it is estimated that one in five children in South Africa go to school on an empty stomach.

Legal advocacy group, SECTION27, says that a Northern Cape school that closed over asbestos pollution concerns did so without a plan for the pupils’ continued education.

According to SECTION27’s Sasha Stevenson, the Khiba Junior Secondary School, serving 220 pupils from mostly poor backgrounds in Ga-Mopedi village in the JT Gaetsewe district, closed on Monday, 13 October 2015.

Stevenson argues that, “The closure has happened without any consultation with the school governing body (SGB) or the community. Most of the learners have now been sent home.”

Save the Children has launched a three-year project geared at reducing teenage pregnancies in Ntcheu, Malawi, to complement government’s work in the promotion of girls' education in the country.
 
Speaking during the launch ceremony in Ntcheu, Save the Children programme manager, Frank Mwafulirwa, argued that incidences of teenage pregnancies contribute highly towards girl's school dropout rate in the country especially in primary schools.
 

Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, says the blame for schools that perform badly should be laid at the door of teachers.
 
Motshekga points out that, “Whenever I go to schools that perform well and ask principals what it is that they do to make their schools work, time and again they tell me the same thing: they have a group of dedicated, committed and caring teachers.”
 

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says that despite a growing school population, the number of South African schools has declined.

In its new report, the SAHRC says that approximately 2 000 schools have been closed down between 2000 and 2012.
 
SAHRC’s Carmen Abdoll, points out that most of the schools are in the Free State, and believes there is a risk that pupils in those areas are being disadvantaged.

Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, believes a school needs good teachers in order to produce quality students.

Speaking during a speech at the St John's College fundraising gala dinner in the Eastern Cape, Ramaphosa emphasises that the school had been favoured with good teachers.

A new study shows that grade R classes have almost zero effect on the future performance of pupils in South Africa’s poorest schools.

Titled ‘The Impact of the Introduction of Grade R on Learning Outcomes’, the study states that, “The impact of grade R in South Africa is small and there is virtually no measurable impact for the poorest three school quintiles, while there are some impacts for the higher quintile school.”

Ufulu Wathu Community Based Organisation (CBO) and Action Aid, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have urged the Education Department in Phalombe, Malawi, to absorb disabled pupils into its various schools and not discriminate them because of their various physical challenges.

Ufulu Wathu programme coordinator, Symon Thipa, says the current situation is alarming as research reveals that over 23 schools around Traditional Authority Nkhulambe do not have disability friendly facilities.

Swaziland’s National Curriculum Centre (NCC) is working towards upgrading the schools curriculum to be in line with the First World Vision 2022.

NCC’s Sandile Shabangu revealed that the biennial meeting that would be held this year would be held under the theme ‘Vision 2022; implications and opportunities for the curriculum’.

The NCC expects participants from all walks of life to attend the conference with specific reference to educationists, politicians, economists, industry, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations and the general public.