CHARLES PENSULO|

Gathered under the hot sun, dozens of women danced and sang in jubilation as children from the village of Salima, in central Malawi, started their first day at their new 3D-printed school, which had been built from the ground up in only 15 hours.

Made of concrete placed layer by layer through a computer-controlled nozzle, the school is made up of a single room with rounded corners and is big enough to accommodate 50 students.

Olipa Elisa said her 10-year-old son used to have to hike 5km (3 miles) every day to the nearest school, often arriving late and exhausted.

“I am very excited that we now have a school closer to my home, and my child will not have to take the long journey,” said Elisa, 38. “What we need is more of these learning blocks to accommodate other classes.”

Run by 14Trees, a joint venture between Swiss cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim and British development finance agency CDC Group, the project was faster, cheaper and less energy-intensive than conventional construction, said 14Trees managing director Francois Perrot.

Its success shows how 3D printing could be transformative in Africa, where there is a dire shortage of classroom space, he said.

The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF estimates there is a shortfall of 36,000 primary school classrooms in Malawi alone, a gap that Perrot estimates could be closed in 10 years using 3D-printing technology.

“Based on our calculations, if we rely on conventional methods it would take about 70 years to clear that backlog,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email.

READ: Classroom Management: Popular Remote Lesson Monitoring Program Could Be Exploited To Attack Student PCs

Large-scale 3D printing is gaining steam around the world, with some projects producing a home in just 24 hours of printing time for a few thousand dollars.

By the time 14Trees had built the Salima school – which the company says is the first 3D-printed school in Malawi – it had already printed the walls of a prototype house in the capital Lilongwe in just 12 hours, compared to almost four days using conventional methods.

As well as cutting the time it takes to build a structure, 3D printing also reduces the quantity of materials needed and the amount of carbon emissions produced by up to 70% compared to conventional methods, said Perrot.

As an example of the potential cost savings, he pointed to the “ink”, a dry mixture of cement, sand and additives that is mixed with water to form the concrete used to print the walls.

Perrot said that ink could be made in Malawi instead of being imported, as it was for the pilot school project.

“Manufacturing the ink on the ground will dramatically reduce the cost of the building for buyers and create local jobs in manufacturing,” he said.

“We (also) now have an indigenous Malawian team fully trained to operate the printer.”

READ: Classroom Management: Strategies for Teaching Students Online & Face to Face at the Same Time

‘Double disadvantage’

Limbani Nsapato, country director for Edukans, an international development organisation focused on education, said the shortage of classrooms around Africa is an urgent but overlooked issue.

The average ratio of pupils to teachers in Africa is 40-to-1, he said, but with only about 47,000 classrooms for nearly 5,420,000 students, the ratio in Malawi is closer to 115-to-1.

Overcrowded classrooms lead to poor quality of education because teachers find it difficult to engage with every student in a class, he said.

To accommodate their large numbers of students, many schools move classes outside, but when the weather is bad, classes are often cancelled, Nsapato explained.

“Pupils who live far from school have a double disadvantage because apart from getting (stuck) in congested traffic, they also have to face the challenge of covering long distances, which makes them late for class,” he added.

“This makes them arrive at school tired, leading to poor concentration. Such students often drop out or repeat classes because of poor performance.”

Another company trying to solve that problem is Studio Mortazavi, a global architectural firm that has designed a 3D-printed school in Fianarantsoa, a city in southern Madagascar, for the U.S. nonprofit Thinking Huts.

The school, which is due to be built next year, will be made of concrete and locally sourced construction materials and powered by solar energy, said Amir Mortazavi, founder of Studio Mortazavi.

The project will comprise several pods that can serve different functions, including as classrooms, science labs and dance studios.

Maggie Grout, founder and CEO of Thinking Huts, which is also working with 14Trees on the Madagascar school project, said 3D printing should make the project scalable while keeping down carbon emissions.

But first, the organisation has to make sure it can get the printer to the remote rural areas where classrooms are most needed, so it is currently working on streamlining the printing process on a university campus in Madagascar, she said.

“Once we launch the first school and more people know about our vision, we hope to conceptualize a new printer that is specifically created to be more easily transported to the communities we work together with,” Grout said in an email.

Cost

Catherine Sani, head of the Malawi Institute of Architects, worries that 3D printing may not be the cost-saving solution it is being touted as.

“Given our gross need for quick classrooms, this would indeed seem like a good option given the speed in production,” she said.

“However, we also note (that) this method is quick on a single site, but for multiple sites more 3D-printing equipment would be required, thus making this system very high-cost compared to other methods.”

As companies work on making 3D printing more portable and affordable, Tom Bowden, a trustee for Britain-based charity Building Malawi, said the technology holds promise in parts of the world where lack of funding can often stall or kill essential infrastructure projects.

His organisation builds schools, libraries and sports facilities which are operated by Malawian organisations.

Using earth bag construction or bricks and mortar, it costs about $20,000 to build a double classroom, Bowden said.

“The costs are high, we really can’t find cheaper solutions for the concrete floors, iron sheet roof and metal window frames (and) our build process takes about 10 weeks, depending on the specifications,” he said.

Given all of those issues, “3D printing sounds interesting,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night heeded the calls made by several civil society organisations that his government bring back the R350 relief of social distress grant (SRD) Covid-19 relief grant.

Social activists applauded the move and saying that the grant will also help those between the ages of 15 and 24 years, an age group “most frustrated and impacted by unemployment, poverty and inequality”.

In his address on the progress in the national effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Ramaphosa said his government will also extend the grant to unemployed child caregivers who previously did not qualify. 

“This evening we are announcing a range of measures to support the recovery of the economy and provide relief to the poor and those who are vulnerable as a result of the measures that we had to impose to deal with Covid-19.

“To support those who have no means of supporting themselves, we are reinstating the Social Relief of Distress Grant to provide a monthly payment of R350 until the end of March 2022,” said the president.

Adding that the re-introduction of the grant has been made possible by the slight improvement the South African Revenue Service has seen in its revenue collection.

Ramaphosa’s announcement comes after unrest that took place this month across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.

READ: Let them eat cake: hunger and food riots in South Africa

The violence led to loss of more than 200 lives, destruction of more than 50 000 businesses, and attacks on vital infrastructure in these two provinces. The unrest was made worse by a vicious third wave of coronavirus infections.

Ramaphosa was at pains to say the looting and violence were an insurrection against the state by supporters of former President Jacob Zuma who say the former president was arrested without trial.

But some civil society organisations disagree.

According to the Budget Justice Coalition (BCJ), the actions of the last two weeks have complex and varying motivations.

“These include food and economic insecurity which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the weaknesses within the state to address this, as well as factionalism within the ruling party,” said the coalition.

Pali Lehohla, former Statistician General at Statistics South Africa said unemployment for those who are between the age of 15 to 24 and this group’s lack of education is one of the reasons a Basic Income Grant (BIG) is crucial.

“Now when we look at who are the poor, we realise that those with no education are poor.

“Those with primary education remain very poor and those with secondary education are still poor because secondary education does not take you out of poverty.

“But once you have higher education, the reduction in your poverty is massive. And you are eight times less likely to be poor when you have higher education,” said Lehohla.

He asked how much evidence does government need to implement BIG.

“There are a million fewer people employed in this age group 15 to 24. There are about 500k to 600k fewer employed in the age group 25 to 34.

READ: Ramaphosa has no plausible strategy for reducing youth unemployment

“When we have this situation of last week it does not surprise because these people do not see any future. So, we see that yes, we have a looting and the brazing to the ground of property.  

“We cannot be surprised. We have the evidence,” said the former statistician general.

It is because of this situation that the Budget Justice Coalition demanded that the president look for broader and more concrete steps necessary to address the root causes of the violence and looting.

Ramaphosa should address the “hunger, poverty, inequality and factionalism and criminality within the ruling party”. Adding that government should demonstrate its commitment to socio-economic rights as well as the rule of law.

“Government must implement a Universal Basic Income Grant to fulfil the right to social security for all and it must immediately reinstate the Covid SRD grant and the Covid Caregiver Allowance for the remainder of the 2021/22 financial year and increase both to the food poverty line of R585 per month,” they said.

The coalition said the South African government must listen to the public, turn the page, and recognise that economic growth alone will not solve our deep structural challenges and that a redistribution of wealth, income and opportunity is essential.

“Social and economic justice can only be achieved through greater and more meaningful social solidarity between elites and the majority,” said the coalition.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa’s schools are ready to re-open on Monday.

The president’s announcement comes a day after the country’s Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, inferred the same in her media briefing on Saturday morning.

The minister said the reopening pf schools hinges on the president’s announcement.

Motshekga said the School Management Teams and support staff, have already gone back to work, as from Thursday, 22 July to prepare for the return of learners and teachers.

READ: Motshekga: schools ready to reopen, waiting on Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Sunday

Adding that based on the information obtained from provinces, schools are ready to continue to work within the established Covid-19 health protocol, and they are also ready to resume full school attendance in the primary schools from 2 August.

In his address on the progress in the national effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa confirmed the re-opening of schools.

 He said the schools will open in accordance with strict health protocols and other measures announced by the Minister of Basic Education.

The president said overall, the decline in new infections means that it is possible to gradually ease some of the restrictions on gatherings, movement and other restrictions.

He said based on the recommendations of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, and inputs from the President’s Coordinating Council, as week as Cabinet decided that the country should be moved from Adjusted Alert Level 4 and be placed on Adjusted Alert Level 3.

The latest figures on Covid-19 infections suggest that the country has largely passed the peak of the third wave of infections.

There are, however, areas in the country where citizens should still be concerned because the rates of infection have not yet shown signs of decline.

READ: 130 schools damaged by KZN Shutdown riots

“The measures that we put in place for the past 28 days, alongside the continued adherence of South Africans to basic health precautions, have been effective in reducing the rate of infection.

“The average number of daily new infections over the last week was around 12,000 new cases a day, which represents a 20 per cent drop from the previous week.

“In the last two weeks, the number of new infections in Gauteng – which has been the epicentre of the third wave – has steadily been declining,” said Ramaphosa.

He added that although the infection rate in Gauteng is beginning to fall, daily new infections in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZuluNatal continue to rise.

There has also been a concerning rise of infections in the Northern Cape after a period of relative stability,” he said.

He added that the infections prevalent in all these cases are being driven by the Delta variant, which according to the Department of Health is far more transmissible than previous variants.

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Saturday briefed the media on the state of readiness for the reopening of schools in South Africa.

The minister said that the sector had targeted 582,000 personnel in the Basic Education Sector to be vaccinated, “and when we formally closed the vaccination programme, we recorded 517,000 people, who have received the vaccines – an 89% vaccination success rate”.

“Reports on the reasons for outstanding numbers, include distance to vaccination sites, vaccination hesitancy, preference of one type of vaccine to another, recent positive Covid-19 results, as well as medical and religious reasons – all account for some of the people, who are still not vaccinated,” Motshekga said.

On the reopening of schools

The minister said that depending on confirmation by president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, as a sector there is agreement across the board, that the department is ready for the reopening of schools on Monday, 26 July 2021.

“School Management Teams and support staff, have already gone back to work, as from Thursday, 22 July 2021, to prepare for the return of learners and teachers on Monday, 26 July 2021.”

Based on the information obtained from provinces, Motshekga said that schools are ready to continue to work within the established Covid-19 health protocols.

She also added that the country is ready to start resuming full school attendance in primary schools from 2 August 2021.

“The sector continues to be committed, and at all times we are ready to maintain a balance between saving lives and livelihoods while fighting the coronavirus pandemic,” the minister said.

On the vandalism of schools

The minister expressed deep concern about the vandalism of schools in recent weeks. During the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, schools and education centres were damaged, vandalised and looted, Motshekga said.

The KZN Department of Education has submitted a list of 137 schools that were vandalised, three education centres, and eight circuit offices that were affected.

In Gauteng, more than 43 schools have been vandalised since the year began. Eleven of the cases were reported after schools went on a recess on 2 July 2021.

On May/June matric examinations

The 2021 May/June examination is the second examination opportunity that is offered to candidates who wrote the November 2020 examinations; and is also an examination for adult candidates sitting for matric examinations, the minister said.

The writing of this examination commenced on Wednesday, 26 May 2021, and concluded on Wednesday, 7 July 2021.

A total of 249,851 candidates enrolled to write this examination. This included both the National Senior Certificate and Senior Certificate candidates. 106,711 of these candidates were National Senior Certificate candidates, and 143,140 of these candidates were Senior Certificate candidates.

This examination was conducted under strict Covid-19 protocols and they were followed to the latter, the minister said.

The DBE and the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) monitored the writing of the May/June 2021 Grade 12 examination.

“The writing of the examination was successfully concluded without any major disruptions. With the early closure of schools on 30 June 2021, due to the move to adjusted Alert Level 4, school principals were requested to administer the examination until its conclusion,” Motshekga said.

The marking of the May / June 2021 Grade 12 examination, commenced on 8 July 2021, and concluded on Monday, 19 July 2021. A total of 772,404 scripts had to be marked, and a total of 9,323 markers were utilised for the marking across the 54 marking centres.

“Even in this instance, Covid-19 health protocols were strictly adhered to. Despite the protest actions and the looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the marking was successfully completed; and the capturing of marks is currently in progress.

“The DBE will complete the processing of all candidate data for the Umalusi standardisation meeting of 06 August 2021, and the results will be released to candidates on 24 August 2021. The NSC candidates, who were not successful in this May/June examination, can register to write the November 2021 NSC examination,” Motshekga said.

On school calendars

The minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions in the sector, and plans have not always gone as intended.

“This has, however, not deterred us from continuing to plan, as we are confident that at some point, we will find a way to return to normal business. Earlier this year, we published the school calendar for 2022. As usual, we followed the necessary steps that involve public participation to obtain input.”

The minister said that the proposed school calendar for 2023 has been gazetted for public comment. It has been published on all the DBE platforms.

The proposed calendar has coastal schools reopening from 18 January until 31 March 2023, while the inland schools would reopen from 11 January to 24 March 2023.

Teachers from coastal schools would return on 16 January, while inland teachers would return on 9 January.

It also proposes that the fourth term run from 10 October to 13 December 2023, for both inland and coastal schools.

“A staggered calendar is proposed – one for coastal provinces, and another for inland provinces. As I said, your inputs are important, and we urge you to go through the proposed 2023 school calendar and submit your comments in writing. The details are available on the draft calendar itself,” the minister said.

Business Tech

Being out of school not only leads to learning loss but mental distress, exposure to violence and abuse, missed school-based meals and reduced development of social skills.

This is according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) South Africa representative, Christine Muhigana, who said countries like South Africa need to “reimagine education”.

Muhigana called on all stakeholders in the education sector, globally and locally, to help give learners access to devices, data and skills necessary to navigate online resources.

She said without these many children will be left behind amid the coronavirus pandemic that forced schools in the country to shut down.

The impact of disrupted education since the Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa has been devastating, with learners between 75% and a full school year behind where they should be, according to latest statistics. 

Difficulties included rotational attendance, sporadic school closures and days off for specific grades, have resulted in school children losing 54% of learning time. 

According to the National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) some 400,000 to 500,000 learners have reportedly also dropped out of school altogether over the past 16 months.

READ: School dropout rate increased drastically during lockdown

Muhigana said this is most likely for children living in informal urban and rural settings, with household poverty also playing a critical role.

She said the total number of out of school children is now up to 750,000.  

“The reality is that South Africa cannot afford to lose another learner or another hour of learning time,” said Muhigana.

“It is urgent that we get every child back into the classroom, safely, now,” she said.  

Muhigana said the education system cannot afford any further shocks, such as the recent unrest which resulted in more than 140 schools being vandalized in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

This comes on the back of the more than 2,000 schools that were looted and damaged during the hard Covid-19 lockdown last year, she said.

READ: 130 schools damaged by KZN Shutdown riots

Muhigana said in the longer-term, the skills needed to transition into working lives will be affected.

She said evidence also shows that when children are out of school, women are twice as likely to take on childcare responsibilities, affecting their ability to work or search for work,” she said  

“Remote learning has been a lifeline for some children but for the most vulnerable in South Africa, even this was out of reach,” said Muhigana. 

“We need to ensure that we prioritize vulnerable girls and boys in all our efforts to keep children in classrooms,” added Muhigana.  

Adding that the twin burden of Covid-19 and recent disruptions equally affects teachers, supporting and improving their well-being should be a priority.

Muhigana said the basic education sector must take advantage of emerging technologies to accelerate education service delivery will help regain the ground lost.

She said following the Covid-19 outbreak, education had to be quick and adopt to rotational classes, as well as access to online, radio and TV educational resources.  

“We are glad that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is hosting the first ever ‘Teacher Wellness Seminar’ and that Unicef is committed to provide its full support to the education sector,” she added.  

According to the DBE website, the national department, in collaboration with teacher unions, international and multilateral partners as well as the Education Labour Relations Council will host the first ever teacher appreciation and support seminar on Friday.

This is part of the basic education sector’s response to the impact of Covid-19 on schooling.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga will address the Virtual Teacher Appreciation and Support Programme Conversation with key stakeholders.

Muhingana said Unicef will be lending its support to the Department of Basic Education and partners in the ongoing efforts to promote community dialogues that engage parents, caregivers, and community leaders in school life, as well as to increase their ownership over local schools, which in-turn can help ensure their protection. 

NYAKALLO TEFU|

As the fate of contact classes continue to hang by the thread in a world gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has become the first tertiary institution in Africa to offer an Online High School platform.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng said affordable, quality education is the most important tool every South African needs as this will qualify them for employment or a university degree.

She said the model would democratise the education system by giving students access to the “most affordable private school” in the country “offering a high-quality education with support from expert teachers and mentors”.

Present at the briefing was UCT Chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, UCT Council Chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer.

Phakeng said the online high school learners will commence with online classes from January 2022. Grade 12 classes will only start in 2023.

Adding that university said applications for the online classes are officially opened.

“This is the only way we can close the inequality gap in this country,” said Phakeng.

Adding that the online high school is not only a necessity for the university sector, but for everybody in the country.

READ: 130 schools damaged by KZN Shutdown riots

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in closure of schools not only in South Africa but across the world, which has raised concerns of learners missing out on a lot.

Since the start of the pandemic, learners in South Africa have been returning to school based on the statistics of the virus and waves that have gripped the nation.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the closure of schools as the third wave of the virus hit South African shores, with numbers increasing drastically by the day.

READ: Schools remain shut in 19 countries including South Africa

Schools are set to reopen next week, however, that will be determined by the president’s address on whether the country will be on a different alert level.

Educators Union of South Africa’s (EUSA) spokesperson Kabelo Mahlobongwane said it is high time the country moved to other forms of teaching and learning.

“The world is moving to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the department of basic education should follow suit,” said Mahlobongwane.

Mahlobongwane said they have been calling for the department of basic education to look at ways for teaching and learning not to only happen in classrooms, especially during a pandemic.

UCT partnered with education technology company Valenture Institute and it will be offering online a CAPS-aligned curriculum for learners in grades 8 to 12.

“This announcement is very exciting for education in South Africa. The personalised learning experience is welcome and in line with what more people are desiring,” said Western Cape MEC for Education Debbie Schäfer.

Schäfer said Covid has shown that education can be done differently and whilst it will not be for everyone at this stage, it can assist offering different options.

“I am particularly excited about the free online content and have asked the Western Cape education department to consider how we could use this in our system,” added Schäfer.

Phakeng said the university’s online high school will allow learners to have the option to attend the most affordable private school in the country offering a high quality education with support from expert teachers and mentors.

It will also include an entirely free online school platform, with a high-quality, interactive curriculum for any teacher and learner to use for a broad range of South African CAPS subjects.

“UCT will continue to be the best university in Africa, and the best university for Africa. But we will now offer a top-level high school education, not just to a select group of learners, but to all high school students on the continent,” said Phakeng.

The school has two offerings: the formal high school where students are enrolled at a fee of R2,095 a month, the second is access to a free zero-rated platform for the general public to access the curriculum without mentorship or tutoring.

Phakeng said learners will not follow a standardised teaching schedule with live classes but have asynchronous timetables and access to one-on-one as well as group sessions with teachers.

Applications for the school are open and can be accessed at www.uctonlinehighschool.com.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has called on the South African government to put children and young people first in the country’s recovery out of unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organisation made the call ahead of the Nelson Mandela Day, following a week of unrest in the country resulting in the deaths of at least three children – a 15-year old boy a 14-year old boy and a 14-year old girl.

Christine Muhigana, Unicef South Africa representative said the organisation is devastated for the individuals, families and communities affected.

READ: Nzimande says the food prices following unrests will affect students

“We’ve also seen widely shared and shocking images of a two-year-old girl thrown from a building to be saved from a fire in Durban, with other social media content showing the participation of children in looting,” said Muhigana.

The riots came at a time when the country is battling a third Covid-19 wave. With schools already closed due to high infection rates, children are more at risk of being caught up in or involved in unrest, said Muhigana.

She added that the safeguarding of children from voluntary or encouraged involvement in the lawlessness is critical and that communities must come together to protect children.

“Law enforcement agencies also need to exercise restraint and protect children at every step of the way, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and national legal instruments,” she said.

Muhugana said the unrest has also affected the country’s Covid-19 response.

“Some vaccination sites have temporarily closed, while health clinics have been damaged and medical stocks reportedly looted.

“Just as the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out had been gathering pace, statistics showed a drop in vaccinations in areas where the unrest was at its worst. This puts more lives at risk. Large crowds that are not practicing Covid-19 prevention measures could further fuel the spread of the virus,” said Muhigana.

READ: Education sector vaccination drive falls short

Routine child and family health services have also been disrupted.

According to Unicef the national routine immunisation coverage for children under one year is at 79%, already 4% below pre-Covid-19 rates and well under the 90% target.

Since schools closed, reports that many children who depend on the National Feeding Scheme did not receive food also circulated.

Education activists and school governing bodies have returned to the courts to fight for school meals for learners.

Equal Education and the school governing bodies (SGBs) of two Limpopo schools, represented by SECTION27 and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) said they are returning to court against the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments for failing to rollout the National School Nutrition Programme to every single eligible learner in South Africa, for over a year.

This plight was further exacerbated by riots that saw more disruptions to food supplies.

According to Communication Specialist for Unicef South Africa Sudeshan Reddy the latest figures show that child hunger has not declined from the high rate of 14% and that three million children live in households affected by hunger.

“Screening for malnutrition in the early days and years of life, promoting breastfeeding and improving education on good nutrition can help but only when there is access to nutritious food for all,” said Reddy.

Unicef also called on the country’s government to prioritise the issue of youth unemployment.

According to UJ Professor and associate at the Centre for Social Development in Africa Lauren Graham,  youth unemployment is one of South Africa’s most intractable challenges and has been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Prior to the pandemic the unemployment rate, including people who had given up looking for work was just under 70% for people aged 15 to 24. A year later [in 2021] the rate had increased to 74.7%,” said Graham.

READ: Let them eat cake: hunger and food riots in South Africa

Graham added that young people on the continent are the most affected by unemployment and underemployment and they are struggling to survive.

“They are poor and are stuck in ‘waithood’ –a prolonged period of suspension in which people’s access to social adulthood is delayed or denied,” she said.

Unicef’s Muhigana said South Africa’s level of youth unemployment, at nearly 75%, is unsustainable.

“Initiatives such as Generation Unlimited, which brings together the private sector, academia, government, the United Nations and many others are working to provide young people with relevant 21st century skills, mentorship as well as supporting young entrepreneurs so some of the most vulnerable young people can transition into working lives,” she said.

Adding that it is child and youth-led actions that give expression to Madiba’s words that children are the “rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people”.

“As we move forward, we must give children every opportunity to do just that,” said Muhigana.

NYAKALLO TEFU and MMADIFEDILE MOFOKENG|

Early Childhood Development (ECD) staff will be part of the 240 000 workforce who will get vaccinated as part of the Social Developments sectors vaccine rollout. 

The vaccination drive kicked off on Monday and is set to end on 23 July. 

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said they anticipated that the vaccine rollout programme will target just over 240 000 workforce throughout the sector.

Zulu said the roll-out plan will enable business continuity of our social services currently in high demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“The department has been working with the ECD Inter-Sectoral Forum to ensure that no-one is left behind, given that ECDs remain open whilst schools are closed and practitioners are equally at risk of the contracting the virus,” said Zulu. 

According to the department’s spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, the vaccination drive on Monday kicked off in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape provinces.

Western Cape and Limpopo will begin their provincial roll-out on Friday.

READ: DBE requests extension for education sector vaccination programme

The department says  the Early Childhood Development (ECD) workforce is inclusive of ECD practitioners and staff who work in the ECD environment.

Zulu said her department has been working with the ECD Inter-Sectoral Forum to ensure that no-one is left behind.

“This includes all ECDs both registered and unregistered with government, including centre and non-centre-based programmes,” she said.

Adding that ECDs were very important given that they remained open while schools were closed.

“Practitioners are equally at risk of the contracting the virus. We want to highlight that.

“It is important to highlight that only those who are registered on the Department of Health’s Electronic Vaccination Data System system will be eligible for vaccination, as there is no paper-based registration process at vaccination sites.

“Details of all vaccination sites, provincial and district coordinators, including the ECD forum coordinators will be published on DSD National, Provincial Departmental and the Departments’ Agency’s websites,” added the minister.

Oliphant said the department also makes calls upon members of the public to desist from spreading negative information about the vaccine which may cause vaccine hesitancy.

“Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing infection, especially severe illness and death.

“The vaccine reduces the risk of people spreading the virus that causes Covid-19. Covid-19 vaccines are a key tool in ending the pandemic and getting societies back to normal,” she said.

NYAKALLO TEFU|

University of Cape Town (UCT)’s masters student Nicholas Notten has won the Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships.

The Championships were held in Lanzarote, Spain, from 4 to 6 July 2021. 

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) Ocean Racing World Championships is an annual international race for long-distance surf skis also known as sea kayaks, where all the competitors race in one event for the world title.

The 25-year-old UCT student was born and bred in Cape Town and has always been close to the sea, where as a child became part of the live saving staff.

“At some point I started doing junior [surf] lifesaving, which led me to senior lifesaving. In turn, being a surf lifesaver I then became a competitive sea kayaking,” said Notten.

The world championships drew more than 250 competitors across multiple divisions (from juniors up to masters) from over 20 countries.

“In surf lifesaving there are various races in the different lifesaving crafts, one of which is the surfski. This is similar to the ocean racing kayaking,” added Notten.

Notten said the preparation was a little bit on and off unfortunately because of the COVID crisis.

“Us as South Africans not knowing if we would be able to make it to Lanzarote was one of the other challenges we faced,” said Notten.

The South African team, which normally has 30 or more members, consisted of only eight competitors. This was due mainly to pandemic-related reasons such as travel restrictions.

The 25-year-old said he just kept his head down and was very optimistic and, in the end, it worked out for him.

“The conditions we had for the race were a 1.8 m swell with a 20-knot wind, for the race I maintained an average speed of 3:21 minutes per kilometre, finishing almost a minute ahead of the second-placed paddler,” added Notten.

The 25-year-old is currently in Germany and is set to return to South Africa at the end of July.

“For UCT and South Africa, it is great to have people involved in sea kayaking who are not only participants, but are also at the pinnacle of the sport,” said the 25-year-old.

“For me personally, it means a great deal. I am very honoured to have the title, and grateful to have had the opportunity to race and represent South Africa,” said Notten.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced local organisations in both the public and private sectors to embrace digital transformation and the digitalisation of internal processes.

Analysts say that those that have not yet embraced online education are in imminent danger of falling behind.

Dr Cerene Rathilal, a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg said online education has become increasingly important considering that online engagement is the new norm.

“Online education and engagement are a hybrid approach that will likely remain the medium of instruction in the foreseeable future,” said Rathilal.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Soweto Science Centre in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, Africa Teen Geeks and UNICEF hosted a virtual Teacher Training workshop this month. The workshop aimed at equipping teachers with the necessary skills needed to create an effective online environment for learning.

READ: Technology in the classroom

Analysts and policy makers say that the move towards digital and Industry 4.0 technologies and methodologies is no longer optional if an organisation or country wishes to survive amid the “new normal”.​

Analytics software solutions provider at Analytics Software & Solutions South Africa education manager Adesh Nathalal said a key concern when implementing Industry 4.0 technologies in South Africa – and in Africa in general – is the employment factor.

Nathalal said it remains a significant challenge to implement a just transition to Industry 4.0 technologies and simultaneously retain jobs.

Dr Lungile Sithole, Director of the Soweto Science Centre said teachers play a noteworthy role in the upliftment and transformation of our society and as such, it is important that they receive continuous training and development.

Sithole said the Soweto Science Centre was primarily established to address pressing problems associated with human capital development, which South Africa as a member of the global community of nations is grappling with.

“Our mandate is geared towards the provision of tuition to learners and development of teachers in order to improve the quality of mathematics and science education in South Africa”, said Sithole.

READ: South Africa needs tech classrooms

Teacher training workshops are hosted annually at the Soweto Science Centre.

Sithole said this is where skills and competence development are a key part of the programme.

The Teacher Development Program seeks to promote the professional development of teachers on a broad scale, he said.

Adding that the program runs in tandem with UJ’s learner enrichment program which provides meaningful learning opportunities for both teachers and learners.