STAFF REPORTER |

THE community of Luka Village near Rustenburg in North West woke up to shocking news to shocking news that their school called Ramotse Primary School has burnt down.

According to North West Department of Education the school was burnt on Saturday midnight. The Department’s spokesperson, Elias Malindi said the cause of the fire is still unknown however, they suspect that it was a criminal activity.

The fire destroyed a computer lab, National School Nutrition Programme storage and a block of toilets for the girls and boys.
“The cause of fire is still unknown but the school community suspects that it was criminal activities. The fire destroyed a computer lab with 40 computers, photocopiers, printers, Mathematics lab (1 projector, one screen, manipulative cupboard, interactive board and 18 tables), National School Nutrition Programme storage (food for learners) and Learner Teaching Supply Material (Stationery and textbooks) and a block of toilets for the girls and boys,” said Malindi.

The MEC for Education, Mmaphefo Matsemela condemned in ‘strongest terms the alleged burning of the school. “I take this moment to condemn in its strongest terms the alleged burning of Ramotse Primary school. Such incidents are clearly targeted at delaying the provisioning of education to an African child, “she said.

Matsemela said that those who are responsible should be jailed.

“These incidents are aimed at destroying the right to education enshrined by the South African Constitution. We wish the full might of the law to find those responsible and send them to jail where they belong”, said Matsemela.

The department said the school has opened a case of arson with the local police station.

-Inside Education

STAFF REPORTER|

ELETSA Secondary School Boys Under-16 Soccer team from Letlhabile township near Brits stunned the entire country when they were crowned as the only school to represent South Africa in the Pan African Championships.

The Pan African Championships will be held from 17 to 21 February 2022 in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The North West Department of Education spokesperson Elias Malindi said that Eletsa secondary school won every game the played.

“The Under-16 Soccer team from Eletsa secondary school won every game on their way from Sub – District level, district, provincial and at national level. On the national level they played in the elementary stages then proceeded to the semi – finals. They defeated Grey College from Free State 2 – 1 and in the finals they defeated Clapham Secondary School,” said Malindi.

Malindi said: “As part of the collaboration partnership between the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture(DSAC), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) have identified South Africa to take part in a pilot inter – school tournament scheduled to take place from 17 to 21 February 2022in the DRC of Congo.”

The South African team will join other five countries namely: Benin, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

The MEC for Education, Mmaphefo Matsemela congratulated Eletsa Secondary School for their milestone achievement and wished them good luck in the continental championship.

“I am extremely proud of the achievement of Eletsa Secondary; they have showed that in the North West province there is lot of talent. Our schools do not only provide learners with academic exposure but we also expose them to extra – mural activities. During the matric release Eletsa Secondary school is one of the township schools that has done extremely well irrespective of their locality. They have produced two top performing learners in Accounting and Economics across the province. This clearly shows that schools in the townships and rural areas are dominating the space academically and in extra murals”, said Matsemela.

Matsemela further thanked the Superintendent General, Stephinah Semaswe who supported the team in Bloemfontein. Semaswe send her warm wishes to the entire team in their continental adventure.

The Under-16 Soccer team is expected to leave the country on Thursday, 17 February and will be returning on 21 February 2022.

–Inside Education

WENDY MOTHATA |

GAUTENG MEC of Education Panyaza Lesufi on Monday announced that South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) would step in and investigate the alleged racism at the Hoërskool Jan Viljoen in Randfontein, Gauteng.

Lesufi visited Jan Viljoen High School in Randfontein on Monday following violent incident that took place amongst learners at the school.

Lesufi said that racism and other forms of discrimination should be eliminated.

“The purpose of the visit was to obtain a report from the school leadership on the incident. that occurred at the school on Friday, 11 February 2022,” said spokesperson Oupa Bodibe.

Lesufi said that the incident at the schools reflects ‘deep-seated’ racist attitudes in the schools and community.

He said that the department must ensure that the school is fully transformed and is a safe and welcoming space for all people regardless of their race, class or religion.

“Racism and other forms of discrimination should be eliminated. The incident at the schools reflects deep-seated racist attitudes in our schools and community. We must grasp this opportunity to ensure that the school is fully transformed and is a safe and welcoming space for all people regardless of their race, class or religion. We appeal to everyone to give this process and opportunity and not incite violence,” said Lesufi.

According to Bodibe, Lesufi met with different stakeholders including the SGB, the Principal, the School Management Team (SMT), the Police, the learners and the staff.

“The meeting received a briefing from the School Principal, the SGB and the Police. Subsequently, the MEC met with learner, parents of the affected learners, the learners at the schools and educators. MEC Lesufi also addressed the community that was gathered outside of the school,” Bodibe said.

During Lesufi’s interaction with the learners at the school, one of the learners said, “racism was there in the past, but it’s not like it is now. I’m not safe at Jan Viljoen.”

Another learner said: “What happened on Friday is very wrong however, only white kids are protected in the school. White kids are treated differently but we all pay school fees. We, children from Jan Viljoen we don’t feel safe.”

The school released a statement on Facebook on Sunday, citing that the investigation is underway and guilty parties will be punished.

“The School as well as the Board of Directors have been busy investigating the incident all weekend. We assure you that the guilty parties will be punished in terms of the SA School Law and the school’s code of conduct.”

According to Gauteng Department of Education the following actions will be implemented:

1. Racism from any quarter is condemned and will be attacked;

2. The Principal has collated evidence and has requested anyone with information to come forward with the information. This evidence will be given to the South Africa Human Rights Commission, the Police and the SGB for further investigation;

3. The Police will continue with the investigation of the 4 cases and submit to the NPA for a decision;

4. The South African Human Rights Commission will be requested to investigate allegations of racism and other forms of discrimination;

 5. The SGB must continue with Disciplinary Action against the perpetrators;

6. A staff member employed by the SGB accused of sexual harassment will be placed on precautionary suspensions. Department of Social Development will take statements from any interest party;

7. The Department will implement a programme of Diversity Management to assist the school as it goes through the crucible of transformation;  

8. In-contact classes will be suspended until Thursday 15 February. Lessons will be provided remotely through online and other means;

9. A parents meeting will be convened on Thursday.

–Inside Education

PLAY AFRICA has developed a free, open source curriculum to promote STEM education and climate change awareness in South African learners from an early stage.

Play Africa is a children’s museum based at Constitution Hill and is active across the country’s nine provinces.

Its new curriculum, called STEM Seeds, was unveiled during a virtual launch on Friday, to coincide with International Day of Women and Girls in Science.  

The curriculum is a support resource for educators and practitioners working in early childhood development (ECD), helping them build science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills and climate change awareness in young learners through play.

Play Africa CEO Gretchen Wilson-Prangley told ITWeb the curriculum is designed to work alongside the South African National Curriculum Framework for Children from Birth to Four and CAPS.

The ECD-focused curriculum features ready-to-use techniques and activities that educators can download, as well as a series of freely-available video tools.

It includes sections called “playful educator”, which is about building the educator’s confidence to use playful teaching methodologies to teach STEM.

The “playful classroom” section allows educators to use recycled material to create a STEM centre, where each corner in the classroom is dedicated to science, technology, engineering and maths.

According to Wilson-Prangley, the target market is educators of learners aged three to six, but is still appropriate for up to age 10.

This, she believes, will support early development and school readiness; so that by the time learners enter ‘big school’, they have developed some key STEM skills.

Through its work with ECD centres across the country, Wilson-Prangley said Play Africa found communities were often resource-constrained.

“One of the things that we found is that many ECD practitioners do know that STEM is required for so many different careers; that science, technology, engineering and maths are high-growth areas that will be necessary in a changing world; and there are many ECD educators that know about climate change.

“However, when it comes to figuring out how to take these bigger concepts and apply them in an age-appropriate way through play, a lot of educators revealed they’d sometimes get stuck – they didn’t know where to start.

“When we started to create this resource, we started with educators. We went out into communities and used our Design Thinking process, to find out what they really need and how to provide that to empower them and bring STEM learning and climate change awareness through play into the classroom.

“From these interviews, we heard that educators wanted easy-to-apply, practical tips and resources that they can start applying today.

“One of the things that we heard is that some teachers felt that when it comes to STEM, they think of high-end equipment. We wanted to show educators that you don’t need expensive material to start to teach children about STEM.”

Commenting on the significance of the STEM Seeds launch on International Day of Women and Girls, Wilson-Prangley said it underscores the importance of empowering girls by promoting gender equity in STEM education and careers.

“If we want to equip South Africa’s children for the future, we need to support the creativity and resourcefulness of our country’s early educators.

“This curriculum support for early educators can help children develop new capacities for deeper learning, critical thinking and creative problem-solving through playful learning.”

“Our objective is to help South Africa’s early educators, from all backgrounds and education levels, build the confidence they need to use playful approaches to introduce STEM and climate change awareness in classrooms across the country,” added Rachel Fowkes, programme manager for STEM Seeds at Play Africa.

“Now everyone can help encourage the next generation of South African scientists, coders, engineers, mathematicians and inventors.”

Wilson-Prangley concluded: “Our hope is that this is a locally-relevant resource that is embraced and celebrated by ECD practitioners and becomes a real tool to help them to enliven and enrich their classroom experience. We think that is the transformation we need to see today, to be able to develop the scientists of tomorrow.”

–ITWEB

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”

When former President Nelson Mandela said these words at the Laureus Awards in Monaco in 2000, they inspired Benoni resident Greg Smith to use sport to make a change in his community.

“Listening to that speech inspired me to use sport to bring out the best in youngsters, especially in a way where they can experience something new and grow from that experience,” he said. team, training on Friday afternoons.

The objective was to not only have them play soccer but to come together and learn life skills, such as commitment, confidence, desire to improve and just experience in the enjoyment in what was being achieved.”

After establishing this team, Smith said they made history when they held CBC Parklands to a draw. The winner at the end of the match, he added, was the achievements of what they had set out to do.

Smith has won four u-9 soccer trophies on two continents. He said the achievements were meaningful but the goal was to nurture the youngsters to grow into respectful adults.

Smith has admitted that their goal as educators is to bring the best out of their students. But he wonders what sport defines the community of Benoni.

“What is our preferred sport? Communities in South Africa are defined by a sporting code, what are we? Hockey, soccer, rugby, tennis, chess, etc.?and a stamp in their ity.”

Smith has outlined six outcomes he believes could assist in high-quality school sport:

• Commitment: ensure all learners attend practices on time and are ready. To make sure they commit themselves to the team and understand their responsibility and assist in encouraging fellow learners to join in the sports programme. And making sure they are wearing the correct practice and playing gear.

• Understanding: strive to make sure learners have an understanding of the different styles of thinking needed for the particular sport they are playing, as each sport requires the use of principles, composition and game strategy.

• Confidence: build our learners’ confidence for them to demonstrate what they can do as well as create an environment where they will have the confidence to try a new sport without feeling insecure about their abilities. Teach them that it is ok to ask for help when developing their new skills and being able to talk about what they have just learnt.

• Thinking and decision making: create an environment where learners can work and train without constant coaching and start thinking for themselves. Allow them to ask questions so they can make progress, come up with a range of ideas and strategies to help them improve. Teach them to vary and adapt to what they do, taking into account others’ strengths and weaknesses, and reacting to situations intelligently when performing.

• Desire to improve: ensure learners show determination to achieve the best possible results, get them to compare and evaluate their performance to stimulate the improvement.

• Enjoyment: ensure learners stay keen to take part in what is going on, get learners to talk about what they are doing with enthusiasm, make time to take part in sport and maintain a positive attitude when taking part in school sport.

–Benoni Times

WENDY MOTHATA |

THE Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West will write to the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari, requesting that he do an urgent unannounced provincial audit of scholar transport contracts.

The DA said the audit should verify the pick-up and drop-off times of children daily.

“The audit must include the actual number of scholar transporters operating in the North West province, a thorough condition assessment of each vehicle, and verify the number of passengers pertrip. The audit should also verify the pick-up and drop-off times of children daily.”

According to the DA, there are growing concerns about the buses’ roadworthiness and safety issues.

Growing concerns about the buses’roadworthiness, safety and reliability surfaced following an oversight by members of the North West Provincial Legislature regarding the 2022 school readiness and state of scholar transport around the province,” said the DA.

“Allegedly some of these transporters overload the busses, forcing children to stand throughout the trip. Some buses frequently break down, ending up with children arriving late or not making it to school at all. Parents are often forced to pay up to R50 per trip to get their children to school safely.”

Lehari previously indicated that the Department had hired Monitors to check the trips.

However, the party said Based on their observations, the Monitors do not exist. “If they do, they are bribed or are sleeping on the job.”

The DA said that the condition of the buses poses a threat to the lives of the children, inhibits learners access to education and degrades learners’ human dignity

“Following the audit and its findings, MEC Lehari must revoke the contracts of all the transporters who do not comply. The condition of these buses poses a severe threat to the lives of the children, inhibits learners access to education and degrades their human dignity,” the party said.

The party added that if the North West Scholar Transport department fails to do the provincial audit it will report the matter to the Human Rights Commission.

“Failure to urgently do this provincial audit will leave the DA no choice but to report the matter to the Human Rights Commission to do the audit. The safety of our children must be a high priority, and we must take action to restore the dignity of our children. Anything that hampers effective teaching and learning from taking place, the DA will fight tooth and nail.”

–Inside Education

WENDY MOTHATA |

THE Eastern Cape Department of Education said about 120 Kamvalesizwe Primary school learners, in Kenton-on-Sea, outside Port Alfred have been admitted at the Port Alfred Hospital after complaining of stomach aches and vomiting on Monday afternoon.

Eastern Cape education spokesperson Mali Mtima said: “It is alleged that these learners started showing signs of this after having a meal served at their school during the lunch break period as part of the School Nutrition Program.”

Mtima said that the departmental officials from the district, provincial office and the Department of Basic Education are on site monitoring the situation.

“Departmental officials from the district, provincial office and the Department of Basic Education are on site monitoring the situation. The district office is currently providing psychosocial services to the learners, teachers and parents,” Mtima said.

All the officials and parents are currently waiting for the medical reports on what led to the situation.

“The department is monitoring the situation in collaboration with the department of Health. Currently, all officials and parents are still awaiting medical reports on what led to the situation.”

The spokesperson said that a more detailed statement will be released in due course on any new developments.

A full investigation is now underway.

–Inside Education

THE opposition Democratic Alliance has proposed a number of changes for school timetables in a bid to make up for lost teaching time during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the CRAMS- TIMMS survey, learners have lost between 50-75% of learning time over the last two years. This has wide-ranging implications for learners and it is important that the feasibility of various methods are considered to ensure that they catch up on the curriculum, the political party said.

Some of the proposals made by the DA to catch up this lost time include:

Trim the curriculum and focus on the basic skills;Address the teacher vacancy rate as a matter of urgency;Provide extra lessons through absorbing graduates and calling back retired teachers, with the consideration of remuneration;Work with the Departments of Higher Education and Treasury to consider increasing the number of bursaries for teaching with a focus on STEM subjects;Extending the school day by an hour.

“The DA is looking into a variety of solutions for pupils to catch up on learning and teaching-time lost, of which the extension of the schooling time is a possible option,” it said.

“This, of course cannot go without the adequate funding to support it or without the consultation of a variety stakeholders; including learners, teachers and parents. As well as investigating how beneficial and practical this option is, other aspects such as the provision of incentives to teachers, considering learner transport and school nutrition must be considered.”

Updated rules 

Schools in the country recently returned to full-time teaching following the government’s decision to end rotational timetables.

Under the regulations, all primary, secondary and special schools from both public and independent schools returned to full-time attendance from 7 February.

Other significant changes that were introduced from this date include:

All contact sport and non-contact sport may resume, including training, intra-school and interschool games.Individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 and their contacts are no longer required to isolate. Only people who have symptoms or are advised by a health care worker should isolate for not more than seven days after which the learner, teacher, school support staff or official should return to school/office.Schools should introduce face mask breaks for learners (5 – 15 minutes for every two hours during the school day) where they can safely remove their masks in an outdoor area.All learners aged 12 – 17 years and older are also encouraged to vaccinate at their nearest vaccination sites.

–BusinessTech

STAFF REPORTER |

THE Gauteng Education service providers have been ordered to pay back profits derived from irregular R431 million deep cleaning contracts.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed the Special Tribunal judgment that set aside R431 million contracts awarded to services providers by Gauteng Department of Education to decontaminate, disinfect and sanitize schools in response to COVID-19.

The Tribunal made the ruling after hearing that following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the country being placed under lockdown, Gauteng Education Department illegally procured personal protective equipment from 49 service providers in breach of National Treasury regulations.

The SIU approached the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the contracts following an investigation, which revealed that Gauteng Education paid over R431 million to service providers pursuant to a process that was hap-hazard, unfair and littered with procurement irregularities.

On Friday, the court heard that opening of schools required certain cleaning protocols which includes disinfecting and sanitizing the school. However, judge, Lebogang Modiba, said that the procurement process did not comply with section 217(1) of the Constitution.

The SIU seeks to recover all profits made by service providers from the irregular contracts.

“To ensure the profits are calculated and recovered in full, the Special Tribunal ordered that the service providers must submit a statement and debatement of account in respect of their appointment, performance and payment to the SIU, to determine the profits derived. If the accounting and the sum of profit determined is disputed by either the SIU or the service providers, the parties shall approach the Special Tribunal for an appropriate order on supplemented papers as necessary,” said SIU Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

“In the event that there is no dispute on the accounting and the sum of profits, the Special Tribunal ordered that such profit shall be paid to the SIU within 15 days of such agreement, together with interest. More than R60 million has been preserved pending final determination of profits derived from irregular contracts.”

Kganyago added that the investigation revealed that the procurement process was not cost-effective.

 “The investigation revealed that the procurement process was not cost-effective, as service providers were not paid per square meter of the area cleaned. Rather, a senior official in the Gauteng Education appears to have arbitrarily decided to offer a fee of R250 000 to R270 000 for the decontamination of primary schools; R250 000 to R290 000 for secondary schools; and R250 000 to R300 000 for district offices. The fees bear no relation to the work done by service providers or the cost of material used.”

Kganyago said that the outcome of this review application is a continuation of implementation of the SIU investigations outcomes and consequence management to recover financial losses suffered by State institutions.

“There are 45 matters enrolled in the Special Tribunal which are still awaiting adjudication to the combined value of R2.1 billion and will result in further recoveries for the State.”

-Inside Education

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday the government still needs to build around 2500 schools around the country.

Ramaphosa delivered his sixth State of the Nation Address at Cape Town’s City Hall on Thursday evening.

“We still need to build around 2500 schools in our country. It will probably take us 75 years with current

mechanisms. Additionally, the damage caused by the theft of metal on our railway and electricity

infrastructure is enormous,” he said.

Ramaphosa said the government must ensure that platforms like school governing bodies are active and inclusive.

“We must work together to ensure that platforms like schools governing bodies and community policing forums are more active and inclusive,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa ensured the public that learners and students around the country will get quality education.

“As we return to normal educational activity, we will work harder to ensure that all learners and

students get the quality education they need and deserve. For the last two years, the education of our

children and young people has been severely disrupted,” he said.

The president said the government is introducing an innovative social infrastructure delivery mechanism

to address issues that afflict the delivery of school infrastructure.

“The mechanism will address the speed, financing and funding, quality of delivery, mass employment

and maintenance. The new delivery mechanism will introduce a Special Purpose Vehicle, working with

prominent DFIs and the private sector, to deliver school education infrastructure. This approach is being

piloted in schools in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape,” Ramaphosa said.

The President further added that, “this includes the development of a Hydrogen Society Roadmap for

the next ten years as well as a Green Hydrogen Strategy for the Northern Cape, supporting the development of a green hydrogen pipeline worth around R270 billion. The damage caused by the theft

of scrap metal and cable on our infrastructures like electricity, trains and other vital services is

enormous. We will take decisive steps this year both through improved law enforcement and by

considering further measures to address the sale or export of such scrap metal.”

-Inside Education