Basic education minister Angie Motshekga says a specialist-subject curriculum, which will see learners enrolling for subjects such as agriculture and maritime, has been gazetted for public comment.

The minister said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Thursday.

“We are continuing to expand the establishment of Focus Schools to cater for learners with special talents and aptitudes across a wide range of scholastic endeavours.

“These schools constitute a legislatively distinct category of public schools that offer a specialised curriculum, oriented toward 11 learning fields, which include Agriculture, Maritime and Nautical Science, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and Technical Occupational disciplines such as Electrical, Civil and Mechanical Technologies.

“In addition to our detailed progress report we gave last year, we can further report that 35 Occupational and Vocationally-oriented subjects have been gazetted for public comment,” she said.

Motshekga said the gazetting was followed in 2021 by the submission of these subjects to Umalusi for appraisal and quality assurance.

“Public comments have been received, and their infusion in the CAPS [Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements], together with the development of Learner Books and Teacher Guides, has taken effect, and this work was completed between January in March this year.

“In March this year, training manuals were developed in preparation for the training of Subject Advisors and teachers in Occupational and Vocationally-oriented subjects,” she said.

First cohort of marine science learners to sit for matric

Motshekga reported to Parliament last year that the department introduced a new FET [Further Education and Training]-level subject, Marine Sciences.

“We can now report that the first cohort of learners taking this subject will sit for the first NSC [National Senior Certificate] examination, which includes Marine Sciences.”

Motshekga said the Coding and Robotics Curriculum for Grades R – 3 and 7, and the CAPS for Occupational Subjects for Grades 8 and 9 have been developed and submitted to Umalusi for appraisal and quality assurance.

“I can report that this appraisal and quality assurance process is ongoing, including the appraisal of public comments received,” she said.

BUSINESS TECH

DUE to the pandemic, South African school children have missed at least three-quarters of a school year in the past two calendar years. That has had a considerable impact on how much they could learn and affected children in different circumstances differently. Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP), based at the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, has undertaken a major study on such learning losses, in collaboration with the Western Cape education department and with financial support of the Millennium Trust.

In this research the 2021 Western Cape systemic tests in mathematics and language in grades 3, 6 and 9 were analysed and the results compared to the tests written in 2019. (Only those questions which were common in these two exams were considered.) This study offers the first comprehensive picture of the long-term effects of the pandemic on learning outcomes across a whole province, in both poor and rich schools.

The results are extremely concerning.

The true costs of the pandemic and the associated lockdowns are slowly emerging. One of the most concerning is the blow dealt to education, with school pupils and tertiary institution students across the world having lost out on social and educational fundamentals. This is especially concerning in SA where even before Covid-19 struck learners were performing poorly by international standards in core subjects such as maths, science and language.

Slow improvement in these subjects was wiped out when South African public school pupils missed about three quarters of a school year over the course of 2020 and 2021.

During this time, schools were totally closed for a number of months and later operated on a platoon system designed to ensure social distancing.

While pupils at affluent schools were for the most part able to continue classes via remote learning, those at poorer and rural schools fell far behind and there is a real danger that this will adversely affect their educational progress and future prospects.

Following on from research done by the Western Cape education department, a team of researchers led by University of Stellenbosch economist Servaas van der Berg conducted a wide-ranging survey at schools in the province and found there had been acute deterioration in pupils’ prowess in mathematics as well as language.

This was especially the case for pupils at schools where the medium of instruction changed from home language after grade 3.

Given the extent of the research, it is likely that a similar situation exists at schools in this province and in the rest of the country.
This spells disaster. Educationists warn that if schoolchildren do not master these “gateway” subjects in early grades, their entire schooling will be compromised, with resultant dire effect on their futures.

What is needed is urgent, decisive intervention by the education authorities who need to take a hard look at the syllabus and empower teachers to do away with the frills and add-ons to focus on helping learners catch up the basics.

SA cannot afford to lose a generation to the pandemic.

STORY BY STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY| SUPPLIED

THE National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) together with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) announced on Monday the implementation of a catch-up and recovery plan to assist matric learners across the country, through the 2-year-old Remote and Digital Learning (RDL) support programme.

The RDL programme is comprised of Woza Matrics which focuses on Grade 12, and Tswelopele campaign which focuses on
grade 1 – 11. The main purpose of the RDL campaigns is to offer supplementary support that can help learners, their teachers and parents to work together to catch up on the curriculum, and to revise and prepare for the exam.

The CEO of NECT, Godwin Khosa encourages teachers and parents to assist learners to make use of these resources, which are available for download on the Woza Matrics website (www.wozamatrics.co.za).

“We continue to spearhead support mechanisms for parents and learners during the education system recovery programme. We have developed simplified content so that parents can get a sense of what is being taught in the classroom and plan their participation at
home. By doing this, parents can help pace up their children’s studies,” said Khosa in a statement.

“Overall, our research shows that learners find these interventions helpful. Woza Matrics has been described by teachers and parents as practical and necessary to support the recovery programme.”

The NECT said over the past two years, the Woza Matrics campaign was able to meaningfully cover six of the ten priority subjects, namely Maths, Life Sciences, Geography, Physical Science, Accounting and Economics. A key component of the campaign is the delivery of TV programmes on the DBETV Channel 122 and this will support the Matric Class of 2022 in their exam preparation.

In addition, the programme provides quality content on the following subjects: Math Literacy, English First Additional Language, History and Business Studies.

The NECT also said that the campaign has demonstrated the benefit of broad-based collaboration involving the public and
private sectors in addressing critical education needs during this recovery period.

The DBE and NECT have produced 54 new Matric study guides for high enrolment subjects and home language creative writing.

The material is being used by the Class of 2022 and the Second Chance Matric Support Programme.

INSIDE EDUCATION

SISI Khampepe, who recently resigned Constitutional Court Justice, has been named the new chancellor of the University Of Pretoria (UP). Khampepe will begin her five-year term on June 28 2022.

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, who was appointed chancellor in March 2007, will step down.

Tawana Kupe, UP vice-chancellor and principal professor, said: “Professor Nkuhlu’s excellent work and devotion to the university over the past 15 years is greatly appreciated. His term as chancellor ends on June 27, 2022.”

The chairperson of the UP council, Kuseni Dlamini, said: “With four decades of service in the legal field, 12 of them in the Constitutional Court, Justice Khampepe, affectionately known as ‘SK’, is celebrated for her role in strengthening the rule of law in South Africa, her judicial bravery and her firm commitment to justice for everyone. 

“She is a jurist of vast intellect, uncompromising integrity, inimitable style, humour, warmth, kindness, humility, grace and quiet strength. In every respect, she is a true ambassador for South Africa. She epitomises the values and character that UP requires in its chancellor, and the qualities we seek to develop in our students.”

Khampepe was elected by the Electoral College.

According to a university release.Members of the council and senate, as well as the president of the convocation, make up the Electoral College.

“With four decades of service in the legal field, 12 of them in the Constitutional Court, Justice Khampepe, affectionately known as ‘SK,’ is celebrated for her role in strengthening the rule of law in South Africa, her judicial bravery, and her firm commitment to justice for all,” said Kuseni Dlamini, chairperson of the UP council. She is a jurist with a wide intellect, unwavering integrity, unmistakable style, wit, warmth, generosity, humility, grace, and quiet strength. “She epitomizes the ideals and character that UP expects in its chancellor, as well as the attributes we aspire to nurture in our students,” said the university president.

INSIDE EDUCATION

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA|

THE country has, in recent days, been outraged at the sight of a white student at the University of Stellenbosch degrading and humiliating a fellow black student in a despicable act.

There has been widespread anger that such acts still take place in a country with a bitter past like ours; a past which we have fought so hard to overcome.

It is more troubling that such incidents are happening at schools and places of higher learning. A number of the people involved were born after the end of apartheid.

While the incident at the University of Stellenbosch may seem like an aberration – an appalling act that has been roundly condemned – the truth is that racism is still a feature of every-day life in South Africa. The sooner we recognise that reality, the sooner we can change it.

We know that racism, here and around the world, is driven by feelings of superiority on the part of those who perpetuate it. And although racism can be directed against anyone, it is black people who bear the brunt, both in the past and in the present. As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has so strongly asserted, we need to systematically dismantle and eradicate attitudes of white superiority.

It is encouraging and exhilarating to see young South Africans taking the lead in this effort. The thousands of students who have joined protests at Stellenbosch and elsewhere were not responding to just one incident.

They were responding to a deep and pervasive problem in our society, which they themselves have to confront daily.

As Kwenzokuhle Khumalo, a 4th year Management Sciences student and leader, told students on the Stellenbosch campus this week: “You’ve met the wrong generation this time.”

Like the youth of 1976, a new generation of young South Africans is stepping forward to proclaim their birth right and reclaim their future. They are challenging society to grapple with racism, its causes and its effects. As Ms Khumalo rightly said, it is not black people who are the problem and need attention, but those people who still hold on to ideas of white superiority.

It cannot be that the onus must rest with the formerly oppressed as the main victims of racism to advance reconciliation. It cannot be that black South Africans have to continue to prove themselves worthy of dignity and respect.

In a 2016 judgment on a case involving an employee of the South African Revenue Service who was fired for using the k-word at work, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng wrote: “There are many bridges yet to be crossed in our journey from crude and legalised racism to a new order where social cohesion, equality and the effortless observance of the right to dignity is a practical reality.”

If we are going to cross these bridges, we need to understand what is causing racist attitudes to flourish in our schools and places of higher learning. We need to understand what kind of institutional cultures contribute to racism in the workplace, in social organisations and in communities.

We need frank and honest dialogue between people of different races on the experiences of black people in South Africa 28 years into democracy.

These discussions should be part of the life orientation curriculum in our schools. The arts and culture community should produce content and programming that fully reflects the diversity of the country and the lived experiences of people of all races.

Greater emphasis should be placed on inculcating tolerance and respect for diversity in the classroom from a young age. Parents should be part of this effort because the reality is that racist, chauvinistic and sexist attitudes among the younger generation are often a reflection of what they observe and learn from their parents and older relatives at home.

As many student leaders who took part in protests over the past week said, when it comes to transformation the time for half-measures is over.

This doesn’t only apply to overt racism in schools, workplaces and places of higher learning, but to all of society. Just as racists must be held accountable for their actions, all sectors of society, including business, must advance transformation.

The rights to equality and human dignity are the cornerstones of our Constitution and building a non-racial and non-sexist society is our shared fundamental responsibility.

In complying with employment equity legislation, in advancing broad-based black economic empowerment, in taking practical steps towards redress and undoing the legacy of our discriminatory past, we are not just obeying the law.

We are redressing a grave injustice and building a new country in which race, class and gender no longer determine the circumstances of one’s birth or one’s prospects in life.

Ending racism is not just about changing attitudes; it is also about changing the material conditions that still today separate black and white South Africans.

We have come too far and the sacrifices made have been too great for such appalling acts of racism to turn us against each other. Rather, we must use this incident to confront the issue of race and racial inequality in our society.

It is our wish and expectation that the student population and the broader Stellenbosch university community, both black and white, find each other and rally together to confront racism honestly with courage and truthfulness. They must roundly reject what has happened and express their determination to achieve a learning environment free of bigotry, racism and chauvinism and embrace a non-racial future for Stellenbosch University. By so doing they will set the standard for us all.

From the desk of the President

Stellenbosch University says exams have been postponed by a week following an alleged racist incident and rape on campus.  

The university added that all assessments which had deadlines for this coming week will also be extended by one week.

This decision comes after disruptions took place in the wake of the racism incident which took place at the Huis Marias residence on Sunday and the sexual assault of a female student on Tuesday.

Earlier last week, a white student, Theunis du Toit, was suspended after a video of him urinating on a black student’s belongings circulated on social media.

Another student was arrested and later released on R1,000 bail.

On Friday, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching Deresh Ramjugernath said students would no longer sit for their first semester exams on Monday.

“The university announced on Friday that the examinations would be postponed from their scheduled start on Monday, May 23 and would now start on Monday, 30 May”.

Ramjugernath said the decision to postpone examinations and assessments was taken after consultation and careful deliberation.

Ramjugernath said, “We understand that there’s been significant trauma and discomfort and our students are in a challenging mental state, and in an emotional state where it’s very difficult for them to write the exams come Monday.”

He added that the decision to postpone examinations and assessments received overwhelming support from all the representatives from the faculties within the Learning and Teaching Workstream.

INSIDE EDUCATION

MICHAEL SYMONS

Home-schooled students in New Jersey would be able to sign up for extracurricular activities in what would have been their school district, under a bill advancing through the Assembly.

Right now, access is decided by each school district. But A1041, endorsed last week by the Assembly Education Committee, would require all districts to allow it, taking away local decision-making.

Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-Morris, said home-schooling “has been put on a real turbo-boost” during the pandemic but that unless they have access to extracurriculars, kids are cut off from things like sports and school plays.

“An orchestra, for example, is not something you can replicate in your living room, something that a homeschool student should have access to.”

John Burns, senior legislative counsel for the New Jersey School Boards Association says it should remain an option for schools, not a mandate forced on them.

“Each district and each community should be able to determine this issue for themselves,” Burns said.

Jennie Lamon, assistant director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, said it should remain optional because the bill doesn’t provide enough oversight to make sure it’s not exploited.

“And it would just be inequitable and unfair to public school students if another group of students is gaining eligibility under a different set of rules,” Lamon said.

“Public school students should have first shot at participation,” she said. “Indeed, they have chosen this setting and all that it has to offer.”

Webber said the opposition is mostly about “administrative and bureaucratic concerns” – and that what’s fair is to open up access to students and their families, “who pay a lot in property taxes to their local school districts and don’t use any of the services presently.”

“Allowing those students to participate in football or drama or orchestra I think is just fair to again the kids and the families,” Webber said.

Assemblyman Erik Simonsen, the athletic director at Lower Cape May Regional High School, said his district lets home-schooled students participate – and that eligibility rules around attendance and grades don’t exactly apply to them.

“I’ve had parents drop off handwritten transcripts and such so that their kid could play, while other kids were not able to participate due to their grades,” Simonsen said. “That’s where the real divide is. That’s where the unfairness comes in.”

Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, said it’s complicated to assess whether home-schooled students are meeting standards.

“I think it opens up a whole world of questions regarding the effectiveness of homeschool,” Caputo said. “Some people could take advantage of home school and not really home school.”

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. Y

DISGRUNTLED students from University of Free State (UFS) in Qwaqwa have called on the university management to find amicable solutions for student issues and withdraw the current deployment of police and security on campus.

This, after the violent protests by students that erupted in Qwaqwa campus earlier this week.

The UFS Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command spokesperson in Qwaqwa, Xola Mehlomakhulu, said that students are disappointed by so-called “trigger happy” police who target unarmed students – while criminals continue to murder women and children of this country.

Mehlomakhulu also lambasted the UFS for allegedly victimising, suspending and getting students arrested.

He further alleges that the University has a court interdict which prohibits students from voicing their concerns.

THE Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation has commended the suspension of a Stellenbosch University student, who was filmed urinating on the belongings of a fellow student.

The incident was captured in a cell phone video. It took place at the Huis Marais residence on the university campus in the early hours of Sunday morning. The video depicts a white student, who broke into a black student’s room, urinating on the latter’s belongings.

The committee has condemned the act of racism and discrimination, and directed the university leadership, led by Vice Chancellor Professor Wim de Villiers, to ensure that all due disciplinary processes are followed in addressing this dehumanising and totally unacceptable behaviour.

“The committee visited the University of Stellenbosch on 16 February 2022 to receive a briefing on the institution’s transformation journey thus far. This incident qualifies the committee’s concern regarding the institution’s state of transformation,” said committee chairperson, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa.

The committee also noted the call made by the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) for overt acts of racism and discrimination to be addressed institutionally.

It also called upon the university to conclude its investigation of the incident with speed and make its findings public to reassure the country that it strives for an inclusive student community.

“Justice must prevail for the affected student and the committee charges the university to ensure that they receive the mental health care they need, considering the loathsome ordeal they experienced. 

“The committee calls upon the management of the University of Stellenbosch, the SRC and the student community to forge alliances to build a non-racial and inclusive institution,” Mkhatshwa said.

She added that the committee would engage with the university leadership and the Department of Higher Education and Training on this matter.

De Villiers said the residence management strongly condemned the incident and has taken steps to manage the repercussions in the residence.

“We are appalled by this type of behaviour [and] such conduct will not be tolerated at the university. We acted swiftly and decisively to uphold our commitment to a culture of inclusivity.

“What happened at Huis Marais is not acceptable. No student has the right to diminish another student’s human dignity or rights in this way,” De Villiers said. 

SA NEWS

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will be allocated a R49 billion budget in the 2022/23 financial year.

Delivering his 2022/23 Budget Vote on Thursday, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, said the allocation affirms government’s commitment to financially support students from poor and working class backgrounds, “whilst also putting a sustainable mechanism in place to support students from the so-called ‘missing middle’ and postgraduate students”. 

Nzimande said the National Skills Fund will also provide budget support for scholarships and bursaries for the 2022/23 financial year amounting to R866 million.

The figure is made up of R221 million to the National Research Foundation (NRF)), R527 million to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), R80 million to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and R37.9 million to the DHET Internal Scholarship .

Collectively, the Minister said, Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) spent R701.9 million in support of the missing middle students.

He said various bursaries and loan schemes administered within institutions are another source of funding.

“As part of the development of our Comprehensive Student Funding model… we are engaging both the public and private components of the financial sector to come up with a funding model to support students in the ‘Missing middle’ income bracket and post graduate students who cannot secure funding from the National Research Foundation”.

Nzimande said the Ministerial Task Team is already engaging the Banking Association of South Africa and significant progress had been made in this regard.

The Ministerial Task Team is expected to present its final report to the Minister by the end of May this year.

Improving the sector 

Across the 26 universities, over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), there is a R7.584 billion budget, with R2.953 billion going towards student housing for the delivery of 16 858 beds across 11 universities.

Of these, 15 898 are new beds and 960 are refurbished beds.

Nzimande acknowledged that more needs to be done.

“Clearly R2.953 billion is inadequate for student accommodation, therefore we will seek private sector partnerships, including those already indicating they are investing on their own.”

The ministry, Nzimande said, will in the current financial year explore feasibility studies on the new science and innovation universitie,s and a crime detection institution to the value of R6 million.

He said he had revitalised and expanded the Imbali Education and Innovation Precinct project as a pilot to explore and test an alternative modality of education delivery, based on closer multi-educational institutional co-operation and closer articulation, with science and innovation linkages. 

This integration, Nzimande said, will ensure that the country produces a well- rounded student, ready to take up positions within the country’s economy and society.

For this project, R90 million will be allocated during the fourth Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant (IEG) cycles.

For the current MTEF, an allocation of R182.11 million has been recommended.

The next precinct to be established will be in Giyani, Limpopo, where a university campus will be set up. 

Government has set aside R10 million for the expansion and relocation of the University of Zululand teacher training faculty to the former Zululand Parliamentary Precinct at Ulundi. 

“We are also building the Sekhukhune Skills Development Centre to the value of R146.9 million, through our Wholesale and Retail SETA, in collaboration with the Sekhukhune TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] College,” Nzimande said.

In the current financial year, the department had added a number of campus level projects to the TVET infrastructure initiative, with a R2.9 billion value.  

The ministry had a R130.1 billion budget in the 2022/23 financial year.

SA NEWS