KWAZULU-NATAL has a new MEC for Education – Mbalenhle Cleopatra Frazer. 

Frazer, who replaces Kwazi Mshengu following a cabinet reshuffle last week, is a former teacher and a trade unionist.

She commenced her work last Friday.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union’s (SATDU) in KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed the appointment of Frazer as the new KZN MEC for Education.

“As a teacher herself, the new MEC understands the Department and the needs of schools. SADTU hopes she will embrace unions and other stakeholders and work with them to further stabilise the department and ensure that the environment in schools is truly supportive of quality education delivery,” said SADTU provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza.

SATDU thanked Mshengu for the work he has done since his appointment as the MEC for Education in the province.

“His open-door policy allowed all stakeholders to feel free to raise issues with him. This, SADTU believes was based on his understanding that all stakeholders are equally important and central in the delivery of quality public education. Honesty and transparency were his guiding principleswhich enabled him to survive in the department.” Caluza.

SADTU said that Frazer is taking over a stable department.

“By saying the Department is stable does not suggest that there are no challenges. The Department that she is inheriting is facing the effects of budget cuts which is why there are not enough teachers in schools, backlog in infrastructure, safety and security challenges in schools and many other known challenges.”

Caluza urged Frazer to prioritise the province’s Quality Learning and Teaching campaign.

“Prioritise the Quality Learning and Teaching campaign through mobilising all stakeholders and
education loving people to participate in protecting schools. Making schools safe and ensuring that there are no lesson losses.”

Newly appointed KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said Frazer will be meeting with organised labour, school principals, school governing bodies and communities.”

The South African Principals Association -KwaZulu Natal, has congratulated also Frazer on her new appointment.

SAPA KZN said “through our collective and professional participation, strive to excel in our task through self-development and interaction as an independent, non-racial and non-aligned Association.”

Mshengu has been the MEC for Education since 2019 said he was grateful for the opportunity given to him by the ANC to serve the people of KZN.

“I have always understood and appreciated that I serve at the behest of my organisation and that it reserves a right to make any decision and at any given moment concerning the position I held on its behalf. Acting in accordance with this appreciation, I have always regarded this assignment not as career but a service,” said Mshengu.

“I wish to sincerely thank all staff members from the Department of Education for being a cornerstone of the victories we scored. Collectively we have steered the education sector in the province to what I verily believe is the right direction,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

DANICA HANSEN

BADMINTON players from Durban Girls’ High School won the SA High Schools Championships this week.

The finals were held at KZN Badminton Hall in Morningside on Monday, August 8. Matches kicked off on
Saturday, August 6 with some tough competition on the court.

Speaking to Berea Mail, Durban Girls’ High School Badminton coach Gilles Audibert said his team will
represent South Africa in Mauritius at the All Africa Championships.

“This upcoming tournament in Mauritius hosts the best of the best from countries in Africa. We are
hoping to put the funds together to get there,” he said.

Audibert added that this is the first time in Durban Girls’ High School history that a badminton team has
made it to the national finals.

“I am so impressed with my team’s performance. Considering that two of our players just started
playing badminton three years ago, this is a huge achievement. This was the first time we not only made
it to the finals but won,” he said.

Callista Ramowtar, who is on the Durban Girls’ High School team, recently represented South Africa in
the U15 category in an international tournament in Benin.

Several other Berea schools took part in the event, including Durban High School and Durban Girls’
College.

Emelda Botha, junior chairperson for KZN Badminton, and national junior selector for Badminton South
Africa, said there were seven teams participating in the boys’ category and seven teams in the girls’
category.

In the girls’ category, Durban Girls’ High School placed first, followed by Thandi E Sibeco Secondary
School in second place and Alberton Girls’ High School in third position. The Westville Boys’ High School
team placed first in the boys’ category, followed by Jim Fouche School in second place and Durban High
School in third position.

Botha noted a decline in participants following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The tournament went really well. Lots of fun was had by all, and we hope to see the number of
participants increase going forward. The last time we held this tournament, there were 33 teams. This
year, we had just 14 teams enter,” she said.

The national tournament is held annually in various provinces.

BEREAMAIL

THE deadline for stakeholders and interested individuals to submit written comments on the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA Bill closed on Monday.

This after the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education issued a reminder that gave people an opportunity to comment on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill.

Committee Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said the committee received several requests for an extension to the deadline, which was initially set for June 15, 2022.

Mbinqo-Gigaba said that the committee appreciates the public’s input and wants to ensure legislation that speaks to the needs and wants of the sector.

“The committee noted several factors that could have impacted on the public not having sufficient time to comment on the Bill, like it being an examination period. As the committee appreciates public input and wants to ensure legislation that speaks to the needs and wants of the sector, we decided to heed the calls for the extension of the deadline,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.

BELA was introduced to Parliament on January 10 and seeks to hand control to the department in determining a school’s language policy.

The Bill proposes to amend the South African Schools Act (SASA) of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act (EEA) of 1998, so as to align them with developments in the education landscape and to ensure that systems of learning are put in place in a manner that gives effect to the right to basic education enshrined in section 29(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Amongst other things, the Bill seeks to amend certain definitions, to provide that attendance of Grade R is compulsory and to provide for system improvements in terms of admission of learners to public schools.

It also provides for financial and public accountability frameworks for governing bodies and provincial departments.

The Bill further provides the Minister with additional regulatory powers and enhances the decision-making and oversight powers of heads of departments and those of members of executive councils.

The Bill further proposes technical and substantive adjustments, clarifies certain existing provisions, inserts provisions not provided for in existing legislation and strengthens enforcement mechanisms for offences and penalties.

The committee urges any person or organisation wishing to submit written comments is at liberty to direct submission for attention: Mr Llewellyn Brown, the Committee Secretary, via email: belabill02@parliament.gov.za or online at https://forms.gle/MoC6AdbdQyYPk3Y49 or via WhatsApp: +27 60 550 9848. Mr Llewellyn Brown can be reached on 083 709 8450 for
enquiries.

The Bill is accessible at: https://www.parliament.gov.za/bill/2300398

Written submissions must reach Parliament by no later than 15 August 2022 at 16:00.

In addition to written submissions, kindly indicate if you would like to make oral submissions.

All correspondence should be addressed to Mrs BP Mbinqo-Gigaba, Chairperson: PC on Basic Education and marked for the attention of Mr LA Brown.

The public is urged to provide the name, surname, telephone number, and email address of the person or organisation submitting the comments.

INSIDE EDUCATION

PROCTORING software monitors a student’s computer or phone while they write exams. These programs have been around for some time but became ubiquitous during online learning in the pandemic.

Proctoria, Respondus and Proctor U, the most popular programs, have enjoyed a 500% increase in usage since the start of COVID-19 and proctoring software is now a US$19 billion global market.

Some proctoring programs work by checking that the student has only the test software and no other programs open; others monitor keystrokes. Some use the computer’s camera or cellphone audio to check that the student is working alone. A number of South African universities have taken up cellphone monitoring programs.

But this software is not innocuous.

I argue in a recent article that the uptake of proctoring software is a symptom of a much larger problem.

Universities have neglected their educational responsibilities in service of a neoliberal ideology. This positions students as customers and higher education as a business. It’s a problem because when universities become businesses selling qualifications, it narrows their potential to be places where students enjoy transformative relationships with knowledge, and where knowledge is created to serve people and the planet.

The ability to memorise information and regurgitate it within a short time limit is required in only a small handful of situations. What most students need is to understand how knowledge is made in their field of study, what contributions that field makes to society, and how they can source and evaluate information to answer questions and resolve problems. They need to learn how to be ethical, critical citizens.

Assessment directed towards such ends looks very different from current practices, which are obsessed with both memorisation and cheating.

What’s wrong with proctoring

Proctoring raises three issues of concern: privacy, racism and ableism.

Privacy: Those selling the software insist that students give consent to its use. But if students don’t, they are excluded from the exam. Universities have ethics committees to make sure their researchers don’t use such coercive tactics and yet they use them on students. Researchers have to ensure that potential participants fully understand a study’s potential risks and benefits before they can offer informed consent.

The invasiveness of the software is well documented and many scholars have said it has most of the characteristics of illegal spyware.

Allowing a stranger to listen in on a student’s family home as they write a test is surely an indication that it’s the wrong way of doing assessment.

Racism of facial recognition software: Whether it is the photo tagging suggestions of social media, border security systems, or proctoring software, facial recognition remains poor at recognising people with darker skin. The artificial intelligence that compares the face on the student card to the person in front of the computer camera is far more likely to flag a suspicion if that student is black than if they are white.

Ableism of facial recognition: Anyone with a body shape that does not meet the program’s expectations can find themselves flagged as suspicious. This includes the tics and stimming of people with Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s syndrome and autism.

Many American universities have now opted out of proctoring software in response to protests by academics and students.

But opting out attends to the symptom – universities spying on their students – and not to the causes of such activities.

Neoliberal ideology

The underlying cause is that many universities around the world have taken on a neoliberal ideology, whereby the worth of any person, object, creature or activity is thought to be measurable in terms of its contribution to the economy.

A neoliberal university believes, firstly, that it is a business in the knowledge market. In commercialising education, universities increasingly outsource educational activities – such as monitoring examinations using proctoring software.

When Ian Linkletter, an educational technologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, tweeted criticisms of the proctoring software used in his university, he was sued by the company. The market cannot allow the critical engagement that should be at the heart of a university.

Secondly, the neoliberal university treats the student as a customer. In a world where knowledge is packaged and sold as a commodity, software companies convince universities that their product, the qualifications they award, can be devalued if they are not policed.

In such an understanding of the university, proctoring software makes sense.

It should come as no surprise that students are quickly learning to game the system. The internet is replete with tips on how to confuse the software and get assistance online even while the software is running.

The third characteristic of neoliberal ideology is that power is accorded along lines of wealth. This characteristic is also in evidence in most universities worldwide. The university, as a relatively wealthy institution, has the power to implement invasive technology without much challenge. The average student must simply comply.

Universities for the common good

It becomes impossible to implement proctoring software if the conception of the university is that it is a social structure that contributes powerful, principled knowledge in service of people and the planet.

Such a social structure would need to expend significant energy in inducting students into their role as knowledge creators and encouraging them to take on this identity responsibly. This would require shifts in how academics interact with students and articulate the purpose of a higher education to students and the public. It would also require a rethink of the form and function of assessment.

THE CONVERSATION

KEMISOLA Bolarinwa is a robotics and embedded systems engineer. She’s also the Founder and CEO of Nextwear Technologies, a company that builds wearables to enhance healthcare. While her invention of the smart bra shot her into the limelight, she discovered why most people shy away from deep tech in Nigeria. 

In addition to being an inventor, Bolarinwa is also a strong advocate for getting more women interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), something she was passionate about growing up. 

In February 2022, she designed the prototype for her biggest invention yet, the smart bra, spurred by the death of a loved one in 2017. 

Before the death of her aunt, she rarely paid any attention to breast cancer because it was just something she heard on the TV or radio. In her experience, people don’t care about things like that until they happen to them.

Making frequent trips to the hospital and seeing her aunt and other women painfully battle breast cancer was heartbreaking. And after losing her aunt to the disease, Bolarinwa began researching ways to tackle it.

She soon discovered that early detection was the key to beating breast cancer, but unfortunately, most women don’t detect it until it’s too late. After a year and a half of intense research, she came up with the Smart bra in 2019.

To detect lumps in the breast, the smart bra repurposes ultrasound technology into a small form factor. Shrinking down an ultrasound machine to a portable size where it becomes wearable. 

According to Bolarinwa, this was possible with nanotechnology — a branch of science, technology, and engineering that deals with the manufacturing of tech in small sizes. 

For more context, the smart bra uses an ultrasound system called the Doppler that bounces high-frequency sound waves off the body to detect blood clots, heart defects, and blocked arteries. This works differently from ultrasound machines that use sound waves to generate images of the scanned area.

The Doppler ultrasound was re-engineered into small sensors distributed within the cups of the bra to sense lumps. Apart from that, the smart bra also uses the Internet of things (IoT) to communicate results to a smartphone or laptop. It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery (LiPo). 

While researching, Bolarinwa found that most women often forgot or didn’t know to check their breasts for lumps; the Smart bra does this for them seamlessly. 

The device only needs to be worn for up to 30 minutes to get the readings required, and its IoT and Application Programming Interface (API) components translate readings into understandable information via a mobile app. 

After years of research and developing a prototype, there’s still a lot of work to be done on the smart bra before it can be commercialised.

Bolarinwa said the smart bra still needs further development and extensive clinical trials and gave a time frame between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 for mass production.

But, she also admitted she’d probably be raising her seed round if she built a software platform. 

“In four months, a fintech platform will be built and be ready for the market.” This is one of the reasons why few people play in the hardware or deep tech side of technology in Africa. 

With deep tech, research and development could be a fintech startup’s Series A; developing a prototype afterwards is a separate conversation. Then mass-producing the product could run into hundreds of millions of dollars. 

According to Bolarinwa, getting parts to build the prototype alone took months to import. Another challenge unique to her invention was getting adequate research materials and institutes. 

“There aren’t enough research institutes,” she said. Besides doing intense Google searches and watching countless YouTube videos, she had no infrastructure to conduct hands-on research in laboratories. 

While Nextwear Technologies hasn’t launched a product into the market yet, it has not had trouble getting funding. 

Bolarinwa said the prototype launch made many people reach out to her. Some even proffered solutions on how the sensors can read higher and more accurate frequencies, while others offered investment opportunities. 

To date, she has gotten over $120,000 in funding. However, other hardware manufacturers in Nigeria aren’t as lucky. 

Startup funding reports have shown that African startups are getting funded. However, most of the financing goes to startups with software solutions. Last year, 62% of the $4 billion African startups raised went to fintech, while 8% went to biotech. 

A 2019 Techpoint Africa article revealed that “investors may lack the expertise needed to accurately evaluate the potential of these technologies.”

Bolarinwa’s solution has had people from all over the world reach out to her. Some in awe of its novelty, and others to play a part in developing the tech. 

However, little support has come from the Nigerian government. Expressing her disappointment, she said, “we’re Nigerians and we know how it works, so I’m not surprised. Even when we call for follow-ups, it seems we’re disturbing the government.” 

Meanwhile, it hasn’t just been crickets and silence on the part of the government. Bolarinwa admitted that the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, provided support towards getting a patent registration for her invention. 

Despite this, she decried the lack of encouragement for hardware developers, the ones capable of solving problems from the roots. 

From the military to medicine and engineering, Bolarinwa believes deep technology holds the cure for Africa’s failing economies.

Techpoint.africa

THE Department of Basic Education is making significant changes to the school curriculum to boost mathematics, science and technology among learners in the country – and is rolling out equipment and software to support new subjects including robotics and coding.

Responding in a written parliamentary Q&A this week, basic education minister Angie Motshekga provided an update on how schools are being supported in this strategy.

One of the key strategies being used, Motshekga said, is leveraging existing STEM programmes at schools.

The department launched the Dinaledi Schools project in 2005, which was subsequently merged with the Mathematics, Science and Technology Conditional Grant following a review by the DBE in 2015.

The strategic goal of the MST Grant is to increase the number of learners taking mathematics, science and technology subjects, improve the success rates in the subjects, and improve teachers’ capabilities, the department said.

“The grant’s purpose is to provide support and resources to schools, teachers and learners in line with the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for the improvement of mathematics, science and technology teaching and learning at selected public schools,” Motshekga said.

Notably, the department’s recent push into new subjects like robotics and coding and vocational training has become a significant part of the project.

According to Motshekga, 485 schools have so far been supplied with subject-specific computer hardware and related software for CAPS tech subjects, including coding and robotics pilot schools.

There have also been 1,256 laboratories supplied with apparatus and consumables for mathematics, science and technology subjects, including coding and robotics kits, she said.

In terms of student support, the department noted that 50,000 learners in the country registered to participate in mathematics, science and technology olympiads/fairs/expos and other events, including support through learner camps and additional learning, teaching and support material such as study guides.

There have also been 1,500 teachers attending specific structured training and orientation in subject content and teaching methodologies on CAPS for electrical, civil and mechanical technology, technical mathematics, and technical sciences.

Over 1,000 teachers and subject advisors have attended targeted and structured training in teaching methodologies and subject content either for mathematics, physical, life, natural and agricultural sciences, technology, computer applications technology, information technology, agricultural management and technology subjects, it said.

The department plans to fully implement coding and robotics as new schools subject for Grade R-3 and 7 students in the 2023 academic year.

A pilot curriculum for these subjects was initially introduced at some schools in the third term of the 2021 academic year, it said. It plans to expand these tech-focused subjects to other grades in subsequent years.

The coding and robotics pilot for Grades 4-6 and for Grades 8 was planned for 2022 and will be followed by a Grade 9 pilot in 2023. The full-scale implementation for Grades 4-6 and Grade 8 is planned for 2024, and Grade 9 in 2025, the department said.

Skill shortage

While the department is boosting its support and training for these new technical subjects, experts in the education field have warned that the country is facing a shortage of skilled teachers, mainly because a large percentage of the current workforce is nearing retirement age.

The Department of Basic Education has previously responded to claims of a skills crisis in teaching, saying that the number of new teaching graduates is increasing every year.

“The number of initial teacher education graduates has grown over the last 10 years from an output of about 7,973 in 2010 to 31,799 in 2020,” it said.

The 25,000 graduates mark was reached in 2017, it said, adding that the current enrolment trends point to the upward trajectory in graduation numbers.

The output of graduates is favoured towards the Senior/Further Education and Training Phases (SP/FET) – partly because the two qualification pathways allow for SP/FET to qualify through both the Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) while Foundation Phase (FP) is largely limited to BEd pathway, the department said.

The average teacher attrition rate over is 15,200 a year – largely due to retirement but also because of resignations, ill health and death.

The teacher supply in terms of quantity is reasonably adequate, the department said, at least from the analysis of the situation in public education.

BUSINESS TECH

SOUTH African women have been challenged to take part in conversations aimed at finding solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Member of the Presidential Climate Change Commission, Princess Tsakani Nkambule, said women must be at the centre of decision making because they endure the most of the adverse effects of climate change.

“As women, we need to prepare [ourselves] on how we will be impacted by this climate change conditions, [and] how do we adjust our businesses in our environment to respond to the impact of climate change.

“Women in South Africa, especially women in rural areas are vulnerable and at the worst conditions. Women, children and the unemployed form part of society that need to ensure that during transition they are not left behind,” Nkambule said on Friday.

Nkambule was speaking at a webinar on the impact of climate change on women.

The webinar, hosted by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) as part of Women’s Month celebrations, provided a conversational space for women to reflect on the unique ways in which they are impacted by climate change, including ways in which different industries can adapt their operations to respond to the effect of climate change.

Nkambule noted that the country is pursuing an energy mix that includes renewables.

“As women where are we? How do we participate in this environment, how do we transform our businesses as we are operating today and move towards the green economy? How do we ensure that in our environment there’s upskilling to allow us to participate in this economy?”

Farmer Thandiwe Mchunu, from Amahlongwa near Umkomaas, on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, insisted that there is no need to take organic waste to landfills.

Instead, she said, households can use their vegetable peels.

“What we need to do, even at household level, whenever you are in the kitchen peeling that onion, or just eating your banana or orange, do not take the peels to the bin. We are turning food waste into fresh food, we have the skills and strength [and] even support from our communities and families. Ours is to access the market to grow from small scale to big scale farmers,” Mchunu said.

She also admits that while there is plenty of land in rural areas to be used for farming, it is not easy for women to access it.

“Everyone needs to come into [the] economic war and fight to enter the space, whether you are in rural areas or in the township, you need to be able to ask yourself what are you contributing to mitigate climate change,” Mchunu said.

Mchunu, who is currently studying towards a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, also noted that South Africa has many women graduating in engineering, even in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas. She said these are change maker careers that can come up with solutions to address climate change.

Just Energy Transition Framework

Last month, the Presidential Climate Committee (PCC) presented the Just Energy Transition (JET) Framework to President Cyril Ramaphosa, which will serve as a key evidence-based guide for policy making for South Africa’s transition from a carbon intensive economy towards a greener and cleaner economy.

President Ramaphosa said as the framework underscores, combating climate change is not only an environmental imperative, but an economic one as well.

“This framework is an evidence-based document and a victory for evidence-based policymaking. The publication of this framework must now serve as a call to action to each of us to embrace the opportunities presented by a low-carbon, inclusive, climate resilient economy and society,” the President said at the time.

The PCC has held stakeholder engagements, community dialogues and colloquiums in a bid to conduct robust research and analysis and hear views on South Africa’s transition in a bid to leave no one behind.

SA NEWS

THE Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has concluded an agreement with Noorder Paarl High School for the use of the Sandrift Sports Facility property adjacent to the school.

The school principal and community members had approached the department earlier this year, asking about the use of the property as the school was in need of sporting facilities and the property was not being used.

De Lille noted that, as the custodian of state-owned properties, the department has a mandate to provide land or buildings for use by government departments and through sale, donation or letting out, the department may also enter into agreements with community-based organisations to use properties not being utilised by government for community purposes.

“The Noorder Paarl High School, which is a no fee school with more than 1 000 pupils, has been in dire need of proper sporting facilities for many years. The school contacted the department to enquire about the use of the field and following the finalisation of various due processes within the department, we are delighted that we were able to sign a User Agreement with the school on Friday, 5 August 2022.

“This agreement with the Noorder Paarl High School is in line with my commitment that we must use public land for public good and I am pleased that we were able to conclude this agreement with the school to enable them to have a space for sporting activities,” de Lille said.

She said the school principal and the governing body welcomed this agreement, saying it would greatly assist their work of conducting sports activities with decent facilities.

The Minister said many schools and community organisations do good work in communities and “access to sporting facilities is an important part in the development of young people and the community at large”.

She emphasised that access to facilities and land is one of the key forms of assistance government can give to enable communities to have a sense of belonging and see communities reach their full potential.

“Very often under-resourced communities struggle to hone and develop young sporting talent due to lack of facilities and it is incumbent on us to work with communities to provide available spaces so that communities can efficiently carry out community upliftment and development work.

“Many of our country’s great sporting talents hail from Paarl, like the late Chester Williams had to travel outside Paarl to practice sports, and we must do a lot more to help communities such as providing access to land and services so that they can fulfil their aspirations without any hindrances,” the Minister said.

She said the department’s responsibilities include monitoring the agreement to ensure that operational efficiency of the building is maintained and user complies with terms and conditions of the agreement.

The department has also committed to do renovations to bring the facilities up to standard.

The sporting field has been made available to the Noorder Paarl High School to be used for activities associated with various sporting codes, in compliance with the relevant legislation and the agreement.

“It is my hope that this agreement will allow the school to enhance development of sporting talents and give young people a safe space to participate in sport. Sport is an important part of social development and sport fields often provide children with a safe haven where they can escape the ills in our communities by having a space where they can develop their talents,” de Lille said.

SA NEWS

THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has launched investigation into awarding of honours degrees at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed that the unit will probe allegations of maladministration in the awarding of honours degrees, mismanagement of funds and sourcing of public servants for study into various faculty programmes by ‘an individual’ for personal gain at the University of Fort Hare.

Kganyago said the SIU will also launch a probe into four irregular tenders at the University of Fort Hare.

“These include contacts for cleaning and gardening services, the leasing of student accommodation tender, the appointment of service provider for the maintenance and repair of air conditioning systems, and collusion between officials of the University and service providers, in which such officials held direct or indirect interests,” said Kganyago.

“Any unlawful or improper conduct by the officials, employees, service providers, suppliers to the university or any entity will be investigated by the SIU.”

The proclamation by President Cyril Ramaphosa covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that took place between 1 November 2012 and 5 August 2022.

Last year, UFH laid criminal charges against Nigerian fugitive Professor Edwin Ijeoma for the alleged irregular admission and registration of two students, including Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane.

Mabuyane was excluded from UFH’s master’s programme and deregistered as a student for not meeting the basic requirements.

He threatened to appeal.

The Eastern Cape premier was supervised by Ijeoma, who resigned after he was suspended for allegedly defrauding the university.

The allegations against him included that he irregularly registered axed health MEC Sindiswa Gomba for an honours degree in public administration.

The university also opened cases of theft of money, theft of a university vehicle, and fraud of about R5 million for sketchy and unauthorised academic work and programmes for the Eastern Cape legislature and municipal authorities without the knowledge and consent of the institution.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Cyrill Walters, Armand Bam and Patrizio Piraino

THE under-representation of women in research is well documented. Emerging evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this inequality and disrupted the research enterprise globally.

But none of these studies, mainly from the global north, provide detailed explanations for the scale of this decline.

Our research offers the first comprehensive study to shed light on the complex reasons for the decline in research during the pandemic-enforced lockdown.

We surveyed 2,029 women academics drawn from 26 public universities in South Africa. Other studies have shown that there are heightened expectations that women take on the role of primary care giver in families and sacrifice parts of their careers due to this role. Similarly, women in the academy are expected to fulfil this role in caring for students, taking on greater teaching and learning responsibilities compared to men.

Overall our findings showed that having younger or multiple dependants at various educational stages and the demands of home schooling had a negative impact on the outputs of women academics. Competing roles such as teaching online and caring for students, together with the sharp increase in teaching time, placed a massive burden on female academics. Their research outputs suffered.

Women also acknowledged the lack of emotional support they got as working academics.

What we found

The single most important factor affecting the academic work of female academics appears to be having younger or multiple dependants in the home. Overall, the pandemic has most affected academic work among women with children. Of the respondents in our study, 54% indicated they had children living at home with them.

From our study, it’s evident that the age and educational stage of the children was a significant contributor to the decline in productivity among female academics. The demands of caring for toddlers and the schools’ expectations of homeschooling took their toll. Academic mothers were caught up in the demands of competing roles. These included teaching online, nurturing vulnerable students, comforting anxious children, taking care of toddlers, and finding time to do research and writing.

A key finding in our survey was the sharp increase in the demands on teaching time during lockdown. This took up time that female academics would have spent on research. Academics perform many different roles, including teaching, research, grant-proposal writing, administrative duties, and other tasks depending on their rank and discipline. Our survey showed that the distribution of teaching and research was not at all even.

Our study suggested that the pandemic affected researchers differently according to their disciplines. Those in the “bench sciences”, such as chemistry, biological sciences and biochemistry, were explicit in stating that the closure of laboratories or facilities affected their research productivity. Disciplines that are less lab and equipment-intensive were also affected. But these cases were often related to individual circumstances such as the ability to do fieldwork in particular social science fields.

Most women (75.1%) indicated that doing their academic work (teaching and research) was “somewhat” to “extremely” difficult during the lockdown. About 16% reported that it was easier. In further analysis of participants who indicated that work was easier, it became evident that these perceptions were correlated to the following factors: having children, and their ages; career stages; commuting conditions; and work arrangements prior to lockdown.

Overall, a total of 40.5% of the participants indicated they needed much more – or significantly more – emotional support as working academics to cope with the demands of the job. Several respondents expressed feelings of unending exhaustion. This reduced their ability to focus and to be productive. The feeling of despair and a sense of the unfairness of workload distribution was a key theme that emerged from our data.

The lockdown has had a profound effect on women’s academic productivity – 31.6% reported having made “no progress”. Over a fifth indicated they’d made “some progress” towards completing a significant academic product. This will likely affect the prospects of academics for promotion and advancement.

Career prospects

A large number of women in our study (48.1%) indicated that the lockdown would negatively affect their academic career prospects. This points to the need for institutions to track the effects of the pandemic, and provide support.

Leaders in academic institutions need to be aware that female academic staff view the lockdown as yet another barrier to equity. They also need to consider the effects of the pandemic on career challenges in recruitment and promotion decisions.

A major theme that emerged was how women academics’ role as nurturers played a critical part in the intersecting functions of caring for their students and their families during the pandemic. Our study showed how the emotional, psychological and educational needs of students drew academic women into extensive nurturing roles, beyond caring for their families. This had a negative impact on academic work.

It also showed the workings of the symbiotic relationship of giving care (by women academics) and requiring care (by students) in a pandemic. Furthermore, the study highlighted the precarity of academic women’s work under pandemic conditions.

Going forward

Although the respondents in this study were based in South Africa, it’s evident from this – and prior research – that the pandemic has had an effect on the academic enterprise globally.

The pandemic poses a lasting threat to gender equality in academia. We call on institutional leaders, science councils, academic societies and funding bodies to implement policies to mitigate the career risks that female academics encountered during the enforced lockdown.

It’s not only the introduction of new policies but the attitudes towards those policies that needs attention. Achieving gender equality in the academic enterprise requires institutional commitment, as well as knowledge and competence to achieve organisational change.

THE CONVERSATION