Simone Datzberger and Musenze Junior Brian

CHILDREN in Uganda missed out on more school because of the COVID pandemic than their peers anywhere else in the world. An estimated 15 million pupils in the East African nation did not attend school for 83 weeks – that’s almost two years. Statistical models predict a learning deficit of 2.8 years in Uganda because of the time lost through COVID-related closures.

Now the education system has been hit by another public health emergency. In early November the government announced that preschools, primary and secondary schools must close their doors for the year ten days earlier than planned. This is part of its attempt to contain an Ebola outbreak which had, by 16 November, killed 55 people; eight were children.

Of course, it’s crucial for Uganda to try and stop Ebola from spreading. The disease has a far higher fatality rate than COVID. The country’s packed classrooms and poor school infrastructure, such as poor ventilation and sanitation, make students highly vulnerable to infections.

But young Ugandans have already fallen far behind in their learning because of COVID. And, as the effects of climate change worsen, Africa is becoming increasingly vulnerable to health emergencies, including a number of infectious diseases.

That makes it incredibly important for Uganda to find a way to balance the realities of public health emergencies with children’s right to education. This is a particularly pressing issue in low-income contexts where many children struggle to complete their schooling even outside emergency situations.

Kids are already far behind

In a previous study emerging from a larger project called CoVAC(led by Karen Devries, Jenny Parkes and Dipak Naker), we outlined the many harms and losses Ugandan children and youth faced due to the prolonged closure of schools.

When schools finally reopened in January 2022, one in ten students did not report back to school. Some schools had closed for good.

The government tried to support distance learning through TV, radio, newspapers, downloadable curricula or, in some instances, via mobile phones. However, most interventions, in particular those that required access to a mobile phone or computer only benefited urban elites with the means to send their children to expensive private schools.

Almost all of the participants in our study had no or limited access to the resources needed to effectively engage with these materials. Girls in remote areas were especially disadvantaged, as they tended to have less access to mobile phones than boys.

Most of our study participants were not able to continue their schooling via distance learning. They eventually gave up on their education.

Homeschooling became a common practice in wealthier countries. But in Uganda it was a privilege reserved for only a few children from higher socio-economic backgrounds and expensive schools. The majority of Ugandan caregivers have to make an income in any way they can and often lack the time, space and resources to earn with their children at home.

Although schools will be only closed for a relatively short time, losing another ten days of learning may weaken the trust among Ugandans in the functioning of their educational institutions. Many Ugandans struggle to pay for their children’s school fees and will question the real value of education in light of current and potentially more interruptions.

Overhauling current model

Uganda’s education sector needs to be strengthened so that disruptions caused by future health emergencies do not leave children even further behind in their schooling.

This will require an overhaul of how education is governed, implemented and made accessible during emergency situations. Uganda inherited its education system from its former British colonial administration. The appropriation of western and former colonial education systems by countries in sub-Saharan Africa has been questioned and critiqued by many, particularly African scholars.

Schooling, it is argued, was initially used as a tool by former colonisers to “conquer the African mind”. It ignored local culture and context with the intention to sustain colonial administration and nurture exploitative economic structures.

Today, part of the problem with adopting a universal model of schooling is that the many flaws inherent in western-style education are exacerbated in times of crisis. For instance, the model champions a form of schooling that is time and location bound. It does not easily adapt to alternative forms of education that allow for a more flexible mode of learning in the absence of a functioning school.

If adequately resourced and well implemented, alternative modes of learning during school closures can help the most vulnerable children and youth in their educational trajectories and overall well-being. This could be in the form of supporting distance learning in a different manner, such as the potential of outdoors teaching and learning where there is enough space for social distancing. Nearby teachers could be engaged to support locally organised, small learning groups of children in their respective communities.

Another option could be to ensure safe and continuous access to education in a staggered manner under strict hygienic measures. Investments in partnerships with local agencies and community-based organisations could help to facilitate radio, TV or internet-based learning spaces for children and youth with no access to learning technology.

Urgent

Some Ugandans told us that they fear schools will be closed for far longer than initially announced. This happened repeatedly during the COVID pandemic. It is also sadly likely that Ebola will not be the last epidemic the country must manage.

That’s why novel strategies and more resources are urgently needed to finally address deeply rooted social injustices in and outside education that arise before, during and after public health emergencies. Otherwise, children will be continuously at a high risk of dropping out of school, making them vulnerable to child labour or teenage pregnancies.

THE CONVERSATION

TRADE union Solidarity says that new laws proposed under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA bill) are a poorly veiled attempt by the national government to centralise power and control over schools in the country, taking away parents’ say in their children’s education.

The union will present its opinions on the laws to the portfolio committee on basic education on Tuesday (21 November), joining a raft of other interest groups and stakeholders that have made their views known over the last two weeks.

In a statement ahead of the presentation, Solidarity said that if the Amendment Bill becomes law, governing bodies would ultimately forfeit all their powers to the state.

The group said that the bill offers a way for the government to centralise its power over schools and learners while the rights of governing bodies would be undermined and, in some cases, destroyed.

“Clearly, the state’s intention is to centralise the education system. Enactment of this Amendment Bill will have tragic consequences for school communities and the children who get their education at public schools,” it said.

“Solidarity is of the opinion that it is of crucial importance that…the quality of the education learners get remain in the hands of the parents – the people who have a direct and immediate stake in the quality thereof.”

The view that the proposed laws will remove power from the hands of parents and governing bodies and place it within government – open to political interference and abuse – has become a central theme in the pushback against the bill.

The issue was first raised in this manner by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which previously noted that the amendments are effectively politicising education by taking the power out of the hands of the communities and parents who know what is best for their children and putting it in the hands of the government.

Several commentators and presenters before the portfolio committee have expressed similar beliefs, with many calling on the government to focus its efforts on intervening at schools that require it and leaving those that are functioning well alone.

Presenting last week (15 November), the Federation of Associations of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) noted that 80% of school governing bodies in the country are dysfunctional and require intervention.

However, it said that the functional and successful bodies should be allowed to continue as they are, without the interference of the state.

On Monday (21 November), the association added that the BELA Bill was full of shortcomings that have been missed by those not practised in dealing with the governance of schools.

This is especially the case in many of the seemingly minor and technical amendments that could have far-reaching consequences or simply do not do enough to address the needs of the country, it said.

One such aspect is how a school’s capacity is determined, it said.

“The actual implication is the number of learners in a classroom. The bigger picture is that there are still far too few schools in some areas of the country, especially schools that offer quality education. Parents and guardians obviously want to enrol their children in good schools, and these are not always the closest schools.”

The group said that clear guidelines on the determination of a school’s capacity are lacking in the current amendments.

Another shortfall in the amendments relates to conflicts between national and provincial regulations.

“Each provincial education department has a different interpretation of national legislation. Not only is this often clumsy, but in many cases, it goes against the spirit of the South African Schools’ Act and other national regulations,” the group said.

Proposed changes

Broadly, the BELA Bill proposes to amend the South African Schools Act (SASA) and the Employment of Educators Act (EEA) to tackle several issues that have gained prominence in South Africa.

This includes some definitions which are not clear, introducing ways to hold school governing bodies (SGBs) more accountable, and taking control over language policies from SGBs and giving it to the government.

Some of the key amendments that the bill aims to make include:

– Making grade R the new compulsory school starting age, as opposed to grade 1, as is currently the case.

– Forcing homeschooled learners to be registered for this type of schooling.

– Criminalising parents who do not ensure their child or children are in school, with fines or jail time up to 12 months.

– Prohibiting educators from conducting business with the state or being a director of public or private companies conducting business with the state.

– Abolishing corporal punishment and initiation/hazing practices.

– Allowing schools to sell alcohol outside of school hours.

– Giving government department heads power over language policies and the curriculums a school must adopt.

Previous submissions to the committee implored lawmakers to drop alcohol sales from the planned changes and pushed back hard against giving the government the power to determine language policies and admission requirements.

The bill is currently being processed by parliament and is at the stage of public consultation. More presentations are expected on Tuesday.

BUSINESS TECH

THE Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has continued to listen to oral submissions from public groups around the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill.

The planned laws have been met with wide criticism in the submissions heard so far, with the latest round of commentary continuing to push back against key elements of the bill – including a big change for language policies.

Broadly, the BELA Bill proposes to amend the South African Schools Act (SASA) and the Employment of Educators Act (EEA) to tackle several issues that have gained prominence in South Africa.

This includes some definitions which are not clear, introducing ways to hold school governing bodies (SGBs) more accountable, and taking control over language policies from SGBs and giving it to the government.

Some of the key amendments that the bill aims to make include:

– Making grade R the new compulsory school starting age, as opposed to grade 1, as is currently the case.

– Forcing homeschooled learners to be registered for this type of schooling.

– Criminalising parents who do not ensure their child or children are in school, with fines or jail time up to 12 months.

– Holding school governing bodies more accountable for disclosures of financial interests – including those related to their spouses and family members.

– Prohibiting educators from conducting business with the state or being a director of public or private companies conducting business with the state.

– Abolishing corporal punishment and initiation/hazing practices.

– Allowing schools to sell alcohol outside of school hours.

– Giving government department heads power over language policies and the curriculums a school must adopt.

Previous submissions to the committee implored lawmakers to leave schools that are performing well alone and to get rid of any attempt to sell alcohol on school grounds.

Concerns have also been raised about extending the government’s powers to interfere with language policies.

The latest round of submissions has echoed many of these sentiments while addressing new challenges.

The committee heard from nine organisations and stakeholders wanting to contribute to the drafting of the legislation.

This includes the Pestalozzi Trust, the Federation of Associations of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), Section 27, Cause for Justice, AfriForum and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

Fedsas, representing school governing bodies, said that about 80% of school governing bodies in the country are dysfunctional and require intervention – however, it said that the functional and successful bodies should be allowed to continue as they are, without the interference of the state.

Other presenters, like Section27, were welcoming of intervention and accountability measures but noted that historically disadvantaged schools face many more obstacles – which aren’t addressed by the amendments.

Section27 also raised the question of corporal punishment, noting that the current definition only extends to physical forms of punishment, excluding non-physical forms of punishment.

This is a concerning omission as cruel and degrading forms of non-physical punishment have been shown to have severe adverse impacts on learners, it said.

Cosatu raised concerns that the bill does not extend compulsory schooling from Grade 9, where it is currently, to Grade 12.

Many learners drop out of school in Grade 9 or when they turn 15, which condemns them to low-paying jobs with few career prospects, the union said.

There were mixed reactions regarding the consumption and/or sale of alcohol on school premises outside school hours. Many felt additional provisions setting the conditions for liquor sales are not enough to prevent learners from accessing liquor in such events.

Language policies under fire

As with previous presentations, the bill’s position on language policies again caused friction.

Through the BELA bill, the government plans to give itself more power around language policies at schools in South Africa – including the main language of instruction.

The additional powers grant the final authority for admission and language policies to provincial heads of department. Currently, school governing bodies have this authority.

It also mandates provincial heads of department to consider the needs of the broader community in considering language policies, and authorises the heads of department to order mergers of schools.

Sadtu recommended that clear provisions regulating language policy be inserted in the bill to facilitate access and uniformity across the system. The teachers’ union felt that provision should be made to unlock stalemates between the heads of department and the governing bodies relating to schools’ language policy.

Sadtu recommended that a clause be inserted that will ensure that governing bodies do not apply the school’s language policy directly in the admission of entry-phase learners.

Afriforum, however, pushed back against language policies being in the bill at all, saying that the amendments contained in the bill pertaining to admission and language policies amounted to a calculated attack on Afrikaans education while offering no relief to the speakers of other indigenous languages.

The proposed changes to the language policies have been heavily criticised, with the Democratic Alliance noting previously that the amendments are effectively politicising education by taking the power out of the hands of the communities and parents who know what is best for their children and putting it in the hands of the government.

Similar arguments were raised by the FW de Klerk Foundation and Die Skole Ondersteuningsentrum, with more opposition expected.

BUSINESS TECH

Zimbabwe and Uganda launched satellites into space on 7 November as beneficiaries of the Joint Global Multi-Nation BIRDS Satellite project, BIRDS-5 specifically, which has been a collaborative project involving these countries, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech).

The project started in 2015 and has included the secondment of a group of students, the bulk of them from Africa, to work with Japanese peers at Kyutech. The students are from Morocco, Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The BIRDS-5 project provides students from developing nations with limited involvement in space sciences with hands-on experience in satellite development, laying a foundation for similar space technology projects in their home countries that ultimately could lead to sustainable space programmes there.

A developing industry

Students from participating nations enrol in space engineering at the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyutech as masters or doctoral degree students to execute this project.

In an interview with University World News, Chiedza Banda, the president of the Zimbabwean Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-Zimbabwe) said that, after this development, Zimbabwe has to prioritise space studies.

“As a nation, this milestone shows that an interest in space is not just pie in the sky for young boys and girls. If you are interested in the stars, rockets and satellites, we can then aim for those careers without fear and knowing we will be pioneers in the Zimbabwean space industry,” she said.

“We have Zimbabweans working in other countries or who would have wanted to work in the space industry but saw no future,” said Banda, who is also the Space Generation Advisory Council National Point of Contact for Zimbabwe.

“So, from here, the country has to work on developing the industry. As you saw during the launch, the cube sat was just a small part of the mission. We need rocket engineering training; we need launching pads and so forth – so we need to grow the industry.”

Banda said another aspect Zimbabwe has to look into is making laws that advance its space interests and creating an economic environment that will boost the private space sector.

“The development means that, as students and young professionals interested in the industry, we can now focus our energy on building careers in Zimbabwe instead of the brain drain that was happening. Then, in terms of Zimbabwe, it’s a step in the right direction as we will have an understanding of what we gain from space – that is, the data obtained can be used for weather forecasting, GPS and satellite imaging as well as telecommunications,” she added.

To buttress Banda’s point on the need for space studies, in an interview with University World News last year, Ruvimbo Samanga, a Zimbabwean space lawyer and policy analyst, said Africa is lagging behind when it comes to space activities and the root cause is a lack of space higher education in many countries on the continent.

She said African nations have not embraced space education, despite the sector’s significant developmental power. In fact, only a handful of countries, South Africa included, offer higher education space studies in a broader context, she added.

“The first African astronaut was from South Africa but, since then, there has not been much movement. The African space industry is really just satellite-based, which is the most primary and basic node of the space industry. There are many nodes of the space industry that can be tapped into,” she said.

Mission completed

In an interview with the state-run The Chronicle newspaper, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Permanent Secretary Professor Fanuel Tagwira said that, due to a lack of adequate space studies in Zimbabwe, the launch of the satellite was made possible after the African country sent three students to Japan for their studies.

“It [the launch] is significant and what is more significant for us is that this particular satellite has been developed by our own people undergoing training at Kyushu Institute of Technology,” Tagwira was quoted as saying.

“We sent three Zimbabweans to Japan to go and learn about satellite technology, one of them at PhD level and two at masters level. Part of their study was to produce a satellite for the country,” he added.

University World News

Haley McEwen and Dennis A. Francis

ADVOCACY groups in South Africa are intensifying their efforts to prevent the country’s education department from creating safer environments for children of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Some of the advocacy groups have ties to conservative US Christian groups.

Representing conservative organisations, Freedom of Religion South Africa, the Family Policy Institute, the African Christian Democratic Party and Freedom Front Plus are creating controversy about draft guidelines on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. The guidelines have been made public through consultations with communities that began earlier this year.

The groups are zeroing in on two elements of the guidelines to stoke panic. These are the provision of unisex toilets, which would not replace existing single-sex toilets, and the elimination of gender pronouns.

Claiming the guidelines are “godless” and “anti-family”, the groups argue that the rights of Christian learners and their families would be violated. The groups claim their opposition is grounded in religious belief, not hatred for LGBTIQ+ people.

But their objections contradict South Africa’s constitutional mandate to create a society free of discrimination.

In a media statement, the education department has expressed its disappointment that the narrow focus on unisex toilets is being used to create controversy. This distracts from the bigger debate about eliminating gender discrimination in all spheres of society.

Homophobia and transphobia on the rise

Researchers and journalists have documented increases in incidents of homophobic and transphobic bullying in the country’s schools in recent years. Some children facing discrimination have tragically taken their own lives.

Disinformation campaigns claim that gender diverse learners pose a threat to cisgender (straight-identifying) female learners. But research shows that it’s queer and transgender individuals who experience extreme levels of anxiety and fear within bathrooms and other school spaces.

The lobby against queer-friendly education

Last year, the African Christian Democratic Party staged a picket against the guidelines. Placards read “Down with the gender identity and sexual orientation guidelines”, “Down with unisex bathrooms” and “God created male and female”.

Freedom of Religion South Africa is now attempting to block the implementation of the guidelines through legal means. The organisation claims they are unconstitutional and violate “parental rights” and “traditional values”.

Claims like this normalise the discrimination that many learners face in schools.

Freedom of Religion South Africa director Michael Swain claims the department is importing “foreign” agendas. His group aims to put religious freedom above the right to equality and dignity. US Christian anti-LGBTIQ+ advocacy groups, such as Alliance Defending Freedom, have tried to do the same.

The Family Policy Institute in South Africa has been working with US “hate group” Family Watch International in a campaign against Comprehensive Sexuality Education in schools. They plan to “reveal harmful content” in the programme and call it “dangerous sexual indoctrination”.

Family Policy Institute founder Errol Naidoo has admitted to having been mentored by the US Christian
right Family Research Council. The council argues that homosexuality is “harmful to society at large” and
should not be protected by policy. Naidoo has also been associated with the World Congress of Families,
a US-led Christian right organisation.

Our research shows that US Christian right organisations have grown their networks in African countries.

They’ve invested millions of dollars in anti-LGBTIQ+ campaigns in Africa and elsewhere. They also provide “mentorship” to set up organisations and campaigns such as Stop CSE.

A global trend

Campaigning against the department’s guidelines for safer learning spaces reflects a broader trend. Far
right actors are using child protection rhetoric to manufacture moral panic. Making it “about children”
enables anti-gender groups to air their prejudice in public. This tactic has also been observed in Europe
and Latin America.

Our research has found that far-right attitudes to LGBTIQ+ people are becoming part of the “normal
view” in basic and higher education. We argue that homophobic and transphobic bullying in these
spaces extends South Africa’s apartheid-era discrimination, which was grounded in Christian ideology.

These narratives claim that LGBTIQ+ learners are “deviant”, “unruly sinners” in need of conversion and
civilising. This creates a climate of fear and hostility in classrooms and communities more broadly.

Research with teachers shows that a lack of guidance from the department on the creation of inclusive
curricula and school environments puts the safety and security of gender diverse and queer learners at
risk. It also undermines the promise of equality in South Africa’s constitution.

As the Global Interfaith Network has demonstrated, Christianity is not an inherently homophobic or
transphobic religion. Those who use religious justifications to promote anti-LGBTIQ+ intolerance do not
represent all Christian communities. The weaponisation of sexuality and gender-based differences in
schools has consequences for all learners whose life opportunities are threatened by the experiences of
discrimination, exclusion and bullying.

THE CONVERSATION

Universities in Africa must strive to produce about 100,000 PhDs in the next 10 years to yield the research the continent needs for accelerated development.

According to the recommendation, which came from the World Bank, universities should aim to produce a higher number of researchers in response to the need to create jobs and opportunities for the continent’s fast-growing population, as well as the challenges it faces in areas such as climate change, diseases, food security and political instability.

The 100,000 must not be seen as a huge number, considering that China, with a population that is nearly the same as that of Africa, manages to produce that number each year, as does the United States, which has an even lower population, said Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, the vice-chancellor of Uganda’s Makerere University.

What Africa needs, he said, is not to be content with the target set, but to aim, instead, to produce an even higher number of researchers considering the enormous developmental challenges posed by a projected youth explosion in the next 30 years.

“The report we have launched today gives pointers as to why Africa needs more and more PhDs,” said Nawangwe, who is also the chairman of the African Research Universities Alliance, or ARUA, during the launch of member universities’ institutional profiles on 4 November.

ARUA is a network of 16 selected flagship research universities in Africa with a common vision to expand and significantly enhance the quality of research carried out by African researchers. The network has been operational since March 2015, when it was inaugurated in Dakar, Senegal.

Research report

The report, which is being updated with additional information before it will be shared with stakeholders, presents an analysis of Phase II of the Carnegie Corporation-sponsored data benchmarking study of ARUA universities, focusing on the research profiles of the universities, and covers the period 2015-21, including a bibliometric analysis of the research productivity of the universities.

Universities, Nawangwe observed, continued to grapple with the challenge of low funding despite the task ahead of them, a problem he traced to the 1990s when Structural Adjustment Programmes or SAPs, were imposed on Africa by the Bretton Woods institutions.

The SAPs in some cases led to “commercialisation of programmes” as universities sought to survive financial cuts prescribed by the lenders.

“The effects of the cuts have been devastating ever since, and it’s a shame that, despite Africa holding 20% of the world’s population, is only contributing 3% of global knowledge, which is not acceptable,” he said.

Doctorate training in Africa must, however, be seen as much more than mere research productivity, but also a driver of development, said Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town.

In many instances, she noted, it had emerged that universities with a high number of PhD-level academics did not always produce the highest research output.

The institutional profile report, she observed, provided a good opportunity for universities to “know each other”, while offering potential partners a true picture of what the institutions have to offer.

Equity in partnerships

The report, which covered a range of issues, had demonstrated the invaluable importance of investing in long-term relationships between universities, as opposed to merely collaborating on specific projects, said Sir Anton Muscatelli, the vice-chancellor of the United Kingdom’s University of Glasgow.

It also emphasised the importance of equity in research partnerships for the collaborations to be effective and successful, particularly the North-South ones.

“I’m proud of the ARUA universities’ contribution to Gobal South in various partnerships with the University of Glasgow. I’m happy we are providing solutions to some of the challenges that are ahead for Africa,” he added, with reference to past joint work with ARUA’s universities of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, among others, in tropical diseases research.

Vice-chancellors of the 16 member universities had an opportunity to learn from the report on areas that needed strengthening, information they should share with their respective councils, said Professor Ernest Aryeetey, the ARUA secretary-general.

The report not only offered them an opportunity to know their weaknesses and work on them, he said, but also a chance for doing a comparison for purposes of benchmarking and knowing where they needed to go in the future.

It also proved that the institutions needed to be “engaged with each other and within their region” if they were to become “globally competitive”, he added.

• Stellenbosch University in South Africa has announced that it will award an honorary doctorate to Professor Ernest Aryeetey in December. Aryeetey will be awarded the degree Doctor of Commerce (DCom), honoris causa. He is the former vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana and, in addition to having been instrumental in the establishment of ARUA, he has spearheaded the identification of 13 research areas to facilitate interdisciplinary research collaboration and created 11 ARUA centres of excellence. Aryeetey is also a member of the University World News – Africa board.

University World News

IN support of the World Children’s Day theme: ‘equality and inclusion for every child’, Ashling McCarthy, founder of education non-profit, I Learn To Live- Ngifundela Ukuphila, encourages society to invest in educational opportunities for all children, including youth from rural communities.

I Learn To Live was founded in 2010 to provide education opportunities to school children and youth in rural Zululand. 

“We believe that rural children and youth should be given an opportunity to create a meaningful life, in which they contribute towards their community and society at large,” said McCarthy.

In May 2021, I Learn To Live launched the first Coding and Robotics Club in the rural areas lying between Empangeni and Richards Bay, providing these children with the opportunity to engage in the push towards 4IR and tech-related careers.

“Ten children from the community were selected to participate in the pilot programme, which took place at the Ngqamuzane Support Centre on Saturdays, where children aged nine to 15 were introduced to Arduino, an open-source electronics platform which uses both software (coding) and hardware (sensor kits). This year, 20 children attend the Saturday classes, which now include music sessions, with children learning the drums, keyboards and sight-reading,” explained McCarthy.

With the success of the pilot, I Learn To Live sought to expand the programme into the community. An ICT resource audit done at primary schools in the neighbouring communities revealed a dire lack of infrastructure to run computer-based programmes.

“Maqhwakazi Primary School had a functional but unused computer lab. In collaboration with the principal and parents of grade five to seven pupils, 60 children were selected to attend an after-school Coding and Robotics Club,” continued McCarthy.

I Learn To Live’s coding and robotics programme is aligned with the KZN Department of Educations’ focus on introducing coding and robotics to children in foundation phase in 2023. It also meets Sustainable Development Goal #4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The programme is specifically run as a free afternoon extra-curricular club for interested pupils. I Learn To Live facilitates the sessions, which includes equipment and data.

Arduino online training manuals are tailored for a rural school context, which factors in implementation challenges such as the limited resources and electricity that often runs out. It also takes into consideration that English is not the learners’ first language, so is taught in both English and isiZulu.

“The programme first tackles the basics of computers as most, if not all pupils have no computer experience. Only then are pupils introduced to coding and robotics. Grade five pupils start with block code in the form of Scratch 4 Arduino, which also uses hardware components, while grade six and seven pupils move straight into Arduino, working with sensor kits and coding,” she stated.

I Learn To Live is developing a training programme so that youth studying coding can implement similar coding and robotics clubs in their communities. “In 2023, we will be adding a meal for each child, who attends the programme as most of these children’s last meal was at breakfast time,” confirmed McCarthy.

If you would like more information or would like to support the I Learn To Live coding and robotics programme, contact Phumlani Zungu on 073-337-5226 or Ashling McCarthy on 072-432-0316.

Alternatively, email ash@ilearntolive.co.za or visit www.ilearntolive.co.za

McCarthy encourages citizens to embrace and support the 2022 theme for International Children’s Day, ‘equality and inclusion for every child’ now and into the future.

“The answer to many rural challenges, can be answered by our youth. Our role is to provide them with opportunities, skills, and most importantly, the belief to do so,” she concluded.

RISING SUN

A 21-year-old grade 11 learner has been arrested on charges of murder, following the death of a
fellow learner.

According to police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo, the deceased learner was fatally stabbed during a fight in Vlakfontein, Johannesburg.

“Preliminary information suggests that a group of boys were fighting outside the school premises on Thursday, November 17, 2022, when a 20-year-old learner was stabbed with a sharp object on the upper body. The learner was taken to the nearest medical care centre, where he was certified dead.”

“Police went searching for the suspects and arrested a fellow learner, who has since been charged with murder. The motive for the fight cannot be confirmed at this stage. An investigation is underway,” Masondo said.

The 21-year-old is expected to appear in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on a date yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane, visited the family of the deceased
on Saturday.

The Gauteng Education Department has appealed to the community not to disrupt schooling and
teaching “as our Grade 12 learners are still in the process of writing their final exams.”

The department’s psychosocial team has been deployed to visit the school to provide the
necessary support and counselling.

“We wish to convey our sincerest condolences to the learner’s family and the school community at large,” the department said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Only 25% of African languages are used in secondary education across the continent, and a mere 5% in higher education, writes Tawana Kupe.

Although the African continent has a rich cultural and linguistic diversity with more than 2000 languages, the question of the language of learning and teaching, across every level of education remains a contentious issue. Only 25% of African languages are used in secondary education across the continent, and a mere 5% in higher education (UNESCO, 2010).

Similar trends and challenges exist in South Africa, with language practices in basic and higher education still largely reflecting the colonial and apartheid legacy. This is despite the fact that South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages.

While language equality and equity in education is promoted in the Constitution, in practice, students’ access to curricula and learning tools beyond the mediums of English and Afrikaans remains limited. This is problematic not only because it produces young people who can hardly read and write in their home languages, which exacerbates the stigmatisation of African languages in education, but also because of its impact on poor achievement and dropout rates.

Prominent role

These rates are higher among black students who struggle with writing academic texts and understanding terminology in their fields of study because their home languages are not used in teaching and learning. 

Public universities play an increasingly prominent role in shaping society at large; they are key drivers of change in response to national priorities. This includes societal transformation, redressing historical legacies, and engaging productively with communities, industry, governmental and non-governmental entities and other partners to navigate the manifold headwinds that characterise this age of disruption and uncertainty.

Universities have a critical role to play in embracing multilingualism, and many are doing just that through vocation-specific language courses. Through teaching students specific words and phrases pertinent to their sector, graduates can interact more effectively with the people accessing their services whose first language is not English. Research shows that these courses are successful not only in developing proficient, adaptable professionals who can operate efficiently across multilingual environments but that they also expose graduates to the different backgrounds of the people they will serve. This results in the production of well-rounded, socially conscious citizens. 

Language policies are in place across South African universities and enable vocation-specific courses to be structured in a variety of ways. Language courses can be part of the compulsory, main curricula, or offered as additional modules at both first and second language level.

The University of Cape Town (UCT) pioneered this multilingual approach in 2004 and isiXhosa and Afrikaans have been successfully integrated into the institution’s medical degree, requiring a pass level for graduation.

At Rhodes University, isiXhosa is compulsory for journalism while it is offered as an elective for their Pharmacy degree. A bilingual Humanities degree, with half of the subjects in English and half in Sesotho sa Leboa is on offer at the University of Limpopo, while at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, students must learn isiZulu to graduate, regardless of what they are studying. 

Collaborations

Other important initiatives include collaborations across universities. One such collaboration is between the University of Pretoria (UP) and UCT, which used a grant from the Department of Higher Education and Training to develop an Open Educational Resource Term Bank (OERTB) that can help students in various of ways.

It provides familiarisation with English terms that are often used at university but are not as common in social settings. The resource term bank also provides equivalent terms in Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, isiNdebele, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, SeSotho, Tshivenda and XiTsonga. It offers terms in English and these languages for a variety of disciplines, from accounting and anthropology to family medicine and literature. This national asset is free for anyone to use and allows for feedback and resources to be added. Current contributors include UP, UCT and Stellenbosch University. 

Some have argued that this emphasis on vocation-specific courses is unnecessary and detracts from core learning in higher education. This has resulted in challenges and delays in implementation, which has created frustration among students.

It is clear that the issue of language should be recognised as a social justice issue. If it is not addressed comprehensively and successfully, and if multilingualism is not viewed as a core skill that students should acquire, the risk of reproducing inequalities through the hegemony of English is very real. 

Transformation

Following a series of engagements held this year, the University of Pretoria, together with Universities South Africa (USAf), will be hosting a Vice-Chancellor’s Language Colloquium in December 2022. The colloquium will be hosted under the leadership of the Community of Practice for the Teaching of African Languages (CoPAL) to facilitate a common understanding and implementation strategy for the new Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions. 

The aim of the policy is to contribute to transformation in higher education through enhancing the status and roles of previously marginalised South African languages to foster institutional inclusivity and social cohesion. This is achieved through the development and strengthening of indigenous languages as languages of scholarship, teaching and learning and communication at South African public higher education institutions. The framework provides guidelines for the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of institutional language policies.

USAf is an umbrella body representative of the 26 public universities in South Africa. CoPAL is one of USAf’s two discipline-based communities of practice aimed at addressing the challenges identified with African Languages in South Africa’s higher education sector. The previous colloquiums have been successful in providing a platform for robust intellectual engagement around the policy, as well as presenting an opportunity to work together to actively roll out the framework and reap the benefits of multilingualism across our universities.

– Prof Tawana Kupe, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.

In an exclusive interview with Inside Education, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Choloane said the department will be continuing with “progressive programmes” such as the re-organisation of schools. As part of improving the pace of service delivery, the department will launch 14 additional schools of specialisation in the next 12 months.