The Mpumalanga Department of Education says that it is satisfied that the ongoing examinations both internally and externally. This is after some schools in the province were affected by heavy floods on Friday.

The Department said that the exams are proceeding without major challenges in all the schools.

“Heavy storms last  Friday evening affected  Ehlanzeni and Gert Sibande Districts.”

The Department extends its appreciation to the members of School Governing Bodies and parents who volunteered their time and services to clear the damaged areas and for cleaning affected  schools.         

The Department said it will monitor developments very closely and will work with the relevant departments and stakeholders for a lasting solution to fix the damaged properties.

Last week, MEC of Education in the province, Bonakele Majuba said the the community protests hindered some of the learners from writing exams. 

“ The community protests here, sadly hindered some learners from realising their goals of writing,” said Majuba.

The Department of Basic Education is yet to make a decision regarding learners who missed the exams due to community protests.

-INSIDE EDUCATION

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane will host the annual Matthew Goniwe memorial lecture on Wednesday at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg. 

The department said this year’s lecture will focus on the theme: Bridging the socio-economic inequalities of the past through effective school leadership and governance invariably improving the efficiency and efficacy of our ICT enhanced education system.

The Chairperson of Walter Sisulu University (WSU) council, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi will deliver the keynote address. 

The lecture will be used to celebrate 20 years of the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance (MGSLG) and the education successes achieved over the last past decade. 

Matthew Goniwe, born on 27 December 1947 in Lingelihle Township on the outskirts of Cradock in the Eastern Cape, was a passionate educator and a highly principled idealist activist who was popular among learners and various communities. 

The department said Goniwe’s commitment to education and youth empowerment is a legacy that must be continually celebrated and exemplified. 

The lecture will start at 6.30pm. 

-Inside Education

With less than nine months to go before the Netball World Cup (NWC) in Cape Town next year, World Cup winning Australian coach Norma Plummer is once again in charge of the SPAR Proteas for the SPAR Diamond Challenge in Pretoria this week.

Plummer took the SPAR Proteas to the semifinals of the 2019 NWC in Liverpool.

After South Africa’s disappointing performance in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this year, where they finished in sixth place, Netball South Africa (NSA) sent out a call to Plummer to take them through to the NWC.

Plummer told media on Monday that she was happy to be back with the team.

“The SPAR Diamond Challenge is an important part of our build-up to the World Cup,” she said.

“I haven’t been with the team for three years, so this gives me an opportunity to assess the new players who have come into the squad and to select a team for the Quad Series in January,” said Plummer.

South Africa will play Scotland, Zimbabwe and the SPAR President’s XII in the SPAR Diamond Challenge at the Pretoria University Sports Centre, Rembrandt Hall. The tournament starts on Tuesday and the final will be played on Saturday.

SPAR Proteas captain Bongi Msomi said the team was delighted to have Plummer back in charge.

“We have huge respect for her,” said Msomi.

“We have just had a very good training camp with her in Potchefstroom. The group is very switched on and we are looking forward to the SPAR Diamond Challenge. It will be a good competition and give us a chance to test ourselves.”

Scottish Thistles coach Tasmin Greenway said Scotland had not been to South Africa since 2014.

“It’s my first proper tour with the team since I took over two years ago, and many of my players have no experience of playing against African teams,” said Greenway.

“The SPAR Diamond Challenge is a wonderful opportunity to expose the players to one of the great netball teams,” she said.

Zimbabwe Gems coach Ropafadzo Matsauki said Zimbabwe was not in the tournament just to make up the numbers,

“We are here to compete,” he said.

“We need as much game time as possible before the World Cup next year.”

The SPAR President’s XII is made up of players just outside selection for the national team. Plummer said it was important to give these players opportunities to play against international teams.

“It is essential to expose players like this to top-class netball so that if they are needed to replace a member of the national team, they won’t be overwhelmed,” said Plummer.

All the matches in the SPAR Diamond Challenge will be televised live on Supersport.

Tickets for the games will be available at the venue – R20 for adults and R10 for school going children.

SUPERSPORT

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

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

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