EDWIN NAIDU

FOUR-YEAR-OLD Langalam Viki drowned in a pit latrine toilet in Vaalbank in Eastern Cape early in March. The tragedy highlighted the failure of the Department of Basic Education to get rid of pit latrine toilets, despite adopting the minimum uniform norms and standards for public school infrastructure, which banned them at schools in 2013.

The norms and standards created a legal responsibility for the department and provincial departments to eradicate pit latrines at schools. However, 3,398 schools countrywide still have pit latrine toilets. Over the past decade, there have been many horror stories like that of Viki.

This is one tragedy, too many.

On Sunday, the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, pledged to tackle the problem within two years. While the Minister’s commitment is welcomed, one wonders how the department, which has failed to tackle this problem over the past decade, will address it in two years.

Basic Education has made a dent in the outstanding number, fixing a paltry 117 toilets.

Credit for raising awareness of this problem must go to civil society organisations, like Equal Education and Amnesty International, both of which have consistently raised the issue, highlighting the tardiness of the department in swiftly eradicating pit latrine toilets.

In a year, South Africans will go to the polls. Politicians are mindful of the mood of the people.

One can easily label the Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen as opportunistic in visiting the dead child’s parents. But Nelson Mandela did not own the trademark on compassion.

Sadly, the leaders left behind have not adopted his caring nature.

Yet, one cannot disagree with his saying that schools should be safe spaces for our children, not gravesites. Steenhuisen argues that Human Rights Day could not be commemorated until every child had access to safe and dignified sanitation at school. The parents of little Viki would agree.

“The drowning of our children in pit toilets goes far beyond a human rights violation; it is a horror that no South African should ever be forced to contemplate,” Steenhuisen lamented.

While Motshegka told the media that it would eradicate pit latrines by 2025, the DA went further, proposing a two-point plan to eliminate pit toilets at schools across the country.

In two years, Motshekga, one of the longest-serving education ministers in Africa, is unlikely to remain in her job. Who will be held accountable should the Department of Basic Education not deliver on its promise? It is not an option one would like to contemplate.

Therefore, one hopes that the DBE will pull out all the stops to eradicate at least half the pit latrines by the time democracy celebrates its 30th year in 2024. While the grieving parents of Langalam Viki mourn their little girl whose promising life was snuffed out, Motshekga must act with urgency.

Failure is not an option.

INSIDE EDUCATION

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has congratulated provinces on their improved academic performance during 2022 in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination during her first meeting with district directors and senior DBE and Provincial Education Department (PED) officials earlier this month.

The Minister expressed gratitude to all district directors for their resilience during this challenging period as the first line of defence.

“Along with our circuit managers, you remain the heartbeat of the sector. We must now shift our focus towards quality. To this end, I am pleased to announce that the National Assessments and Public Examinations analysis is moving away from league tables towards the inclusive basket. As we celebrate the anniversary of the function migration, there is a lot to do with ECD, our new baby in the house. We have embarked on many projects to ensure better and more effective resourcing of early childhood education,” she said.

These include the ECD Census, which is helping the Department establish more robust planning systems, and the Thrive by Five Index, which is assisting the Department in strategically targeting its support.

“We are also driving the process of redrafting the Children’s Second Amendment Bill to make registration and access to funding more easily accessible to all ECD programmes. Guided by our anticipated Integrated ECD Service Delivery Model and Framework, based on the Five Pillars of Early Learning to bring all stakeholders on board, we need to prioritise access and quality,” the Minister said.

“We must continue with the Learning Recovery Plan and pay attention to Home Languages, emphasising languages in the Foundation Phase. The National School Nutrition Programme, which has successfully offered meals and created jobs for the local communities, should be expanded to fight malnutrition and stunting.”

“I am confident that this will be another great year for education, and I wish you all the best in
today’s deliberations and the year ahead,” the Minister concluded.

INSIDE EDUCATION

EDWIN NAIDU

MINISTER of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, opened a computer lab at
Moloke Primary School in Sekhukhune last Friday, 24 connecting learners and young people studying
to the Internet.

The computer lab consists of two connected 12-meter upcycled storage containers, with computers powered by solar energy, to bridge the digital divide for learners in disadvantaged communities.

Limpopo MEC of Education, Mavhungu-Lerule Ramakhanya, and the Fetakgomo Tubatse Mayor, Eddie Edwin Maila, joined Nzimande in handing over the computer lab to the community of Sekhukhune.

This off-grid media lab project is initiated and funded through the department of science and Innovation’s Renewable and Sustainable Energy Research Hub and Spokes Programme.

Apart from assisting in teaching and learning, the National Youth Development Agency also used the lab to train 30 young people in business development. This demonstrates that government departments and entities can work closely to deliver services to the nation.

The media lab project is the culmination of a long-standing investment by the Department of Science and Innovation in the development and application of scientific knowledge domains.

“These media labs are also meant to advance publicly funded Intellectual property to enable technology localisation, job creation and service delivery to our people,” he said.

Through this project, Stellenbosch University will train interns from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

The University has already recruited and trained one TVET College Graduate on solar PV and monitoring of the media labs.

This project will enable interns to secure Diplomas as part of their internship training for 18 months before they can get their qualification from the TVET college.

“What is also important is that our interns will get their qualification equipped with the scarce skills in the renewable energy sector where most people in rural areas do not normally participate,” the Minister said.

With the media laboratory at Moloke school, Sekhukhune TVET College is also involved.

This partnership will unlock the training of TVET college graduates in the scarce skills area of renewable
energy.

The media lab is off-grid, which was done to relieve the school from the pressure of buying
electricity to power the computers.

INSIDE EDUCATION

PHUTI MOSOMANE

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Sunday that government has taken action to accelerate the provision of school infrastructure across all nine provinces.

She said out of 3 398 schools, 2 478 have already been equipped with better infrastructure to create safe havens for school children.

Motshekga was briefing the media on the progress made on infrastructure roll out in the basic education sector on Sunday.

“To be precise, therefore, the department identified 3398 schools that were lacking in infrastructure in one form or another- that is either not age appropriate or simply inadequate. We have delivered 2478 projects to schools across the country,” Motshekga said, adding that Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns impacted on implementation. 

Through private sector funders, 184 were allocated, and so far, 117 infrastructure projects were completed. 

“317 electrification projects, 1 259 water projects and 1 053 planned sanitation projects were completed,” she sad. 

She said government is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of four-year-old Langalam Viki whose body was found in a pit latrine at Mcwangele Primary School in Vaalbank in the Eastern Cape.

Motshekga revealed that the school where Langalam passed away has been provided with new South African National Standards approved infrastructure. 

“Langalam was found in the tank of a senior toilet, not the age appropriate toilet where he would have normally gone. He was also found fully dressed,” she said. 

She urged police to investigate the case with greater care given that “Langalam was to young to lift the manhole that covers the tank”. 

Last week, SECTION 27 and the Centre for Child Law launched the Michael Komape Sanitation Progress Monitor online tool which will track progress by the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) in eliminating unsafe and inappropriate sanitation in the province’s public schools.

The online tool will be used hold the department and provincial government accountable.

INSIDE EDUCATION 

 

STAFF REPORTER

OVER 5 400 graduates will be capped when the University of Cape Town (UCT) hosts 15 graduation ceremonies from Monday, 27 March to Friday, 31 March 2023, at the Sarah Baartman Hall. 
 
The university will also award high academic honours in honorary degrees to two distinguished individuals: Dr Debra Roberts and Her Excellency ǂXuu Katrina Esau.
 
UCT Interim Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy said: “We have once again come to that jubilant time of the year on our university calendar when we celebrate those who have over the years burned the midnight oil and successfully qualified for their various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. We are, therefore, with great delight, looking forward to hosting the graduation ceremonies.”
 
The total number of graduands includes 57 PhDs, whose work has in many ways lived up to the university’s vision of unleashing human potential to create a fair and just society.
 
“I congratulate most warmly all our graduands who will be honoured and whose achievements will be recognised during these auspicious occasions. In the same breadth, let me record my appreciation for the role that our academic staff have played in guiding our graduands, as well as the support ably provided by our administrative staff. Parents, guardians, and other family members have also, in one way or another, made significant sacrifices and contributions to ensure the success of their loved ones.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

EDWIN NAIDU

“Education is a fundamental human right of every woman, man and child” – UNESCO

In keeping with the theme of ensuring access to education, funeral insurance firm AVBOB and Oxford University Press will give away 260 trolley libraries equipped with books donated by Oxford University Press (OUP) Southern Africa, representing 11 official South African languages, numeracy books and other learning resources, to deserving primary schools and education NPOs.

The campaign is part of instilling a culture of reading and contributing to improving the numeracy skills of primary school children across the country.

Kebo Mosweusweu, AVBOB General Manager of Shared Value and Sustainability, says experts through various studies have found that teaching in a mother tongue helps reduce dropout rates and makes education more accessible and engaging for learners.

“Equally important is the need to develop numeracy skills at the formative ages of children. Through this year’s campaign, we aim to reinforce further our commitment to instilling a love of reading in primary school learners nationally,” says Mosweusweu.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) latest findings show that 78% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa could not read meaningfully in any language because they need to be taught basic literacy in the language they speak at home. This means that only 22% of the country’s 10-year-olds understand what they have read.

Hanri Pieterse, Managing Director of Oxford University Press Southern Africa, says a good reader needs a developed written vocabulary to read with meaning. “This is why a child must learn how to read in their mother tongue. When they do; they develop this written vocabulary more easily as the words they read match the words they hear and speak”.

Oxford University Press Southern Africa is South Africa’s leading literacy publisher and has donated 130 000 books in all 11 official languages for this campaign.

In 2022, 180 trolley libraries were given to the winning recipients; this year (2023), that number has increased by 80 to 260 trolley libraries. The trolley libraries are sturdy structures fitted with wheels used to store the books manufactured by AVBOB Industries in Bloemfontein.

Last year, each trolley library was equipped with 430 books, whereas in 2023, each trolley will be delivered with 500 books. Each AVBOB Road to Literacy trolley library has a value of R50 000.

The total investment value for the 2023 competition is R13 million, an increase from R10 million in 2022. You can give a child the opportunity to read in their mother tongue by nominating a school/NGO in your community to receive one of 260 trolley libraries each to the value of R50 000.

How to nominate a school?

Calls for nominations for this year’s campaign will open on 01 March 2023 at 09h00. The public is encouraged to take part in this initiative by submitting electronic nominations as to why their choice of school or educational NPO deserves to win a trolley library equipped with books.

To nominate a school or an educational NPO, the nominator must include the desired language for the library so that the winners can receive books in their preferred language. Nominators can nominate deserving primary schools or educational NPOs who serve learners in Grades R – 7.

Please visit https://clickme1.zero-data.co.za/RTL_PR to select your chosen beneficiary.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE University of KwaZulu-Natal has unveiled its plan for sustainable growth and excellence over the
next decade. The University’s 10-year Strategic Plan (2023-2032) was recently announced by Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Nana Poku, who described it as the “most ambitious plan by the University to date”.

“Over the next ten years, the University will build a resilient physical and human infrastructure to
foster innovation and entrepreneurship while continuing to engage in cutting-edge research,” he
said.

The Strategic Plan, which serves as a guide for University operations over the next decade, highlights five strategic goals to propel the University forward, i.e., Excellent Teaching and Learning, Excellent Student Experience; Excellent and High Impact Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship; High Impact Societal and Stakeholder Community Engagement; and Targeted Internationalisation.

“By creating partnerships and relationships with public and private sector partners as a vehicle for achieving its aspirations, the University will pursue its core purpose – to inspire greatness in every aspect of its mandate,” said Poku.

The University will strive to establish key high-impact interdisciplinary research institutes and promote institutional collaboration with industry and all stakeholders to provide a strong foundation that ensures relevant programmes are continually offered.

Chairperson of Council, Dr Leticia Moja, believes the plan will play a vital role in repositioning the University for continued global competitiveness and sustainability.

“As Council, we are excited to be part of this ambitious and forward-looking blueprint of the University for the next ten years. We applaud the hard work and diligence of the task team members who developed this Strategic Plan
and the stakeholders who provided input in the strategic planning process,” she said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

PHUTI MOSOMANE

KWAZULU-NATAL Education MEC, Mbali Frazer, says that building a stronger working relationship with teacher unions is crucial to ensuring stability in education.

Fraser was addressing the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) KZN 6th annual excellence awards in Durban on Friday. 

“Today’s celebration of excellence in the education sector has further cemented my belief that the Department of Education’s strong partnerships with teachers’ unions and parents are essential for the stability of the education system in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Frazer.

As the biggest union in the sector, Frazer said SADTU plays a critical role in transforming the education sector. 

“We value our relationship with SADTU and appreciate our meaningful engagements and collaborations as a critical partner in the delivery of quality education in our great province of KwaZulu-Natal,” she said. 

Frazer said the province will continue supporting efforts by the union to advance professional development of educators and improve efficiency in the education sector.

“Your dedication, hard work, and tireless efforts in shaping the lives of our learners have not gone unnoticed, and we applaud you for your unwavering commitment to education. Wherever you go in the world, a functional education system begins with a dedicated qualified teacher and an efficient curriculum,” she said.

She said educators are the unsung heroes of our society, shaping the minds and futures of our learners. 

“Their commitment never wavers even in the most challenging times as we saw with last year’s floods and the Covid-19 pandemic which presented unprecedented challenges to our education system.”

“During the height of Covid SADTU members were among those at the forefront of adapting to the new reality of remote and hybrid learning,” she said.

She said teachers showed remarkable resilience, innovation, and creativity in ensuring that no learner is left behind: “For that, we all applaud you.”

KwaZulu-Natal’s matric class of 2022 achieved 83% pass rate and showed remarkable improvement in the quality of results.  

The significant contribution of SADTU, she said, as the largest union in the education sector, particularly in KZN province, made all of this possible

“I pledge to continue to support and work with SADTU to create an enabling environment that allows all our educators to excel,” she said.

INSIDE EDUCATION 

PHUTI MOSOMANE

THE South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, together with the unions affiliated to the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) including NAPTOSA, PSA, HOSPERSA and SAOU, are considering government’s offer of 7.5% wage offer. 

The unions represent 53,9% majority in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).

The unions said that the employer presented the final offer as follows:

1. An average of 7,5% for year 1 (Translation of the current non-pensionable cash gratuity into a pensionable salary). The 7,5% is implemented in a sliding scale where the lower salary levels would receive a larger percentage to close the wage gap. For an example at salary level the percentage would be 14,8% pensionable increase or what is known as baseline. The increase would apply to salary levels 1 – 12 including those remunerated in terms of an Occupation Specific Dispensation.

2. The difference between the demands on COLA and the final offer is 0,5%. As part of good faith negotiations labour had to revise its demand from 10% to 8% (7,5% employer and 8% labour) hence unions are subjecting the offer to members to decide.

3.The current cash gratuity translated into a pensionable increase was also cushioned by adding its tax as part of
pensionable increase.

4. If the cash gratuity of R1000 plus tax portion was removed as “claimed by those who seek disunity and dominance, the level 1 basic salary would be increase by 7,5% per annum to R22397,62. This would translate into R1562,62 per annum.” However, through tough negotiations, the employer acceded to 14,8% increase for salary level 1 which translated into R1539 per month.

5. In year two, which is the financial year 2024/2025, the employer has proposed to pay workers a pensionable increase set at CPI (Projected CPI for the relevant period will be deemed to be 4.5% and, in the event, the Projected CPI for the relevant period is above 6.5%, the Projected CPI will then be deemed to be 6.5%.

6. On housing allowance: the employer referred organised labour to a prior agreement that a CPI benchmarked increase would be effected yearly, hereafter referred to as the status quo.

But NEHAWU, POPCRU, DENOSA and SAPU did not to participate in the negotiations for the year 2023/2024.

Among others, NEHAWU and other public sector unions have committed to abandon the strike, return to council, and accepted the no work no pay rule.

“It is deeply concerning that unions in the public sector seem to be at odds with each other,” the majority unions at council said.

The unions urged members to engage in the mandate seeking process in their numbers so that negotiators “can secure what we have gained so far and more.”

The pay progression of 1,5% shall be paid with effect from the 1st of July 2023 in accordance with sectoral collective
agreements. 

This will further improve the notch by 1,5% for all those who shall have qualified. 

Unions said the reinstatement of the pay progression was an achievement. 

INSIDE EDUCATION 

PHUTI MOSOMANE

THE South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) Free State Provincial Secretary Mokholoane Moloi said the union welcomes the appointment of MEC for Education Makalo Mohale.

“We believe that the Premier has made a good choice in appointing MEC Makalo Mohale as he has been the MEC for the Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) and understands the operation of government,” Moloi said.

He brings with him the knowledge and experience he acquired in DESTEA that the union believes could benefit the education sector, which is not new to him as he was once appointed as MEC for Education on an acting capacity in the absence of the late MEC Tate Makgoe.

Moloi said Mohale is a seasoned leader of the ANC who understands education policies of the movement that government must implement.

“We have full confidence in his capabilities and competence that he demonstrated in DESTEA to improve education.”

“As SADTU we are looking forward to a cordial, yet robust working relationship with the MEC that will enhance labour peace in the interest of education in the province,” Moloi concluded.

INSIDE EDUCATION