TRAIN manufacturer Gibela Rail Consortium is offering 150 bursaries to students looking to further their studies in engineering, computer science, and logistics, among others.

In a statement, Gibela says applications are available for both universities and technical and vocational educationand training (TVET) institutions.

The Gibela 2023 bursaries include full tuition, a book allowance, accommodation and meals, states the company, adding that they are granted for one year and are renewable on an annual basis based on academic performance.

To qualify, bursary applicants must be South African citizens with a South African barcoded ID, enrolled or intending to enrol at a local TVET institution, enrolled or intending to enrol at a South African university or university of technology, demonstrate potential for academic success, as well as in need of financial assistance.

According to the statement, bursaries for study at a university or university of technology are available in electrical, electronic, mechanical, metallurgical, and industrial engineering; computer science and information technology; accounting; and supply chain and logistics management.

The prerequisites for a university or university of technology Gibela bursary includes a matric with level six for mathematics, physical science and accounting, and level five for English.

Additionally, written proof of acceptance for admission to a South African university or university of technology, and proof of income from a parent or guardian.

To study at a TVET institution, bursaries are available in professions such as boilermakers, electricians, mechanics, welders, millwrights, pattern-makers, vehicle-builders, plumbers, control and instrumentation technicians, and fitters and turners.

The prerequisites for a Gibela bursary at a TVET institution includes a matric with mathematics and science, and English at level four, written proof of acceptance for admission to a South African TVET institution, and proof of income from a parent or guardian.

Candidates can apply by sending a short CV, a certified copy of their academic records and a certified copy of their South African ID to gibelabursaries@communityrail.co.za or fax the application to 086 246 2666.

The bursary applications close on 15 February 2023.

Staff Reporter

GROWING up without a father, Eastern Cape education expert Obakeng Kagola recognised the importance of male role models in early childhood and has dedicated his career to creating equitable space for them in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector.

Kagola, a lecturer in early childhood education (ECD) in Nelson Mandela University’s education faculty, aims to disrupt the impression that the sector is predominantly for women educators, but is still battling that stereotype after a decade working in it.

When he first started studying, says Kagola, he had to continually justify why he could teach young children, despite being male. 

“The (question) of my gender always popped up. (When) I was a lecturer at a TVET college in Mafikeng, one module covered nutrition from birth to six years. I was told that I couldn’t teach that, as I was male.”

Kagola convinced his peers otherwise, and then his classrooms. “I taught a class of 35 students – mostly rural women in their thirties – who were rigid in their thinking about ECD being women’s work.”

Doggedly determined to specialise in the field, he became a member of the national marking team which taught ECD practitioners, or Educare.

Kagola understands the importance of a role model. His grandmother nurtured him, as well as eight other children, in their modest dwelling in Wolmaranstad in the North-West. Early education, he says, can help fill the gap when a role model is missing at home. 

He wants society to rethink the positioning of men (by creating) alternative realities of what it is to be a man. His aim is to make a contribution: “I can be a role model. Many children grow up without a father. So did I.”

In a 2012 academic paper, Kagola and co-author Mathabo Khau showed how visual representations could be used to change perceptions of male teachers in the Foundation Phase in the Nelson Mandela metropole.

The study, ‘Using Collages to Change School Governing Body Perceptions of Male Foundation Phase Teachers’, recommended that participatory visual methodologies be used in “courageous conversations” with communities, exploring the construction of “caring masculinities” and involvement of men in care professions.

“The effort to recruit and retain male Foundation Phase teachers is a global phenomenon,” Kagola says. In Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, strategies include bursaries and awareness campaigns to bring more male teachers into early childhood education. 

Despite initiatives to recruit men to teach Foundation Phase, there has been no significant improvement in South Africa, he says. The sector is still female dominated, with only 22.7 per cent being male, according to a 2015 survey. 

For Kagola, the privilege of watching a child grow in education is profound. 

“In January, a child could not hold a pen or read a sentence, but by the end of the semester, they could take care of themselves.”

He also applies a holistic approach to teaching. For example, he points out, slower learners may have been negatively affected by family dynamics so, rather than labelling them, more care should be taken to define the root of the problem.

True teachers, regardless of gender, are vital in the early stages of education, he believes. “Society needs to rethink the concept of work. There are male Foundation Phase teachers in the system who are thriving – and they are not planning on leaving.”

Nelson Mandela University: Supplied

THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) says there should be no concerns over a predicted teacher shortage in the coming years.

Recent research from Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socioeconomic Policy Unit (RESEP) shows that close to half (49%) of teachers employed by the DBE are 50 years or older and will be forced to retire in the coming decade.

According to Paul Esterhuizen, chief executive of education NGO School-Days, the department is not hiring an adequate number of teachers to replace those expected to be leaving the workforce, and school budgets are constrained, so they don’t have the capacity to hire new teachers.

The government also needs to make teaching more attractive for young people, with more livable salaries, Esterhuizen said.

RESEP’s research found that the average government teacher earned R42,688 per month in salary and benefits over the course of 2019.

According to Irene Pampall, a researcher at RESEP, many teachers believe they earn less than R42,000; however, they overlook added benefits.

Salaries are determined by level of qualification and experience. Pampall said that a teacher with a matric and four years of university education could expect to earn roughly R23,686 every month

A shortage of skilled teachers can lead to a number of problems, including overcrowded classrooms and a lack of individual attention for students – exacerbating fractures within an already stumbling education system.

Spokesperson for the department, Elijah Mhlanga, told SABC News that the research from Stellenbosch is not accurate and that there is actually an oversupply of new teachers.

He added that new teachers are emerging en masse, and it is a trend that is set to continue.

Mhlanga said, in contrast to these findings, that based on the profiles of the people that are employed by the government, measures have been put in place since 2007 to mitigate the ageing workforce.

He conceded that the department requires more funding to expand schools further and reduce class sizes, however.

“We don’t need more teachers, we need more funding,” he said.

However, RESEP’s research is not the only source sounding alarms over teachers in South Africa.

In July 2022, Julian Hewitt, the CEO of educator bursary programme, the Jake Gerwell Fellowship, said the department of education’s payroll shows that the country is expected to run out of skilled teachers, calling it “a looming crisis”.

The industry also faces the issue of a poor uptake in teaching, with it not being a career of choice, he said.

Statistics relating to higher education, put forward by the education facility Mancosa, also found that the supply of teachers is not meeting demand.

“More teachers are leaving than entering the profession. Currently, the country’s initial teacher institutions graduate 15,000 new teachers per year. This is below the 25,000 mark required to maintain an effective teacher-pupil ratio,” said professor Magnate Ntombela, principal of Mancosa.

Business Tech

Dr CS Shivananda 

There is a huge difference between what the world needed 20 years ago and what it requires today. For instance, 20 years ago, we had a more environmentally balanced planet, so the demand for climate professionals was not high in the market. 

But the scene has now changed with the rise of environmental pollution, thus opening up new avenues to be explored. It means that the world now needs professionals with expertise related to climate and oceanography. 

Similarly, there have been drastic changes in many other sectors, creating opportunities for a varied range of professionals and posing a necessity for the education system to correspond to this necessity accordingly. 

The process of imparting education should always be an evolving one, not static. The world is changing with every passing day and so, educators will have to rethink the ways they perceive the process of teaching and rejig the curriculum in accordance with the market demands and trends.

By doing so, graduates and learners with adequate knowledge about the world, changing scenarios, market trends, and necessary skills can be produced. In this connection, curriculum and educational approach have vital roles to play. 

Even some years ago, educators and employers were putting emphasis on STEM education. With the rise of the demand for other kinds of professionals like innovators and thinkers along with engineers and those from science backgrounds, STEAM education is gathering steam in the mainstream education system.  

To simplify, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics. This is an educational approach that underscores the necessity of considering science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics as access points for pulling off the multi-faceted task of imparting knowledge and inspiring the habit of inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking among learners.

Owing to the diversity, this approach offers the scope of developing multifaceted skills. More and more educational institutions are adopting it to ensure a sound and well-equipped development for students. 

Inquiry, collaboration, and process-based learning are the core things that differentiate STEAM approach from other ones. We are going through a time when learning within textbooks, memorising lessons and copying them on exam sheets will not work.  

Rather, the world as well as the educational scenario is changing, making it all the more essential for schools and educators to resort to innovative approaches to learning and inculcating skills into students. 

STEAM serves this purpose as it inspires learners to explore beyond their textbooks and focus more on collaborative learning based on the instinctive human tendency of curious pursuits. 

The outcome is that the students following STEAM approach feel encouraged and motivated to engage in experiential learning and easily find their feet while solving any problem through creative process and thinking. 

This bunch of students will go on to become innovators with out-of-the-box thought processes, educators with a third-eye view and problem-solvers who can think on their feet. 

Owing to these kinds of benefits, the STEAM approach is making its way into the curriculum. As the modern world and job market require not only graduates with high grades, but also individuals and leaders who are ready to take on the responsibility and deal with any problem with confidence, and possess a good number of soft skills necessary to thrive in a competitive world, it has become pertinent for schools to incorporate elements of STEAM education into their curriculum. 

Many schools like the DPS STS School Dhaka are well into it. Taking into account the growing importance of this approach, they recently organised a STEAM carnival at the school’s senior campus to inspire inquisitiveness among students and create an opportunity for them to exhibit their knowledge and innovation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. 

Educators feel that this kind of arrangement comes very handy in preparing the students for future challenges and providing them an outlet to express their creativity and innovative ideas. 

Meanwhile, DPS STS School Dhaka’s Robotics and AI Club has also recently collaborated with STEMROBO Technologies Pvt Ltd for inspiring innovation, creativity and learning among its students. 

Most importantly, this approach helps the schools to focus more on four Cs (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration), which are now prerequisite qualities for students if they want to make their names in their respective fields of interest. 

These are skills that keep an individual ahead of others in this ever-evolving world where the focus has shifted to additional skills and someone’s ability of critical thinking along with her/his knowledge and acuity.  

In short, this is an approach that empowers students, inculcates leadership qualities in them and makes them all the more prepared for the future world that will be heavily reliant on digital transformation. 

It is time that schools also recognise this fact and start equipping their students accordingly. Putting a concentrated focus on STEAM education could be the first step in this regard. 

Dr Shivananda CS is the principal of DPS STS School Dhaka