By Amie Rapaport and Morgan Polikoff

Parents are reporting worse mental health for their children than they did a decade ago, but different groups of children are struggling with mental health in markedly different ways.

That’s what our team at the University of Southern California’s Center for Applied Research in Education found using a widely used mental health screening measure. More specifically, we found that preteen boys – the subgroup with the worst scores – struggle more in areas that include externalizing behaviors like hyperactivity, inattentiveness and conduct problems. For teen girls – the subgroup with the second-worst scores – struggles were especially pronounced in more internal problems like anxiety and depression.

These results confirm an upward trend in student mental health concerns that began before the pandemic but was likely exacerbated by school shutdowns, social isolation and other child and family stressors brought on by COVID-19.

Additionally, we found these mental health screener scores – which we refer to as “difficulties scores” here – are linked in important ways to grades and attendance. That is to say, those who had lower grades and lower attendance were much more likely to have difficulties scores in the highest, most concerning range.

Among students with good attendance at the halfway point in the school year, only about 1 in 14 had a high difficulties score. But among students who were chronically absent at the halfway point, nearly 1 in 4 had a high difficulties score.

Similarly, students who earn some Cs in schools are three to four times more likely to have a high difficulties score compared with students earning all As and Bs – 19% vs. 6%, respectively.

As high scores on the mental health screener are predictive of specific types of mental health diagnoses – like anxiety, mood or conduct disorders – these results provide new insights into the complex relationships between mental health and school outcomes.

Why it matters
Children are struggling with mental health in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Various data sources have highlighted the increased rates of teen suicides, emergency room visits and anxiety and depression in school-age children. They are also struggling academically, while rates of chronic absenteeism continue to be higher than ever.

There are opportunities for schools to address these trends by providing school-based mental health services. These services include one-on-one counseling or therapy, case managers who can coordinate various services for students in need, and referrals to outside resources. And in fact, our research shows almost three-quarters of parents whose students use school-provided services are satisfied and find them helpful.

But many schools are not offering these supports – or at least, parents are unaware of them. Our study found that 59% of high-income respondents reported that mental health resources were available in their children’s schools, compared with 37% of low-income respondents. Yet low-income students are more likely to take up those supports when they are available. Over half of respondents from the lowest income group reported that their child made use of mental health services when available, compared with 11% of respondents from the highest income group.

There is considerable unmet student need for mental health supports, as 20% of parents whose children are in schools without such supports say they would use them if offered. These results suggest there is an opportunity for schools to invest in not only supplying mental health services, but ensuring they reach the students most in need.

What still isn’t known
While our research confirms important links between children’s mental health and their school outcomes, we do not yet know which is causing the other. For instance, some students may be staying home from school more because of anxiety and depression, while other students who miss school for illness or other reasons may develop anxiety over time as a result.

What’s next
For schools and families to address worsening child mental health and academic outcomes, researchers must seek to better understand the underlying causes of increasing mental health concerns and absenteeism in children. Research is also needed to explore differences in the relationship between mental health and school outcomes for different subgroups of students – by income level or by racial subgroups. This can potentially inform how schools to respond to problems that threaten student well-being.

The story was first published in The Conversation.

By Levy Sara Masiteng

The class of 2024 started their preliminary examinations on Monday, and are expected to finish writing on 18 September.

The prelims are regarded as just as essential as the end of the year exams, which are written under similar conditions. They are designed to assist Grade 12 learners to assess their strengths and weaknesses before writing the finals.

The aim of these exams are to make the students aware of and know which subjects and areas to improve, including seeing which methods are effective to them, the Department of Basic Education said in its website.

The learners not only gauge the extent of their subject knowledge but they also get to experience the conditions including time constraints under which they write the final year examination.

They gain skills such as following instructions, using time properly and answering all questions adequately.

The exams form part of the School Based Assessments (SBA), which carries 25% of the final promotion mark, with the November examination fulfilling the remaining 75%, in addition to the marks achieved in the preliminary exams for each subject included in the SBA mark for that subject.

Former Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga at the beginning of the year mentioned the importance of using relevant coursework to fully achieve the objective of getting great marks during the statement address of the NSC examination results being released.

Motshekga said it was important to rely not only on international assessments, but to also reflect on equally valid results from national assessments that are more closely aligned to the curriculum.

The DBE provides Tips on preparing for an exam:

Use past question papers, that way you know which section you struggle with.

Reverse as a group to correct each other and someone might explain it more.

Look at YouTube for videos of certain topics if you are more of a visual person.

Consider studying in a place where you feel most comfortable and motivated.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Alicia Mmashakana

Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube has reportedly suspended a R10 billion tender for a single supplier to feed millions of pupils across South African schools through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP).

A Sunday newspaper reported that the tender was issued before Gwarube was appointed by the GNU in June. A whistleblower reportedly brought the matter to her attention, raising concerns about potential corruption.

This prompted the Minister to halt the tender and seek legal advice.

The NSNP was established by the ANC government to ensure that pupils from disadvantaged communities receive at least one nutritious meal a day. The scheme serves at least 9 million pupils nationwide and each province appoints its own suppliers.

During her budget vote earlier this month, Gwarube said the school nutrition programme had been allocated R9.798 billion for the financial year 2024/25, a 5.6% increase from the previous year.

However, feeding programs in schools have frequently been hampered by distribution and financing issues, she said.

“I have raised some concerns about this, particularly focusing on the integrity of the procurement process for such a large expenditure and the capacity of any single service provider to reach more than 9 million learners across the country every day.

“Additionally, I need to guarantee access to school nutrition to millions of learners; high centralisation of this kind does introduce a high risk of this not being realised,” Gwarube said.

The DA said it welcomes Gwarube’s decision to stop the issuing of a R9.8 billion tender which would have centralised procurement for the NSNP under a single provider.

This week, however, KZN Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka said the current budget for feeding schemes in schools was not enough.

“As a team, we have already agreed that the provincial ministers of Health, Education and Social Development will work together to identify where there are gaps in our extensive feeding schemes and how we ensure that we fight hunger with healthy, affordable meals,” Hlomuka said.

Last year both the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal left thousands of learners without meals for months after service providers failed to deliver meals to schools.

The DA National Spokesperson, Karabo Khakhau US while it is clear that various provinces have been struggling to manage their NSNP programmes and provide learners with nutritious meals, centralisation is hardly the answer.

“Instead, the struggling provinces should learn from those provinces that successfully manage to provide nutritious meals,” Khakhau said.

Principal investigator of the National Food and Nutrition Survey at the Human Sciences Research Council, Thokozani Simelane cautioned that when there are delays from the government or service providers, alternative sources of food must be provided through short term contracts.

“Children should not be made to suffer due to poor planning.”

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Edwin Naidu

Buti Manamela, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, said South Africa will likely fall behind on its goal of 2.6 million students in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges by 2030. 

In his address at the Huawei ICT Academy Annual Instructor Summit in Woodmead on Friday, Manamela said the TVET sector sought to attract 600,000 students in 2024 but only managed to attract 500,000, highlighting the importance of swift interventions to urgently boost student numbers. 

“We need alternative, cheaper, impactful forms of delivering TVET-related programmes. The same applies to our community colleges. Education delivered using ICT tools and solutions will make a dent for the nearly four million young people not in an education institution and getting the necessary skills,” said the Deputy Minister. 

Looking towards addressing the challenge, Manamela said partnerships with Information and Communications Technology companies could create the potential for learning platforms since content and online instructors are already available. 

“We need to collaborate to ensure we deliver education to the gadget,” said Manamela, adding that far too many students attending TVET colleges go to classrooms when the teaching medium could be delivered online. 

Manamela said this was based on the need to impact unemployment and boost the SMME sector. In August, Statistics South Africa, reported that the country’s official unemployment rate increased from 32.9% in the first quarter of this year to 33.5% in the second quarter, the highest since 2022. 

The concern is the fact that 3.6 million (35.2%) out of 10.3 million young people aged 15 to 24 years were not in employment, education or training.

Manamela praised the Huawei ICT Academy programme which collaborates with universities and TVET colleges to train, develop, and certify some of the best ICT talents across South Africa.

This summit is part of an ongoing commitment to building ICT skills among youth. Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Heads of Departments, and instructors from various universities in South Africa will attend it. Notably, Deputy Vice-Chancellors from the University of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town took part in the summit.

Huawei Chief Executive Will Meng said the ICT sector has been among the fastest growing in the country, and it will continue to be so for years to come. 

“The 4IR conversation has been occurring for years in South Africa, from years as early as 2018 whereby the DHET Minister of that time, Minister Pandor, recognised that we’re in the age of the pervasive influence of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence and need responsive skills and development research focus and investment to benefit fully.  

“All these changes will require more qualified personnel to meet the growing demands of the ICT industry. In this regard, we must be ready for this growth by creating the workforce necessary to meet future needs as well as current needs. 

“By bridging the gap between demand of enterprises and the supply from higher education institutes, Huawei hopes to provide more technical and skillful talent, more advanced technologies, and more support to innovation and entrepreneurship to facilitate a virtuous cycle and support the sustainable development of the ICT industry,” he said. 

Meng said when talking about the role of tertiary education in the 4th Industrial Revolution, Huawei believes that investing in education is most important to support the future trends. 

To bridge the gap in ICT talent, the firm established the Huawei ICT academy program aiming to bring the solution of industry-academy collaboration for talent development.

In the collaboration model under Huawei ICT Academy Program, Huawei provides Courses Authorization, Instructor Enablement and Learning Resources. Universities prepare for the Teaching Plans, Lab Environments and Certified Instructors, all these resources are then channeled to students allowing them to gain ICT competency, practical experience, career certifications, and job opportunities. 

Globally, up to now, over 2600+ Huawei ICT Academies have been developed, over 11000+ instructors have been certified and over 200,000+ students have been cultivated yearly. The Huawei ICT Academy endeavor takes place in over 110+ Countries worldwide. 

The Huawei ICT Academy program has partnered with 76 institutes in the higher education sector, whereby we identify them as academies in this program, within South Africa until now. 

By 2024 July, more than 300 instructors had participated in the Instructor Training program – they were trained, and prepared for student class opening. In 2024, over 270+ students have participated in online and offline Huawei training programs. 

The 2024 Huawei ICT Academy objective has been focusing on improving the quality of student and instructor training in South Africa. 

Huawei will hold a Job fair in 2024, with the aim to connect Huawei ICT graduates with Huawei partners for job placement opportunities.

“In South Africa, Huawei has positive relationships with various institutions. We aim to maintain positive relationships with the various institutions we have partnered with and have an even higher-quality skills transfer process for lecturers and students; our learning environments will become more and more immersive in every institute.”

Finally, to finish, the revolution of improving education curriculum is, in our presence, a big challenge to tackle; thus, how can we each play our part in keeping the South Africa Education Curriculum ahead of the 4IR curve.”

Charles Cheng, Deputy CEO of Huawei South Africa, also reflected on the critical impact of the Huawei ICT Academy, saying, “More important than the public praise are the jobs we have helped create and the entrepreneurial growth we have been able to support through our programmes, which span from primary school goers to SMME owners.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johannah Malogadihlare

Huawei hosted its 2025 ICT Academy Annual Instructor Summit in Woodmead, Joburg to strengthen relationships with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) as well as with the Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology to help equip “the next generation of tech-savvy individuals”.

DHET Deputy Minister Buti Manamela and Deputy director For Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) San Zungu signed a contract with Huawei CEO Will Meng on Friday and they both said they support the aim of the partnership which is to maintain relationships with stakeholders in and around ICT sectors.

Zungu said TVET colleges and ICT sector partnerships were necessary for the generation of technological excellence.

While Manamela said technologies need to be identified in order to see how they will impact people in the next 5 years.

“It is important that we focus on the bilateral partnerships and yield practical accomplishments which are skilling the nation”, said Manamela adding that the partnership between the department and Huawei ICT Academy, have trained talent in the IT sector at 17 universities, 47 TVET colleges and more than 2 400 students.

Meng assured the stakeholders that their aim is to keep the relationship and that DHET and Huawei ICT Academy is based on practiced programmes.

Despite the impact of reaching ICT education to a wider student population, Huawei wants to inspire students through innovation, and students will develop their entrepreneurial skills to become drivers of technological advancement, Meng said.

The summit has facilitated meaningful partnerships between academia and industry, leading to the development of industry-relevant curriculum and internships.

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By Alicia Mmashakana

Water supply to 23 Pietermaritzburg schools has been disconnected because of the failure of the KwaZulu-Natal Education Department to pay its debt of more than R32 million for water and electricity.

According to Acting Municipal Manager Sabelo Hlela, schools affected include Sukuma Comprehensive School in Imbali township (owing R3.2 million), Georgetown High School in Edendale (owing R1.3 million), Edendale HP School (owing R300,000), and Siqongweni Secondary School in Imbali township (owing R500,000).

The cut in the water supply to schools comes two weeks before the Grade 12 trial examinations and Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza this was jeopardising the students’ ability to prepare for their trial examinations.

In a statement, the Msunduzi Municipality said it seeks to inform the public that it has begun the disconnection of schools with outstanding debts for municipal services and rates.

“This decision was made after the Department of Education was given several opportunities to address the overdue payments,” read the statement.

The municipality has enlisted 14 contractors to complete disconnections in both residential and school zones, it said.

The municipal spokesperson, Ntobeko Mkhize said: “We can confirm that notices were issued to the Department of Education.The municipality values the role of education institutions in our community and we understand the impact the decision may have on the learners.

“However, it is imperative to implement and enforce the bylaws and the policies of the municipality. We are required to implement the credit control and debt collection policy.”

Muzi Mahlambi, spokesperson for the Education Department, confirmed that they are working with the municipality to resolve the issue.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johannah Malogadihlare

Three siblings from Evaton Primary School and a pupil from Tshakane Secondary school in Sebokeng, Ekurhuleni have tragically passed away following an unconfirmed medical condition and a possible suicide.

Gauteng Education spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed on Monday, the incident unfolded at around 08:00 in the morning when a Grade 4 class teacher brought a sick boy learner to the sick bay.

Mabona said despite immediate assistance, the learner was unresponsive and emergency services and the learner’s mother were called.

The second sibling, a Grade 3 girl learner was also rushed to the sick bay; mentioned that she ate pap, milk and biscuits at home, and soon became sick and unresponsive.

A third sibling, a Grade 5 girl learner was similarly found unresponsive.

All three learners were taken to a nearby clinic where they were declared dead.

Gauteng police are investigating the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Education MEC Matome Chiloane on Monday expressed his shock and grief at the sudden death of the Grade 8 learner from Tshakane Secondary School.

Reports indicate that the incident took place during school hours when two Grade 8 learners allegedly ingested rat poison on the school premises.

According to spokesperson Mabona, one of the pupils collapsed and had an administration block, while the other, though visibly weak, managed to walk there.

“Emergency Services and the learner’s parents were immediately contacted. Sadly, one of the learners was declared dead on the school premises, while the other was rushed to a local medical facility for urgent care,” Mabona said.

Chiloane strongly encouraged learners to seek help from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) through their 24-hour helpline 0800 6888 88.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and school communities affected by these devastating incidents,” Chiloane said.

In addition, SADAG also supports learners who are in Grade 12 to prepare for their Preliminary Examination, and might be suffering from stress and anxiety.

Mabona confirmed that a psycho-social support team has been dispatched to provide the necessary support to everyone involved in the tragic turn of events.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Staff Reporter

THE Energy and Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSETA) and Durban University of Technology (DUT) have launched an innovative solar-powered boat, built and designed by students, at the Point Yacht Club in Durban.

The boat competed in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge from 1 to 6 July. The Siyahamba Solar Boat team was the first African team to participate in the event. Out of the 120 entries for this prestigious competition, DUT was selected as one of 15 finalists.

EWSETA has financially supported the project, which aims to boost renewable energy innovation and facilitate skills transfer.

“Beyond the competition in Monaco, the significance of this solar boat project lies in its potential to transform lives and communities here at home,” explains Candice Moodley, EWSETA Corporate Services Executive.

“The technology powering this boat is not just about racing on the open seas. It is the key to unlocking renewable energy solutions that address local challenges.”

Professor Ian Lazarus, the project leader and Manager of DUT’s KZN Industrial Energy Efficient Training and Resource Centre, has mentored several engineering students over the past few years in constructing the Siyahamba Solar Boat. The industry has also provided skills transference through collaboration and partnership.

Lazarus says the students have benefitted from hands-on learning: “To see this technology in action is brilliant for the students. We face several energy challenges in South Africa, and we need to look at alternative energy sources, especially for our seas.”

The boat was designed with the help of an industry expert. When conceptualising the boat, the designer, Daanish Meeran, was an Honours student doing mechanical engineering at DUT.

“I’m proud to have been involved in this project, especially because we can help more students like me get into industry,” Meeran says. “There’s a gap in that university students don’t always have the training and the know-how to get into the workplace, and projects like this are important to help students bridge that gap.”

Moodley says it is imperative to start driving local research and innovation capacity and that EWSETA can help fund tertiary institutions and other entities to nurture entrepreneurs and incubate those ideas.

“The Siyahamba Solar Boat exemplifies this, where visionary thinking meets collaborative action,” she adds.

INSIDE EDUCATION