By Thapelo Molefe

The bail hearing of a Walter Sisulu University (WSU) residence manager, who is accused of allegedly killing a student during protests, was postponed on Friday due to a power failure at the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court.

Manelisi Mampane, 54, allegedly shot Sisonke Mbolekwa and wounded two others at the university last month.

Mampane faces charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm after allegedly opening fire on a group of students at the university’s Mthatha campus. They were demonstrating over a number of issues, including the state of accommodation.

Mampane made his first court appearance last month where he indicated that he would apply for bail.

Students made it clear that Mampane must remain behind bars.

A family representative for the Mbolekwa family, Phiwaba Modokwe, said they agreed that Mampane must not be granted bail.

“A life has been lost, lives have been altered, and this has not just traumatised the family, but it has traumatised the entire student community and many members of the society,” Modokwe said.

“So we are of the view that bail must not be granted.”

She also condemned the use of guns in tertiary institutions, saying that whether the firearm used to kill Mbolekwa was licensed or not, “no student should go back home in a coffin”.

WSU convocation secretary general Misheck Mugabe also spoke out against firearms at the university.

“We are disappointed with the issue of unlicensed firearms in campuses. We want a gun-free campus, that is why we are here to play solidarity with the family of Sisonke,” he said.

He added that they had requested that the media to be allowed in court, saying that “if you are innocent, you don’t have anything to hide”.

During the first court appearance, journalists were barred from attending the court proceedings.

The family of Mbolekwa has since requested via an affidavit that the proceedings be open to the press.

Last month, Institutional Student Representative Council president Abalungile Madikizela stressed that the accused should remain behind bars

“From our view as students we believe that with everything that has happened, he has not shown any indication that he regrets what has happened or that it was a mistake because if that was the case, he would have handed himself over to the police.

“But what happened is that the police had to chase him up and down the country begging him to hand himself over for his actions,” she said.

Mbolekwa was laid to rest in Matatiele last month

Hundreds of students gathered outside the court on Friday to demand justice for Mbolekwa.

Mampane will appear in court again on Tuesday.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Janine Greenleaf

There is an expectation gap between high school and university life, which arises from differences in academic expectations and the level of independence required at university. First-year students often find themselves unprepared and ill-equipped for the different academic demands and greater autonomy that they face.

This was evident in an address by Tatiana Sango, the Test Development Coordinator at the University of Cape Town (UCT), when addressing Universities South Africa’s Community of Practice (CoP) for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (TLM) at the body’s first sitting on 9 April.

Sango, who presented an analysis of the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs) for the current 2025 student cohort, said: “What does this mean for students’ future? Does it mean they will struggle in their first year at university? Nationally, only 32% of students at South African universities finish in regulation time. We are responsible for informing high school learners whether they are prepared for university and their chosen course of study.”

The NBTs – administered by the Centre for Educational Testing for Access and Placement (CETAP) on behalf of Universities South Africa (USAf) – are assessments for first-year applicants into higher education institutions and were designed to measure a student’s ability to transfer understanding of Academic Literacy (AL), Quantitative Literacy (QL) and Mathematics (MAT) to the demands of tertiary coursework.

They were introduced in South Africa in 2005 by Higher Education South Africa (HESA) and complement the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. The NBTs are often used by universities to support placement decisions.

“The primary purpose of the NBT is to promote student success in higher education through the assessment of an applicant’s academic readiness for university,” emphasised Sango.

She explained that AL examines the student’s capacity to engage successfully with the demands of academic study in the medium of instruction within the context of higher education; QL, which is also part of the same multi-choice test, looks at the student’s ability to manage situations or solve problems of quantitative nature in real contexts of higher education and MAT explores students’ depth of understanding and knowledge relevant to mathematically demanding disciplines within the context of the NSC curriculum. Tests are explicitly designed to probe higher education competencies.

Sango described the difference between the NSCs and the NBTs: “In respect of each subject, the former looks at what extent has a Grade 12 student met the Curriculum Statement expectations as expressed in the Subject Assessment Guidelines. The NBT, in respect of each domain, examines to what extent a school-leaver applying to university is prepared for the core AL, QL and MAT demands of higher education study.”

She said some students may be doing well at school but score low marks in NBTs.

“Often Grade 12 learners familiar with the way questions are asked at school suddenly find questions posed in a dissimilar way, which they don’t always comprehend. Often, students who write the MAT multiple-choice test say that, while the test itself is not necessarily difficult, the way the questions are asked is different. This is their first preview of what might be coming when they start first-year mathematics,” she explained.

“In general, the NBT benchmark performanceproficiency level for degrees starts at about 70% and up for Al, QL and mathematics, and for diploma and higher certificates at around 60%. The basic cutoff of 35% is the top indicator for a degree and 30% for the diploma high certificate,” she said.

The NBTs provide additional information to:

Help make decisions about an applicant’s access to university.

NBT results are used in addition to, and do not replace school leaving academic performance and exam results.

For certain faculties (for example Health Sciences), NBT results make up a specific proportion of an overall admission score.

NBT results may be used as an indicator of eligibility for an early offer (in addition to the Grade 11 results) or an Entrance Scholarship.

Guide placement within the university.

May guide recommendations for additional support, augmented courses or extended degree programmes.

Help develop curricula within the universities.

NBT scores for the cohort allow teaching to be responsive to student needs and guide and inform curricular changes.

Sango said there are huge financial and emotional costs when students drop out of university or take much longer than the regulation time to complete their degrees, and this needs to be addressed.

Sango then unpacked the results of the 2025 applicants to Higher Education (HE) who wrote the NBTs. 

Under 29% were judged proficient according to their AL tests; 11.5% for QL and 13% for MAT.

She reiterated that these are not actual students but applicants, meaning that a percentage of them would have ended up at university.

Sango then examined the data relating to an applicant’s choice of intended faculty of study.

She focused on those looking to enter education and engineering faculties as examples.

 “Those who wrote the MAT test and were looking for a place in an education faculty were probably intending to go into a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field. Five percent were AL proficient while 1% were QL and MAT proficient. They placed between 67 and 79% in the three basic benchmark categories. If you look at those who wanted to pursue engineering as a degree, 15% were in the proficient category in the MAT test.

“These results demonstrate that there is a mismatch of expectations,” she said. “If they end up in the system, do they do well in their chosen studies?”

Of the 51,048 who wrote the 2025 Academic Quantitative Literacy (AQL) tests,Gauteng, the Western Cape and online(provinces where the applicants reside were not identified) each had 20% of candidates followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) with 13%, Limpopo 9%, Eastern Cape 8% and Free State 5%. On the other side of the scale were Mpumalanga with 2% and Northern Cape and North West province with 1% each. International and other African countries made up the remaining 1%.

The results were similar in the 2025 MAT tests. Of the 40 094 candidates, 21% were from Gauteng, 20% online and 16% from the Western Cape. This was followed by KZN 14%, Limpopo 11%, Eastern Cape 8%, Free State 5%, Mpumalanga 2% and Northern Cape, North West Province and international and other African countries with 1% each.

“We can see that there is a difference between the provincial preparedness level, particularly when looking at results between basic and proficient competencies. Gauteng and Western Cape lead the way, even though the picture is changing.  KZN also did well in AL,” said Sango.

“There is an urgency, and a responsibility, for us to tell learners whether or not they are prepared for first-year university and the fields of study they wish to pursue. Whether the institution they are applying to requires an NBT or not, it is an opportunity for them to know how they have done. It gives them a window of opportunity to prepare better, to think more deeply about the future and decide whether they should seek help from day one if they are accepted into an institute of higher learning. This helps address some adjustments students must make to become top learners.”

Sboniso Mzulwini, a Mathematics Lecturer from Nelson Mandela University, agreed that high school learners who wanted to further their education should be encouraged to take the NBT, recalling his test in 2012.

“I got very high marks in mathematics in high school, but my results were lower in the NBTs. It was an excellent tool to address the potential challenges I would face in my first year of university. It gave me an insight into what was coming and allowed me to prepare for it.” 

Janine Greenleaf Walker is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.

This article was first published by Universities South Africa.

BY Levy Masiteng

Bridging the digital divide is not just a matter of equity, it is necessary for the country’s collective future, according to Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane.

The minister was speaking at the official launch of the Digital Innovation Lab at the Esayidi TVET College in Umzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday. 

She said the opening of the lab was a testament to the government’s commitment to bridging the digital divide and empowering the youth with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The lab is equipped with cutting-edge technology, including virtual reality and advanced manufacturing techniques. 

Earlier in April, the first cohort of lecturers and facilitators were trained to utilise the lab’s resources and provide quality of education to students.

“As we move forward, I am proud to say that the lab is already in operation,” said Nkabane.

“Opening the doors of learning and bridging the digital divide is not just a matter of equity; it is a necessity for our collective future.” 

Students engaged with the minister at the launch, showcasing their innovative projects and how the new lab would prepare them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The lab, she explained, was a beacon of hope, demonstrating that with the right tools and opportunities, every student could achieve their full potential.

Nkabane highlighted the lab’s role in enhancing employability, noting that digital skills have become essential for career readiness in today’s job market.

That was why the facility was providing students with the skills they needed to thrive in a robotics-driven manufacturing environment.

“Through exposure to robotics programming, automation systems and smart manufacturing techniques, students will learn how to design, maintain and troubleshoot robotic systems. (These) skills are increasingly sought after by employers in the manufacturing sector and beyond,” Nkabane said. 

She encouraged students, lecturers, industry partners and the broader community to take full advantage of this new resource.

South African Technical Vocational Education and Training Student Association president Kgaogelo Chokoe praised the department’s commitment and urged the student body to protect the new facility. 

“Even though challenges and frustrations may arise, no harm should ever come to this lab. It is ours to protect, preserve and grow.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lungile Ntimba

The North West education department has handed over infrastructure projects to Ikageng schools in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district as part of its accelerated service delivery programme – Thuntsha Lerole.

New Bright Beginnings Primary school received a clear view fence, while Nanogang Primary School now has a borehole.

Education MEC Viola Motsumi emphasised the importance of providing learners with quality education in a conducive learning environment. 

“As the department of education in the North West province we will ensure that we reach out to all schools in the province through Thuntsa Lerole. We will ensure that the learning environment is conducive for learning and teaching.”

She added that fencing and access to water were essential components of a well-functioning school, directly impacting the quality of education learners receive.

“We want our children to be taught in a safe learning environment hence we have provided a clear view fence, and this security initiative is implemented in many schools across the province,” Motsumi said.

“At Nanogang primary, we have installed a borehole in order to address the shortage of water experienced at the school. All these contributions will ensure that teaching and learning takes place without any interruption.”

Last month, newly constructed toilets were unveiled at Monakato Primary School and 38 school uniforms were given to learners at Maumong and Tlapa primary schools as part of the programme.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thebe Mabanga

Waseem Carrim, the interim CEO of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, says stability and full resolution of outstanding operational issues will take between six and eight months.

These include making payments to service providers and student allowances, and addressing challenges around student accommodation.

On Monday, NSFAS apologised for the delayed payment of TVET student allowances originally scheduled for last Friday. Due to a system glitch related to the size of the batch files, these payments were processed on Saturday and have been reflected in all student accounts as of Sunday.

Carrim confirmed that NSFAS would make all outstanding payments from last year to accommodation service providers this week.

“We have not been an efficient and effective organisation, and we realise that delayed payments cause frustration and anxiety. We are working to address these in a timely manner. Payment to accommodation service providers will be settled within this week,” Carrim, who took up his role in early March, told Inside Education.

Payment of student accommodation has led to frustration among landlords and students, with some facing eviction or unable to access accommodation for this academic year.

Earlier this month, NSFAS urged students who had received R10,800 designated for accommodation allowances to settle their outstanding payments directly with their landlords.

Carrim confirmed that the delayed payment in student allowances was caused by a technical glitch due to batch sizes, with four files processing up to 50,000 records each.

Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane apologised for the inconvenience on Monday, saying “delayed payments are unacceptable”.

“We recognise the impact of these delays as students depend entirely on their allowances for living expenses. We are committed to ensuring that our students receive the essential support efficiently and promptly.”

Carrim also confirmed that by the end of this week, all TVET colleges’ allowances, all university upfront payments, and accommodation top-ups until the end of April would be paid.

He said NSFAS has retained intermediaries for the payment of accommodation and other services, while students were often paid directly or through their institutions.

Carrim noted that other causes of delayed payments included hold-ups in finalising registrations and the outcome of appeals for students whose funding has been declined.

In her statement, Nkabane confirmed that most appeals have been dealt with, without saying how many. 

“The NSFAS Appeals and Tribunals Committee is currently reviewing these outcomes to ensure consistency and appropriate application of policy,” the minister said.

Carrim told Inside Education that the challenges around accommodation started when NSFAS took over this function from institutions. The issue was that the infrastructure was uneven, especially for accommodation in rural provinces.

South Africa currently has a backlog of 300,000 beds in student accommodation, and NSFAS looks after one million students in universities and TVET colleges at any given time.

“The first thing we need is a student accommodation policy,” said Carrim.

This policy would set norms and standards and possibly regulate costs.

He also said infrastructure needed to be addressed, as was currently done by the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Human Settlements.

“This will then allow us to hand the function back to institutions.”

He said that one area of improvement he hoped to drive was throughput, or the proportion of NSFAS-funded students who completed their studies, which currently stood at about a third.

“We need to see an improved return on investment,” he said, noting that if a student did not complete their qualification, there was already investment that had gone into them for a year or two.

The scheme needed to dedicate resources to tracking these students to assess their progress and their impact and contribution to the South African economy.

Carrim said a key moment of change for the scheme came about in 2018, in the wake of the #FeesMustFall protests that swept across university campuses in 2016. This led to NSFAS changing from partial loan funding to full bursaries.

Moving into the future, he wants to help develop a culture of excellence that will help define an “ideal NSFAS student” in conduct and academia.

Although students from the past five years were no longer required to pay back loans, the youth activist who worked at the National Youth Development Agency before joining NSFAS, said it was important that beneficiaries contributed to helping the scheme become sustainable and changing the trajectory of youth unemployment because a substantial number of graduates struggled to find employment once they left tertiary institutions.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Edwin Naidu

How long should the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) be given to get its act together?

On Freedom Day, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, had to accept another apology from the troubled student funding scheme over delayed payment of Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) student allowances originally scheduled for 25 April.

Due to a system glitch related to the size of the batch files, these payments were processed on Saturday, 26 April, and have been reflected in all student accounts as of 27 April.

NSFAS is actively collaborating with its financial services institution to resolve this issue and prevent any recurrence in the upcoming months.

Around 800 students at a specific institution experienced challenges transferring funds, which the scheme committed to fixing this by Wednesday.

Promises! Promises! While that was the title of a 1983 song by British pop band Naked Eye, referring to a relationship, this is also a relationship that is not working for the country and requires desperate intervention.

The song goes:

“You made me promises, promises
Knowing I’d believe
Promises, promises
You knew you’d never keep.”

The love affair between NSFAS, the tertiary sector and the students it is meant to serve, is sorely tested despite an inexperienced new board and a wet-behind-the-ears interim CEO who, despite his excellent qualifications, seems to have no experience or clue, let alone standing, in the higher education sector.

Waseem Carrim, the former CFO and CEO of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), was appointed acting CEO on 5 March, firmly committed to tackling the crisis. More than a month later, it is not a great start.

NSFAS cannot seem to function without falling into dysfunction. While some problems predate the new brooms in charge, NSFAS has outstanding amounts from 2024 owed to students and accommodation providers.

The scheme is currently working on communication to outline the way forward regarding the outstanding amounts of 2024, which will be released by the end of April.

What is needed is people who can do their job and process payments efficiently, not communication, which was the style of Nkabane’s predecessor, Professor Blade Nzimande, who seemed to believe public relations would erase the corruption and the scandals prevalent at NSFAS and indeed many Sector Education Training Authorities under his watch.

Nkabane needs time to fix the mess Nzimande left. It is a monumental task, especially considering the shenanigans at some of the Setas. That’s for another day.

Concerning NSFAS, Nkabane ought to invest in a review of the state of higher education in South Africa to understand the funding crisis, the curriculum transformation, the success and failure rate, and most importantly, whether the country is getting bang for its buck regarding its investment in the sector.

Of course, the suggestion of a review is old news, made more than a year ago, but Nzimande did not listen to anybody because he thought he had all the answers.

The results of many failures in higher education are glaring.

Professor Jairam Reddy, one of the architects behind the founding vision of tertiary education in the post-apartheid era, called for a review of the state of higher education.

Having chaired the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) in 1995 during the tenure of the country’s first democratic minister of education, Professor Sibusiso Bengu, Reddy said that the time was ripe for a new commission.

This commission should swiftly review the state of higher education and propose urgent changes. Unlike the NCHE, which he chaired for 18 months, Reddy suggested this should be a shorter exercise – perhaps six months – and involve about five experts on higher education, including one international expert.

The NCHE report’s proposals were used to draft the post-apartheid White Paper on Higher Education, which provided the policy outline for the Higher Education Act. A new review would certainly guide the needs of the future.

Reddy, a former council chair at the Durban University of Technology, also called on the department to review the standard institutional statutes regarding university councils and leadership suitability, given the changes in the higher education environment during the past 15 years.

He said the DHET task force, of which he was a member, examined the university councils and made recommendations, among them reducing the number of council members from 30 to 24 or 20 for each university and reducing ministerial nominees from five to three.

Of course, if you want to flood these councils with cronies, you would ignore such a suggestion. New brooms sweep clean, and Nkabane is committed to ensuring that higher education serves all people, not just hers.

Reddy’s call for a review of the tertiary system is premised on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of higher education and critically evaluating the effectiveness of certain institutional mergers that were initiated by the late Professor Kader Asmal, the minister of education, and were implemented by him and his successor, Naledi Pandor. The mergers took place in 2004 and 2005.

The funding of the higher education system needs to be looked at again, too—is it adequate and equitable, and what is the efficacy of the NSFAS, the government’s bursary scheme for students who have been struggling to overcome a myriad of problems?

Reddy said the NCHE in 1995 recommended a well-thought-out funding model for students in tertiary education in which students who could afford university fees were not to be funded; a second category, which comprised most of the incoming black students, previously denied university education and mostly from poor backgrounds, were to be given bursaries; a third category in the middle who could afford partial fees were to be given loans to be repaid on graduation and entering the world of work.

He told me this model worked well for a few years despite the very low loan repayment rate. However, this model was turned on its head during Jacob Zuma’s presidency and the #FeesMustFall campaign. Most students are expected to be fully funded, which is simply unaffordable despite a considerable increase in NSFAS funding.

Reddy, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Durban-Westville (which merged with the University of Natal to become the University of KwaZulu-Natal), said the funds were initially transferred to universities and dispersed according to their student requirements.

Then, at some point, the dispersing of NSFAS funds was centralised. He said this has led to ongoing problems, including the current issues related to the fund.

In his view, if the funding is outsourced to individual universities, they are better positioned to disperse the funds. In some cases, universities will need assistance, which can be easily provided.

“The whole model of NSFAS funding, as currently administered, needs to be revisited,” he said.

Nobody listened.

The ongoing troubles at NSFAS indicate a need to consider what the education and civil society experts propose as a reasonable way forward, per Reddy’s suggestion. Otherwise, Nkabane will constantly entertain excuses from the sorry NSFAS without finding a way forward that benefits South Africa.

“Access to education is not just a privilege; it is a fundamental right that facilitates personal and national growth,” the minister said on Monday.

“This statement is meant to address two critical matters that are at the heart of my commitment to supporting our students in their pursuit of educational excellence: the timely disbursement of TVET allowances and the NSFAS appeals process are paramount towards a streamlined and transparent funding process that ensures that no student is left behind.”

Promises! Promises! The minister should act on NSFAS’s broken promises, given her noble intentions. A fresh review could provide better solutions than being hostage to the ongoing NSFAS ineptitude.

Edwin Naidu is the Editor of Inside Education.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Amy Musgrave

The Gauteng education department is urgently working on a plan to ensure that schooling is not disrupted at Riverlea High School, south of Johannesburg, following a blaze that gutted 11 classrooms and furniture on Sunday night.

The department said on Monday that according to preliminary reports, the fire started in an unused classroom and rapidly spread, destroying a block of 11 classrooms and all the boys’ toilets.

It said four of the classrooms were currently being used by Grade 8 learners and the remainder were unoccupied.

Schooling resumes next week on Monday.

“A temporary plan has been put in place to use the school hall for affected learners while arrangements are being finalised for the delivery of four mobile classrooms, fully furnished, to replace the lost classrooms,” the department said in a statement.

“Approximately 230 learners are directly impacted by the aftermath of this fire, and every effort is being made to normalise the situation swiftly.”

The rest of the school’s infrastructure remained intact and operations for other grades would continue without significant challenges.

Education MEC Matome Chiloane has warned that those responsible for the blaze would be dealt with.

“We condemn this senseless act of destruction in the strongest possible terms. An attack on a school is an attack on the future of our country and acts of this nature must be treated with the utmost seriousness,” said Chiloane.

He appealed to anyone information to come forward and assist the police with their investigations.

Meanwhile, the school’s governing body told Newzroom Afrika that security was an issue, with guards and wardens only in place from Mondays to Fridays.

It said it had reached out to the department on numerous occasions to assist the school with security and upgrading facilities.

The SGB welcomed the mobile classrooms, but said it was not enough. It appealed for the entire school to be rebuilt as infrastructure was in desperate need of an upgrade.

No one was hurt in the blaze.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Cecile de Villiers

Schools should be a safe environment, a place of learning where children can develop their potential. In South Africa, many public schools aren’t like this. Instead, they are hothouses for teachers’ poor performance, financial mismanagement, assault and sexual misconduct.

When cases of misconduct in schools emerge, they tend to follow the same pattern: public outcry, media involvement and political promises.

What often follows is inaction. Teachers are not always held accountable.

One reason is a fragmented legislative framework applicable to teachers. This can be explained using sexual misconduct as an example.

As a labour law researcher, I analysed legislation, statistics and 137 arbitration awards involving teachers, and found that fragmentation in legislation results in a lack of co-ordination between key role players on two levels. First, in preventing sexual misconduct by teachers at schools, and second, in addressing it once it has occurred.

The lack of co-ordinated legal obligations means that it’s left to a few diligent role players in the education system to ensure prospective teachers are suitable to work with children, and to pursue discipline in the case of sexual misconduct.

Key role players

The South African Council for Educators is the professional body in education responsible for maintaining ethical and professional standards. All teachers in South Africa must be registered with the council.

Their continued registration depends on their conduct. Anyone is allowed to lodge a complaint against a teacher. If a teacher seriously breaches the code of professional ethics, their name can be removed from the register. The effect is that they are prohibited from working at any school in the country (provided their prospective employer checks their registration status).

On the other hand, the relevant provincial department of education (employer) is responsible for dealing with teacher misconduct in terms of the Employment of Educators Act. This may attract a number of sanctions, including dismissal.

The Council for Educators Act applies to all teachers, whereas the Employment of Educators Act applies only to those employed by the department. The general rules of the Labour Relations Act apply to the employment of teachers appointed by school governing bodies.

Sexual misconduct is a breach of the code of professional ethics and it is also misconduct in an employment sense. This means the roles of the council and of the department overlap.

But there are gaps which have implications for the safety of learners.

For example, in the Dempers case, a teacher with a history of assault, who had received sanctions short of dismissal, was eventually dismissed for serious assault. His dismissal did not remove him from the school system because he secured a governing body position at a different school.

This raises questions about whether the council and the department have statutory obligations to exchange information, and whether they should both have to “vet” teachers before registration and employment.

Preventing sexual misconduct

There are other laws that establish lists of names of persons against whom children must be protected. The Children’s Act establishes the National Child Protection Register. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act establishes the National Register for Sex Offenders.

The sex offenders register lists persons convicted of sexual offences. But it is currently (and controversially) not publicly available. The child protection register throws the net broader to include persons unsuitable to work with children. Evidence is needed, but a conviction is not required. Still, this register is underutilised.

Different pieces of legislation regulate the employment and registration of teachers. Further legislation provides registers that have the potential to protect children.

But a lack of co-ordination means that information important for the safety of children can be missed. For example, a police clearance certificate will not indicate whether the person is listed on the child protection register.

The solution, I suggest, is to amend legislation to include clearly defined obligations on key role players. It should also include cross references between the different pieces of legislation. The sexual offenders register should be made public, and the child protection register should be used better.

Obstacles to accountability

Education legislation requires that the council and department share information. But there are gaps in accountability.

Firstly, a teacher who resigns following sexual misconduct will not trigger the reporting obligations in the Council for Educators Act and Employment of Educators Act. It will also not trigger the regulations that prohibit dismissed teachers from future employment at public schools.

Secondly, where teachers are charged with sexual misconduct, they are not always placed on precautionary suspension pending an investigation. The effect is that the learner continues to face the perpetrator who continues to have contact with children.

Third, even when a teacher is suspended, disciplinary proceedings tend to take a long time. Between 2014 and 2022, the average time teachers were suspended in the Eastern Cape province was 208 days. This is despite legislation prescribing a maximum suspension period of 90 days.

Lastly, presiding officers at internal disciplinary inquiries are not allowed to make findings on the suitability of teachers to continue working with children (as it is not a forum recognised by the Children’s Act). In other words, the names of teachers dismissed following serious misconduct will not be in the child protection register.

Solutions

There has been some progress. A collective agreement at the Education Labour Relations Council (bargaining council) signed in 2018 requires an “inquiry by arbitrator” in the case of any form of sexual misconduct. This means the internal disciplinary inquiry is replaced by a so-called pre-dismissal arbitration, presided over by an Education Labour Relations Council panellist with experience in dealing with sexual misconduct.

This is a forum recognised by the Children’s Act, so panellists may make findings on the suitability of teachers to continue working with children. And the removal of teachers’ names from the register may also be recommended to the council.

The collective agreement has, to an extent, integrated different pieces of legislation. But its effectiveness relies on adequate reporting.

More needs to be done in other areas.

Firstly, the fact that a teacher who resigns following sexual misconduct will not trigger the reporting obligations in the Council for Educators Act and Educators Act nor the regulations that prohibit dismissed educators from future employment at public schools needs to be fixed.

This gap can be addressed if the department finalises disciplinary action during the teacher’s notice period.

The department should also lodge a complaint with the council to pursue disciplinary steps (which is not dependent on an employment relationship).

Cross-departmental, legal, administrative and bureaucratic processes obstruct the flow of information in the school system.

And finally, all teachers should be subject to the same rules. And a legislative obligation should be placed on all authorities to check teachers’ suitability before employment at schools or registration by the council.

Cecile de Villiers is Lecturer of Labour Law, University of Cape Town.

The Conversation

By Akani Nkuna

Umalusi, which is responsible for overseeing education quality in South Africa, warns that without sufficient resources, the credibility of the country’s certification framework could face serious challenges.

It said this week that as educational demands continued to evolve, increased funding was critical to maintain the integrity of the country’s qualifications.

“Adequate funding is essential to expand quality assurance to strengthen the credibility of the qualifications that we are offering on our sub-framework. Inadequate budget allocation makes it difficult for Umalusi to attract and retain competent and qualified employees,” Umalusi CFO Hendrik van der Walt told the Basic Education Portfolio Committee.

Umalusi and the South African Council for Educators presented their budget review to the parliamentary committee, outlining financial plans and priorities for the coming year.

The briefing highlighted key challenges, resource allocation and efforts to maintain education quality and professional standards. Members engaged with the presenters, seeking clarity on budget implementation and oversight measures.

Van Der Walt highlighted that Umalusi faced financial constraints due to operating from a single national office, limiting its capacity to oversee education quality effectively. He further noted that budget shortfalls restricted large-scale quality assurance, resulting in reduced monitoring.

Only 317 of 6933 exam centres and 30 of 183 marking centres were sampled for verification.

The limited sizes, according to Van Der Walt, were not truly representative of the overall totals, underscoring the significant impact budget constraints had on the regulatory body’s ability to fulfil its mandate effectively.

“Umalusi is also inundated with a lot of applications from private schools and colleges, which require more personnel to be able to address all of these matters,” he added.

Umalusi operated with an approved budget of R208 million for the 2024/25 financial year. Looking ahead, the council anticipates a 5% increase in funding for the 2025/26 period.

According to the proposed budget allocations, 46% of the upcoming financial year’s budget would be dedicated to administrative functions. A total of 14% was set aside for qualifications and research, and 40% would go towards quality assurance and monitoring activities.

“It is clear that we are greatly dependent on the grant that we receive from the Department of Basic Education as it makes about 80% our annual income that funds the operation of Umalusi in total,” Van Der Walt said.

Accreditation fees are projected to be the second-largest source of internal revenue for Umalusi, with expected earnings to be around R8 million for this financial year.

Interest income is forecast to remain relatively stable compared to the previous year.

Umalusi said it would issue the financial statements from 2024/2025 financial at the end May and make them accessible to the public.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Staff Reporter

The CAF African Schools Football Championship continental finals were held over the weekend, with Ghana’s U-15 Girls team and Tanzania’s U-15 Boys team being crowned champions at the University of Ghana in Accra.

According to CAF, Ghana’s U-15 Girls delivered a spirited performance in front of an electrified home crowd, defeating Uganda 2-0 to lift the continental title in their debut appearance at the finals.

Their victory marks a proud moment for Ghanaian youth football, showcasing the nation’s bright future on the African stage.

Tanzania’s U-15 Boys successfully defended their title, overcoming a strong Senegal side in a penalty shootout after a fiercely contested 0-0 stalemate.

The tournament, held over four days, brought together the best young talent from across the continent, celebrating excellence, unity and the transformative power of football.

The conclusion of the competition marked its third successive season and was attended by CAF president Patrice Motsepe and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

CAF said the Ghana Boys U-15 also secured a podium finish after overcoming Uganda in the third-place play-off, while former champions in the girls’ division, South Africa also secured a bronze medal after edging Morocco 2-1.

“Saturday’s final marks yet another successful season of Africa’s largest schools football competition and continues to form a key component to achieving CAF President, Dr Motsepe’s bold vision of making African football globally competitive and self-sustaining,” it said.

CAF African Schools Football Championship Ghana 2025 Individual Awards:

Girls:

Top Scorer: Pulane Moloi (South Africa)

Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Precious Akenguwie (Ghana)

Player of the Tournament: Jennifer Awuku (Ghana)

Fair Play Team: Morocco 

Boys:

Top Scorer: John Andor (Ghana), Ingatus Cyril Acquah Hagan (Ghana)

Player of the Tournament: Souleymane Commissaire Faye (Senegal)

Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Rajabu Manyelezi (Tanzania)

Fair Play Team: Tanzania

INSIDE EDUCATION