STAFF REPORTER

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga, supported by DBE senior managers, provided a comprehensive briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the recently released Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) for 2021, in which 57 countries participated.

“Through PIRLS, the Department heeds the National Development Plan (NDP) call for South Africa to participate in international benchmarking against the best systems in the world to improve education outcomes, and not to compete, as reading comprehension and performance are interlinked.

These findings were complemented by initial insights on reading literacy from the Early Learning National Assessment (ELNA) in Grade 1 for emerging literary skills and the national Systemic Evaluation study in Grade 3, which have demonstrated the severity of learning losses suffered globally due to COVID-19”, the Minister said.

During the virtual briefing, Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba, Committee Chairperson, said that South Africans were concerned about the PIRLS findings as learners cannot read for meaning.

“A reading culture should be nurtured in the early years, with classrooms providing learners with adequate reading resources in their various home languages to develop language and comprehension skills for all indigenous languages.”

A total of 12,426 Grade 4 learners in 321 schools and 9,317 Grade 6 learners in 253 schools were assessed. Grade 4 learners were representative of the 11 official languages and nine provinces, whilst the Grade 6 learners only represented Afrikaans and English.

South Africa’s trend score from 2016 dropped significantly from 320 to 288 (a difference of 32 points). 81% of Grade 4 and 56% of Grade 6 learners did not reach the benchmark of 400 points. Grade 6 learners scored 384 points, with Afrikaans scoring an average of 456. The best-performing language was Afrikaans (387), and the lowest was Setswana (211). The Western Cape had the highest scores. The findings also indicated that girls achieved higher reading literacy scores than boys.

Dr Mark Chetty, Director for National Assessment at the DBE, delivered the presentation to the Committee, saying reading culture and literacy are interrelated; both context and complexity must be highlighted for decoding and language comprehension to organise thoughts, evaluate information and conclude to analyse text to improve reading for meaning across all academic subjects.

Chetty indicated that, in the future, the PIRLS findings will be analysed, and a detailed diagnostic report will be published. In addition, the DBE will be reviewing the National Integrated Reading Plan and reading literacy progress will be tracked through the Thrive by Five Index, measuring early learning, ELNA, tracking school readiness, a reading survey to track foundational reading skills in Grades 1 – 3; and systemic evaluation to calculate the outcome of reading comprehension”.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is deeply concerned by the passage into law of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda and the potential impact on children’s human right to access education free from fear, violence and persecution.

The Act calls for harsh sentences, including life imprisonment and the death penalty, for anyone convicted.

GPE reiterates the rights of all children and young people to quality education, irrespective of their sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, said Laura Frigenti, chief executive officer, in a statement.

GPE is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis, mobilising partners and funds to support nearly 90 lower-income countries to transform their education systems so that every girl and boy can get the quality education to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better world. 

Frigenti said the GPE is considering the next steps in coordination with partners to assess the potential impacts of this law on the rights of all children to access quality education.

“Working closely with partners, GPE remains committed to supporting inclusive education in Uganda and elsewhere in the world.”

INISDE EDUCATION

PHUTI MOSOMANE

More than 400 unemployed youth will be equipped with ICT skills to help improve teaching and learning in schools, the head of the Telkom Foundation Sarah Mthintso told delegates at the GCRA Workforce Development Partners event on Thursday.

Mthintso said the foundation will focus its investments in young people by increasing the number of the intake from the120 in 2022 to 200 this year and another 200 in 2024.

Speaking to Inside Education on the sideline of the breakfast event, she said Telkom is partnering with GCRA in an effort to continue investing in the development of young people with ICT skills.

“Telkom will train 400 young people to be deployed to various schools in the coming two years, an intake of 200 each year to support schools in the integration and adoption of ICTs.”

“In our research, we found that if you simply give schools any technology without providing technical support, in most cases teachers struggle on thier own,” she said,” she said.

Having identified the ineffective use of technological tools by educators, Telkom together with the department of education identifies unemployed youth in the communities close to schools to help facilitate the effective use of this ICT tools in a school environment.

“Last year, we trained 120 young people, this year we have increased the number to 200 and next year another 200. So we train young people for four months on technical support. They then get deployed into schools to provide the much needed technical support to the teachers, principals, SGBs and learners”.

The candidates will spend eight months providing technical support on ICT tools already deployed by the Department of Education in partnership with Telkom.

The GCRA will pay candidates a monthly stipend for 12 months, thereafter the school can choose to extend the contract.

Telkom secures facilitators, moderators and assessors to enable candidates to get accredited certificates at the end of the 12 months.

Last year’s programme resulted in the placement of 120 candidates at 60 schools.

For the training programme, Mthintso said Telkom Foundation will spend R30 000 per candidate.

“We do not spend less than R3 million, this is exclauding the stipend funded by GCRA. It is just one of the many programmes that we are doing as Telkom Foundation” she said, also adding that the telecommunications giant trains over 210 learners in systems development, and business analysis who then get placed in companies with a budget of R15 million solely funded by Telkom.

Telkom approaches various entities in both private and public to identify ICT skills gaps, and then recruit young people to equip them with skills.

“For example,a company would approach Telkom with specific skills required. An entity would approach us and say we are digitising our libraries – can Telkom assist- we have done this in Soweto and Tembisa,” Mthintso added.

MEC of Education Matome Chiloane applauded Telkom and other partners for assisting in helping unemployed youth with workplace skills.

“Youth unemployment is a ticking time-bomb, this challenge requires everyone. Give youth opportunities and keep them,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

PHUTI MOSOMANE

FIVE children tragically lost their lives in a fatal traffic accident on Tuesday while on their way to school on AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain, Western Cape.

Reports indicate that the bakkie carrying the learners collided with a traffic light, causing the children to be thrown off the back of the vehicle.

Expressing his outrage, Ricardo Mackenzie, the Western Cape MEC of Mobility, denounced the accident as a result of transporting learners illegally.

He described the deaths as tragic and entirely preventable.

“How many more children must we lose on our roads before the transportation of these precious lives is taken seriously by those driving the vehicles? Anyone who is transporting passengers – especially children whose bodies are more vulnerable to injury – has the weighty responsibility to keep them safe,” he said. 

He said vehicles must be roadworthy, drivers must be qualified and an operating licence is required to transport passengers. 

“Cutting corners with any of these requirements and driving recklessly is a matter of life and death. My condolences and prayers go out to these parents who are now faced with the grief of losing a child, and those with children in the hospital,” he added. 

Mackenzie said anyone wishing to report illegal or unsafe transport operators in the metro must contact the City of Cape Town Traffic Department, for enforcement and possible impoundment if the vehicle is unsafe, overloaded or the driver is unqualified. 

He said he recently attended two community meetings in Mitchells Plain to address the issues around learner transport and ensure that operators are properly registered and licensed.

Western Cape MEC of Education David Maynier said, “Today is a sad day in this province. A tragic accident has taken the lives of five young learners. They are from Wespoort PS, Harvester PS, Ridgeville PS, Highlands PS, and Duneside PS. Two learners are receiving medical treatment, from Ridgeville PS and Lentegeur HS. Western Cape Education Department counselling support teams are supporting the affected schools.”

Maynier further said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and the school communities. This is an unimaginable tragedy. Our thoughts are also with the learners currently being treated in hospital.”

Both Mackenzie and Minister Maynier visited the scene of the accident to understand what happened and express their condolences to the parents of the children involved in the accident.

They were also briefed by the SAPS’ Mitchells Plain Station Commander.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the horror crash that claimed the lives of five pupils and seriously injured two others, along AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain.

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education said it has noted with great sadness the loss of five young lives early this morning in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, on their way to school.

Committee Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said the committee would like to extend its condolences to the families, friends and school community:“This is indeed tragic; the worst news any parent or loved one can receive. It is the last thing you expect when seeing you children off safely to school. We mourn the young lives of our learners whot will now not have an opportunity to prosper and contribute to the future of our country.”

Mbinqo-Gigaba called on the authorities to investigate the accident and to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of what happened. 

“Guilty or negligent parties should face the full might of the law. We call on all those transporting our precious cargo to take great care when doing so, especially during the rainy winter season,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.

Western Cape Premier Allan Winde said he felt “deep sorrow for the pain of thier parents.”

“My heart aches for the families of the young lives so tragically lost in a road accident in Mitchells Plain today. It’s hard to find the words to convey the magnitude of the loss of these precious children,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION 

A student wounded his teacher with a hunting knife and brandished what turned out to be a toy gun at classmates in a high school in a Milan suburb on Monday, police said.

Classmates later recounted that the 16-year-old suddenly stood up shortly after classes began in the town of Abbiategrasso and attacked the teacher from behind on an arm and on her head, the Italian news agency ANSA said. When the attacker waved a gun at his classmates, the students fled the room, reports said.

Police told state TV that when they entered the room, the teen was sitting on the floor with no one else in the classroom and offered no resistance. The bloody knife and the gun were found resting on a notebook on a desk, according to photos released by police.

The teacher, 51, lost a lot of blood and was admitted to a hospital, also suffering from shock, news reports said. The student was taken to a hospital psychiatric department and had what apparently were self-inflicted injuries, the police said.

Principal Michele Raffaeli told reporters outside the school that the student had been having academic problems and his parents had been summoned to a meeting with school authorities, scheduled for Tuesday.

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara visited the wounded teacher in hospital.

“The teacher had done her work in an exemplary way for the boy, who had already had several issues,″ the minister said in a video on Facebook.

Valditara added: “We must say ‘enough’ to aggression so that schools can be safe places and, at the same time, reflect on introducing (the figure of) a psychologist” in schools.

AP

STAFF REPORTER

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has secured substantial funding amounting to R17.5 million for students on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

UKZN Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Nana Poku, announced the plans for the funding to the University community last week.

“This funding will be used to provide support to postgraduate students, especially those from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, and to establish a dedicated secretariat for addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV),” he said.
 
The bulk of the funds, R15 million will be earmarked for providing financial support to deserving postgraduate students. The primary beneficiaries of this fund will be those students from disadvantaged backgrounds who need support to graduate in this 2023 academic year. 

The process of finalising the precise selection criteria for eligible postgraduate students is currently underway. Each qualifying student will receive financial assistance towards their studies, up to a maximum amount to be determined by each College in line with the University’s ethos of fairness, transparency and inclusion and alongside the structures of the funder’s requirements. 
 
The College of Law and Management Studies will receive R2 million, the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science is set to receive R4 million, the College of Health Sciences is allocated R3.66 million, and the College of Humanities will receive a generous R5 million.
 
In addition to that, R2.5 million of the total funding will be dedicated to a crucial cause – the creation and operation of the GBV secretariat as mandated by the recently adopted UKZN SGBV Strategy. In line with that strategy and as announced in March this year, a specialised hub for addressing issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) will be established within the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. 
 
This hub will be responsible for steering the implementation of UKZN’s zero-tolerance policy towards SGBV and maintaining an accurate report of progress in this critical area. The funding will also support initiatives and activities to increase awareness about SGBV. 
 
Professor Poku said the contribution not only helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their academic journey but also aligns perfectly with the university’s commitment to eradicate the menace of sexual and gender-based violence from its campuses.

“It is a significant step towards a more inclusive, equitable, and safe academic environment at our institution.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

EDUCATION Minister Angie Motshekga presented the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s)
Budget Vote 16, for the 2023/24 Financial Year in the National Assembly, Parliament, Cape Town, last week.

The overall 2023/24 MTEF budget allocation for the DBE is R31.8 billion, an increase of 7.0% from
last year’s overall allocation. 

The Minister highlighted that the heart of any development within the Basic Education Sector, must be what learners learn – learning outcomes, adding that these were severely impacted by COVID-19, exasperating teaching and learning losses and setting students back by one year of learning.

“Prior to the pandemic, we had seen progress in the reading abilities of children. The Minister referred to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) report that was shared with South Africans. PIRLS 2021 summarised the state of global learning poverty, as “the share of children who cannot read with meaning a simple text by the age of 10, as follows: “Firstly, in 2019, learning poverty was estimated at 57% in low and middle-income countries; secondly, post-COVID-19, a surge of up to 70% learning poverty in low and middle-income countries was noticeable; and thirdly, learning poverty was found to be as high as 86% for Sub-Saharan Africa”.

“During the 2018 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa decreed that learners must be able to read for meaning by the age of 10 years.  The DBE and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) responded with the National Reading Strategy (NRS) in 2019 with its 10 pillars.

There is an emerging view that these must be changed to four key interdependent strands: an explicit reading literacy policy; skilled and agile teachers; age-appropriate and culturally relevant LTSMs; and involved parents and communities. An Integrated National Reading Literacy Strategy must be well resourced –  we are engaging the National Treasury in this regard”.

“Since the Early Childhood Development (ECD) function shift from the Department of Social Development to the DBE, we have been crafting and implementing innovative strategies to strengthen the foundations of learning, looking at the continuum from birth to early Grades in the Foundation and Intermediate Phases. The Department subsequently conducted the National Census of Early Learning Programmes in 42,420 ECD programmes and the Thrive by Five Index Baseline Study revealed that only 45% of children, who are currently attending ECD programmes, are
developmentally on track. It is therefore important that a new holistic and inclusive model includes all communities of trust in the ECD space”.

In respect of skills and competencies for a changing world, the Three-Stream Curriculum Model is a responsive curriculum to meet the demands of the 21 st  Century. The Minister cited the introduction of the vocational and the occupational streams as additional learning pathways towards the attainment of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) in the schooling system.

“Other milestones include the finalisation of 35 Occupational and Vocational subjects for implementation in 74 Schools of Skill.  In 2021, we began piloting the specialised subjects in Grades 8 and 9 in 104 Public Ordinary Schools and Focus Schools selected across all nine provinces. The General Education Certificate (GEC) was piloted for assessment in 277 schools in 2022. This year, we have decided to step-up the pilot in 1,000 schools, including 126 Schools of Skill”. 

The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative, launched in 2018, focused on providing appropriate sanitation to schools, which were dependent on basic pit toilets. In 2018, there were initially 3,898 schools on the SAFE initiative. Further assessments and rationalisation decreased this number to 3,395 schools.

At the end of the 2022/23 financial year, the construction of age-appropriate sanitation projects were completed in 2,722 schools. The remaining 673 sanitation projects are scheduled for completion before the end of this year. The Department has crafted an Infrastructure Ten-Point Strategy to accelerate the roll-out of school infrastructure, adopted by the Council for Education Ministers (CEM).

In conclusion, Minister Motshekga expressed her appreciation to partners, singling SACE, Umalusi, NECT, unions, SGB associations, principals’ associations, national organisations responsible for learners with special needs and independent schools’ associations for their counsel and impeccable resilience.

“As we continue to confront our ongoing challenges in the Sector: learner performance; schools and
district offices; infrastructure; resource constraints; school safety; learners and teachers’ well-being; and parental involvement, we must remember this quote from Dr Mokhubung Magubane: the future is embedded in the present, as the present bears imprints of the past.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

MINISTER of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, says skills development and training remains crucial in redressing the skewed trajectory of the past characterised through racist policies.

Addressing delegates during a breakfasting hosting the National Skills Fund (NSF) bursary beneficiaries during breakfast in Cape Town, the Minister said education and skills development is important because it promotes economic growth and social inclusion by creating a more skilled and diverse workforce.

“In our South African context, by providing training and education opportunities to Black South Africans, these skills development initiatives will help to level the playing field and reduce inequality in the economy. As President Nelson Mandela said: “The power of education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation.”

Nzimande pledged to intensify efforts towards addressing the imbalances of skills supply and demand in South Africa through the process of developing a country wide Master Skills Plan under the theme ‘One Country One Skills Development Plan’.

This ground-breaking initiative will provide strategic direction to the country’s skills system, bring about coherence in skills provisioning and clarify institutional arrangements and ensure that skills development in South Africa is relevant and responsive to the needs of the economy and society.

He said the Department of Higher Education and Training, together with the 21 sector education and training authorities (SETAs) and entities under the department, has been mandated a leadership role in the skills development of the country, in rebuilding the economy and in leading the reconstruction efforts of the government post-Covid-19.

Half a billion rand will also be allocated to the SETAs for scarce skills development in the current financial year.

The Minister said that the NSF is in the process of finalising the issuing of skills development funding Request for Proposals (RFPs) which include:

a) Postgraduate studies in natural sciences at Masters, Medical Doctors, PHD and Post PHD
level;
b) Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning (ARPL); Studies in Wellness and Sports, Rural Development; Information and Communication Technology (Skills in 4IR); TVET College Placement programmes; and
c) Expansion of Centres of Specialisation

He urged South Africans to look for these opportunities, while urging greater collaboration of all PSET institutions with industry, mostly importantly, TVET and Community Colleges.

“This will ensure that we create more job and training opportunities for our students in these sectors. I have said it several times to our colleges principals, that our TVET college will not be called colleges if they do not have well established relations with industry and workplaces within their areas,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE politicisation of top governance in South African universities is an entrée to corruption, and if left unchecked, the “growing swamp” will destroy higher education and snuff out the lamp of learning for generations to come, said Professor Jonathan Jansen.

Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and the president of the Academy of Science of South Africa. His research is concerned with the politics of knowledge in schools and universities.

He was speaking at a University of Cape Town (UCT) Summer School Extension Series event earlier this month, in conversation with UCT’s Anwar Mall.

Mall is a medical biochemist and an Emeritus Professor of Surgical Research in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The discussion, “Why universities are not exempt from corruption”, explored themes from Jansen’s recent hard-hitting book, Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities.

An alarmingly high number of the country’s 26 higher education institutions are already at risk, Jansen said.

The example of politically motivated assassinations and attempts on the lives of vice-chancellors and senior staff at institutions such as the University of Fort Hare had illuminated the reality of criminal syndicates operating with impunity.

Governance bodies had been infiltrated by individuals’ intent only on bleeding these institutions dry, Jansen said.

The conversation was part of the Summer School Extension Series.

Jansen said that while the threats to higher education were considerable, he doesn’t believe “the game is over with respect to a love of learning”.

“UCT [for example] is lucky to have those values in place and has some of the world’s leading scholars, some of the most productive laboratories for science and medicine with great thinkers in philosophy, literature and so on. But there’s a worldwide problem of reducing teaching and learning to ‘best outcomes’.”

Universities across the world are in constant struggle with what social scientists call the neoliberal university, he said.

“Get as many students across the line as possible, turn research into production units and ensure we
optimise the publication subsidy of the university.”

“We must train the next generation of professors so that they can step into a classroom and engage students to come to love the intellectual property. Because if you don’t, the swamp is going to grow.”

In this endeavour, universities need strong academic leaders at the helm, with a clear vision of their task, Jansen said.

“Take Fort Hare, where vice-chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu understands the value of learning. We forgot what universities are called for … It’s a particular kind of institution set up for an enduring purpose.”

“As I said to a group of vice-chancellors I met with recently, ‘How many of you have stood up at orientation or graduation and told the students what a university is for?’ South Africans equate a degree with getting a job.”

Therein lies a problem, Jansen noted. The goal of higher education is to provide students with a skill set, not prepare them for a specific job, except for the narrowest of professions.

But when it comes to good leadership, the cupboard is bare, Jansen noted. The crisis has impacted on councils, senates and other university governance bodies. And if avoided, problems “at the top” create havoc within the institution.

“A vice-chancellor is only as good as their second tier,” Jansen said. “And we’re dealing with a set of very serious issues about where the next generation of leaders will come from.”

Jansen said that while universities train emerging professors, introducing new, young blood to the academic corps for continuity, similar advancement programmes should be in place for university leadership roles.

INSIDE EDUCATION