THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) plans to cancel the October holiday period for schools in South Africa to help make up for lost teaching time.

Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that the department was holding talks with partners about the planned change on Tuesday morning (17 August). He added that an announcement on any planned changes would be made shortly.

Under the current 2021 school calendar, government school students are on holiday from 1 October until 11 October. Scrapping this holiday would give students an additional week of teaching time from 4-8 October.

All schools reopened on 26 July as part of the country’s move to an adjusted level 3 lockdown after a month-long level 4 lockdown.

While the education department shifted the June holidays to accommodate the closure, students still lost five teaching days over the period, which the October change will now pay up.

This comes after the lockdown caused severe teaching disruptions for much of 2020 and at the start of 2021.

Primary school students in South Africa returned to full-time teaching for more than a year on 2 August for the first time.

Since South Africa first introduced Covid-19 lockdown restrictions at the end of March 2020, most students have been learning in a ‘shift system’ – with a large amount of course work being done at home to encourage social distancing.

Unions opposed

Teachers unions have already opposed the change, saying that the government did not consult them on the new timetable.

The SA Onderwysers Unie (SAOU) said that it has received communication from the DBE that the following changes will take place:

That the five days from 4 to 8 October 2021 must be utilised to compensate for the lost school days;The third and fourth terms will be separated by a long weekend by declaring 23 September 2021 as a school holiday.

“The absolute fixation to insist on the normal 200 school days per annum despite the fact that the world is experiencing an extraordinary period as a result of the Covid pandemic makes no sense whatsoever,” the SAOU said.

The union said that many educators and parents have also incurred financial expenses for the October holidays.

Lost time 

According to data from the latest National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey, the impact of disrupted education since the Covid-19 outbreak has been devastating, with learners between 75% and a full school year behind where they should be, according to data from the latest National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM).

Rotational attendance, sporadic school closures and days off for specific grades have resulted in school children losing 54% of learning time.

Some 400,000 to 500,000 learners have reportedly also dropped out of school altogether over the past 16 months.

This is most likely for children living in informal urban and rural settings, with household poverty also playing a critical role. The total number of out of school children is now up to 750,000, said UNICEF South Africa.

“The reality is that South Africa cannot afford to lose another learner or another hour of learning time,” said Christine Muhigana, UNICEF South Africa representative. “It is urgent that we get every child back into the classroom, safely, now.”

Being out of school leads to learning loss and mental distress, exposure to violence and abuse, missed school-based meals and reduced development of social skills.

In the longer term, the skills needed to transition into working lives will be affected. Evidence shows that when children are out of school, women are twice as likely to take on childcare responsibilities, affecting their ability to work or search for work.

* Business Tech

GAUTENG schools have become soft targets for organised crime syndicates dealing in information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and scrap metal collectors.

This was revealed on Friday by the provincial Department of Education to a delegation of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and the Select Committee on Education, Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture following oversight visits to schools damaged during last month’s public unrest and pro-Zuma riots in the province.

In a statement, the committees heard that “organised crime syndicates have been targeting schools to steal smart boards, computers, printers and other ICT equipment that is used in teaching and learning. Scrap metal collectors also vandalise schools to steal water taps, electrical copper wires, as well as aluminium window and door frames to sell to recyclers.”

Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi told the committees that the province was losing the battle against school vandalism, and that drastic steps needed to be taken.

Lesufi also told the committees that although 11 schools were vandalised during the recent unrests and looting, more schools were attacked long before the unrest.

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture, Elleck Nchabeleng, said that “the aim of the oversight was to evaluate the damage and determine how can Parliament intervene to ensure that the provincial and national government repair the damaged schools and tighten their security.”

Meanwhile, the committees will conclude the oversight today by visiting more affected schools around Soweto.

* Inside Education

THE Eastern Cape government has announced the closure of more than 1 000 dysfunctional schools across the province.

About 1 142 schools across the Eastern Cape province were gazetted for closure as part of the rationalisation, realignment and merge of non-viable schools, following a series of meaningful meeting with parents, unions, school governing bodies and civil society leaders.

The program was meant to ensure the augmentation of the limited state resources, for the benefit of every learner in the province.

MEC for education Fundile Gade said the merging of schools will improve the overall quality of education in the province.

He said the Eastern Cape Department of Education has gazetted the realignment and merger of at least 390 schools in the province.

“Unviable, dysfunctional schools in any system are a nerve because they are part of the dysfunctionality of the entire system but the intention is not to close them,” said Gade.

“The intention is to get a sense of what then becomes a broader view of the communities that are being served and how do you save government unnecessary expenditure out of those institutions that are dysfunctional from that one thousand already about 400 of them are likely to be re-purposed.”

The gazetted schools had less than the prescribed number of learners for either a primary or high school hence the move to merge them for better learner performance and outcomes.

The Norms and Standards prescribes that a minimum number of enrolled primary school learners should be 135, while a secondary school should have at least 200 enrolled learners.

These schools, according to Gade, do not meet any of those regulations and merging or realigning them will guarantee that each learners receives public quality education.

The realignment and merger of schools is prescribed by the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996). Primarily, the program is meant to ensure that learners receive quality public education at all times as prescribed by the Constitution of the land, said the department.

The need to rationalise schools in the Eastern Cape started a few years ago.

The province not only inherited a large number of very small schools from the Transkei era, but out-migration to urban centres both within and outside of the province has also made many schools unviable.

Data from 2016, when the Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) project began, showed that close to 50% of schools had fewer than 250 learners, and another 17% have fewer than 100 learners.

Previous rationalisation efforts in the province were characterised by non-compliance with the provisions of South African Schools Act on the closure of schools, along with fragmented planning that affected teacher placements (from old to new schools) and the provision of scholar transport, resources and infrastructure in receiving schools.

This lack of transport for learners moving to more distant schools created distrust among communities, which fuelled resistance to the rationalisation efforts.

* Inside Education

THE Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has welcomed the successful first week of online admissions applications after more than 100 000 applications for Grade 8 were completed.

The department’s 2022 online admissions applications system opened last Tuesday for Grade 7 learners currently enrolled in the public school system in Gauteng to apply for Grade 8.

“We are vindicated that the two-phase process was in the best interest of both learners and parents,” Lesufi said.

“There have been three main problems, one being the issue of ID numbers where we are linked to the home affairs database but there were challenges and limitations but we managed to rectify that.”

The process for Grade 1s and 8s was split into two phases this year to ensure that the high demand for school placement was managed more efficiently.

By Friday, the number of successful applications from Grade 8 was at 104 504.

“Accordingly, this milestone is indicative of the hard work that has been put in by the GDE staff who are handling an average of 5 000 calls a day at the GDE contact and walk-in centres across the province. Our gratitude must go to parents and guardians whose patience and understanding have made this process smoother,” education spokesperson Steve Mabona said.

Learners who were outside the public schooling system and eligible for Grade 8 would have to wait until September 13 to apply, as well as eligible Grade 1 learners.

The system began smoothly last week with some parents and guardians having to overcome a number of challenges including incorrect ID numbers or home addresses – even after the parents had verified their details at schools. “Indeed our back-office support – including the districts and schools – has been extremely busy providing assistance to parents and guardians so that they are better able to navigate the system,” Mabona said.

The provincial department has encouraged parents who have not yet verified their information to communicate with their child’s school to check if schools have updated details.

If the schools do not prove to be helpful, parents have been urged to visit the GDE’s district office, walk-in centres or call the GDE’s contact centre.

The first phase of the 2022 online admissions process, which is for parents and guardians whose children are currently in Grade 7 at a public school in Gauteng and would be going to Grade 8 in 2022, will end on September 3.

Phase 2 would begin on September 13 and focus on parents and guardians whose children would be going into Grade 1 in 2022 or Grade 8 but were not in a public school in Gauteng. It would end on October 8.

* Own Correspondent

DESPITE concerted efforts to narrow the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, major inequalities persist. 

According to UNESCO, women account for a mere 28% of those pursuing STEM careers in Sub-Saharan Africa, below the global average of 30%.

On a positive note, South Africa is bucking the trend by producing more female ICT graduates. The country has the highest share of female graduates in Sub-Saharan African at 32%, and even more female ICT graduates, at 38%, according to a recent report. Supporting this positive trajectory are statistics from HyperionDev, South Africa’s leading tech education provider, which recorded a 60% increase in female students since the beginning of 2021.

HyperionDev CEO Riaz Moola says that although the number of women in tech is improving in South Africa, there is still much to be done to minimise barriers to entry, inspire girls to take STEM subjects and help young women take advantage of the opportunities that the tech industry offers them.

Giving women a competitive edge is vital, as they were the hardest hit during the first COVID-19 hard lockdown last year. Out of the 2,8 million jobs lost, two-thirds were women, according to the National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM). In the latest survey released earlier this year, although many have recovered their jobs, re-employment rates for men were greater than those for women.

“Considering that the job landscape is constantly evolving in line with the digital economy, it is essential for girls and women to ensure they are educated and upskilled to ensure their jobs are future-proofed, especially in the face of disruptions such as COVID-19,” comments Moola.

Female representation is critical

Despite the progress made towards gender parity, women still remain critically underrepresented in most STEM fields, both in tertiary education institutions and the workforce.

“It becomes apparent in more informal social settings that there are still fundamentally prejudiced nuances embedded in conversations around women in tech. The underrepresentation of women then equates to a lack of female ICT role models to inspire girls at an age where parental control, peer pressure and self-esteem can heavily influence their career decisions,” says Marianne de Vos, Lead Digital Designer at HyperionDev.

Others concur that gender representation makes a big difference. Onalerona Mosimege, Software Engineer at HyperionDev, recalls how large and diverse her first-year computer science class was at university. But it didn’t stay that way for long. “By my final exam in third year, there were only four girls left,” she says. “A lot of my female friends left computer science mostly because they felt as if they were struggling alone.”

Breaking down barriers to shatter glass ceilings

“While the issues women face in joining the tech industry are numerous and powerful, they’re not impossible to overcome,” says Moola. As such, he believes there are a number of strategies that schools, businesses, and parents can take to support girls and women as they pursue their passion and interest in technology. These include improving female representation in companies, celebrating female role models in tech, such as South African powerhouse Aisha Pandor, co-founder of Sweep South and American Whitney Wolfe Herd, 31-year-old founder of the global dating app Bumble, who was named the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire on Forbes’s Billionaires List 2021. Subsequently, it is crucial to ensure that the tech industry listens to women’s challenges and addresses gender inequality.

Tech education is the perfect starting point 

“Accessible tech education is the future of social upliftment and mobility,” asserts Moola. “As coding is an essential language for many 21st century jobs, it is the perfect starting point for women and girls to grow their careers in tech.

“Our coding boot camps give young women a fighting chance to become confident, job-ready developers in mere months rather than years. We have hundreds of proven success stories of students who became professional developers and engineers shortly after graduating,” he says. “Our focus on practical work skills and the human touch makes all the difference in helping young women achieve their tech dream and excel in their new career,” Moola concludes.  

Africa.com

SEGUN ODEGBAMI|

SPORTS development in Africa is on my mind. I am asking myself probing questions. Uganda produced a John Akii-Bua in the early 1970s. He was the greatest hurdler in the world at the 1972 Olympics.

Tanzania produced Filbert Bayi in the mid- 1970s.  He was the greatest middle distance runner in the world in the early 1970s.

Zambia produced Samuel Matete in the 1980s into the 1990s. He was a World 400 metres hurdling champion for a spell. Of course, Kenya had its own long list of world and Olympic champions since the early 1970s.

These are all East African countries populated by blacks in a region with similar environmental features and conditions that influenced their athletes’ performances.

In the group, why is it that it is only Kenya that has had a record of consistent successes through the decades and, today, have become the foremost achiever on the African continent in global sports?

The Ethiopians, and occasionally the Moroccans and Algerians, have produced some of the best middle and London distance runners also. But not like the Kenyans.

What is common to all these countries that is helping them breed quality runners in this corner of the world?
I don’t intend to provide any of these answers here. What is of interest to me is what Kenya is doing right that the others are not doing, that made the country to have a name considered bigger as a global brand than Nike or Adidas.  ‘Kenya’ is a massive global brand.

The country’s athletes are achieving global success and visibility. They are in almost all middle and long distance races, including the marathons, cross country and grand prix all over the world. Thousands of Kenyan runners win most of the races and take home the trophies and the prize monies.

Many countries that intend to train their athletes to complete favourably in any of the middle to marathon races look towards Kenya for guidance. They go and train in the high altitude areas of the country for long periods of time.

In order to accommodate them, the Kenyans have built camps in the training areas of simple and unsophisticated sports infrastructure. The environment is their perfect training grounds. This has influenced the establishment of an authentic sports tourism business to compliment the well-established Safari-tourism that has been the mainstay of the Kenyan economy for decades.

These days, as the results from Tokyo confirm, Kenyans have become valued raw materials for countries that are offering them citizenship and using them for international competitions. Many Kenyans ran for many foreign countries. There are big opportunities for Kenyan runners to migrate abroad for studies and for running career in countries willing to adopt them.

Seeing how profitable the business of running is in the world, the Kenyan government commissioned studies and research into how to institutionalise the process and make it sustainable and a win-win for all Kenyans. 

Without going into the details of ‘how’, the whole of Kenya has gradually become the ‘running capital’ of the world, everybody runs (or walks).

I sat with a group of consultants many years ago at the Jomo Kenyatta University, working on the urban renewal project of the City of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coastline of Kenya. I watched them discuss their project – to make the city an environment where everyone is moving and exercising for general wellbeing and health purposes. The towns and cities now have special lanes on the roads, in the parks and gardens for runners, cyclists and even those that want to walk.

The motto of the project was unofficially tagged “Move or Die.”
With all these as deliverables, all Kenyans saw and embraced the opportunities that running creates for the young, the fit and the healthy, opportunities to be rich, famous and a celebrity, and started an endless production line of runners, honed by the environment in the high altitude areas of the country, and motivated by immeasurable opportunities in a business that is global and can take all comers.

So, when you look at the medals table of the most successful countries at the Olympic Games, Kenya would never be in the single digits, yet the whole world considers them a global force in the area of their specialisation.

It is interesting. It presents a model for other African countries to emulate, but are not. Why not?
In looking at the case of Kenya, another country, whose name is also bigger than most global brands these days, one sees a similarity with Jamaica.

Jamaica is the most successful country of Black persons of African descent in the world of the sprints event. The country is doing with sprinting what Kenya has been doing for decades with the middle and long distance racing, but navigating through a different route to a similar destination.

Jamaicans are loaded with the genes of the fittest and healthiest of the Black human specie from the West African sub-region.

From what we know of young persons from that part of Africa (Nigeria’s performances in the 70s to the 1990s are a shining example of the possibilities) they are born to sprint and to jump. They use their natural power, speed and strength to do well in some particular sports particularly sprinting and the jumps, in Track and Field.

Unlike what obtains in East Africa where open fields in high altitude areas are the only requirements to hone natural talents, for the sprints events, the requirements are more technical and sophisticated. Tracks are needed.

That’s a major difference
Jamaicans initially were like Nigerians, sending their best young sprinters to the American Collegiate system for better grooming and training. Like Nigerians, ultimate control of the athletes was not in their hands. Like Nigeria, the sports industry at home did not grow. Like Nigeria, sprinting did not grow astronomically, locally, suffering from the vagaries of the external interest of external forces feeding. Like Nigeria, they fed the American sports eco-system of development through Collegiate and professional systems with endless talent, the best of whom eventually competed in America and in Europe, driving one of the biggest industries in the world in the United States Industrial Sports and Leisure complex.

A few Jamaican coaches, working in conjunction with some African American coaches went to the US and received the required training in the San Jose University established tradition of training sprinters. They returned to Jamaica and, for close to to decade, struggled to convince the government to domesticate the process of developing this throng of natural sprinters within Jamaica by copying the Collegiate system that worked so well in America.

That story is not my interest here.
What followed, in a nutshell, is that Jamaica redesigned its discovery-of- talents and grassroots sports development strategy along the American Collegiate system, embraced the training methodology of the most successful American coaches out of San Jose University ‘school of sprinting’, imported some Black American coaches, did a train-the- trainers program, introduced measures that made sprinting in athletics a spectacle, and introduced measures that promoted sports as a culture for schools in Jamaica. They built simple inexpensive infrastructure for training and competitions and within a decade they succeeded in turning Jamaica into the sprinting capital of the World.

The result is what the world has had to confront since Usain Bolt.
Like Kenya, the sprinting tradition is now well established all over Jamaica in all schools, etched into the environment in parks and gardens, for health, recreational, educational and business purposes. Sprinting has become an integral part of life in Jamaica. Today there is an endless production line of sprinters being churned out of Jamaica’s sports complex now produces athletes that fill the Athletics tracks in nooks and crannies all over the world. Jamaicans have become exportable products raking in good revenue into the country, the country has developed a sports tourism industry, its camps have become training base for sprinters from other parts of the world desirous to learn from Jamaica, and the name of the country has become, like Kenya, a massive global brand.

The finals of the women’s 100 metres event had three Jamaicans. They won gold, silver and bronze medals, in one of the greatest sprints races ever held.

The thought of Africa, her present place in the world of sports, her potential and the possibilities of what sports could do for the continent in a world deliberately and unfavourably re-constructed by the West so that Africans never succeed, often deposits a heavy burden on my heart.

The tragedy is that the evidences are all around us of the possibilities of what could be achieved by these most-gifted of homo sapiens, if only their political leaders, those that control the levers of power, can see and appreciate these evidences, and chart a course that will move the continent, her people and the rest of the Black race, away from a ‘slavery mentality’ in a new direction of commanding heights in economic, social and political development, using the innocuous instrumentality of sports as a vehicle.

It will not take reinventing the wheel for the rest of African countries to take useful lessons from the examples of Kenya and Jamaica, focus their attention on some specific sports that they are gifted in and that would not require sophisticated infrastructure that they cannot afford, and can impact the whole country when successfully deployed.

Between Kenya and Jamaica, they have found the antidote to the exploitation of The Black man’s natural gift and talent.
Their focus is not on quantity, an expensive ‘competition’ that any Third World country cannot win, but on quality and maximum use of the natural gifts in physiology and the environment, deployed strategically, domestically, and without breaking bank vaults to fund infrastructure for maximum impact and socio-economic and political effects.

Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million Black persons that are designed by nature to run and jump at no cost, within an environment that spans through low and high altitudes, and with rich human capacity in knowledge, and history of successes and potential, with the resources to domesticate the processes, won only one medal at the 2016 Olympics, almost 20 places below a neighbouring poor country, Niger, that won 2 medals.

At Tokyo 2020, Nigeria won two medals. That is seen by some as growth. For a country that has become one of the richest sources of raw athlete-materials to the rest of the world (Nigerian athletes are representing several Western and even South-East Asian countries), it is a big shame to the Black race.

It does not require a degree in rocket science to see that what is missing and needed is the right kind of leadership, plus a clear direction.

The Guardian Nigeria

In a two-day virtual colloquium, the Rhodes University Political and International Studies Department collaborated with Nelson Mandela University Centre for Women and Gender Studies and the University of Cape Town’s Historical Studies Department to bring together the voices and stories of women who participated in the armed struggle in South Africa.

Called “S’obashaya ngamatye”: Women and 60 Years of the Armed Struggle in South Africa, the event started on national Women’s Day 9 August 2021 and commenced on 10 August 2021.

Rhodes University student and programme chairperson Zikho Dana began the session by giving a brief introduction on the purpose of the day. Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, issued an official opening and welcoming address. In his speech, Dr Mabizela said the colloquium provided everyone with the rare and valuable opportunity to spend time with and learn from some of the most remarkable women who made an immense contribution and selfless sacrifices in the liberation struggle. He acknowledged the significant role some of the guests played in the armed political struggle, honouring those who laid down their lives and gave their all to the cause. He added that it was an opportunity to document the history of the speakers’ contribution to a just society.

Dr Mabizela noted that by interacting with the veterans of our struggle, the youth could learn about the histories and gendered histories that will inspire and shape their future roles as researchers, practitioners, and future leaders of our society. “This platform allows us to learn from our elders, as they share their memories and the values that guided them as they prosecuted our liberation struggle,” he said.

Rhodes University senior lecturer and organiser, Dr Siphokazi Magadla, briefly introduced the keynote speaker, Honourable Thandi Modise. Honourable Thandi Modise left South Africa for Botswana as a teenager in 1976 to join the African National Congress (ANC). Modise was transferred to Angola, where she received her military training. Magadla noted that Modise was the first to return to South Africa to organise the women in the townships after receiving military training with uMkhonto we Sizwe. She was arrested in 1976 and received an eight-year jail sentence which she served at Kroonstad prison. “By the end of this colloquium, we hope to generate a systematic and connected archive of women’s lives, roles and techniques of leadership in the armed struggle in Southern Africa,” said Dr Magadla.

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise began her keynote address by expressing her gratitude to the organising committee for their incredible work to give women a platform to tell their stories and shine a light on this crucial issue.

Modise applauded the organising committee for the initiative, expressing her disappointment with the deliberate efforts to blot out the contribution of women to the liberation of the nation in the past. She also honoured her “mother”, Ruth Mompati, who had paved the way for women in the struggle.

Modise then went on to give personal accounts and descriptions of her experiences in the armed struggle. She told stories of journeys to foreign lands and the struggles women like her had to endure in an organisation where they were the minority. She highlighted the many significant roles played by women in the history of South Africa.

Modise put great emphasis on the importance of giving credit to all those who played a role in the struggle, no matter how trivial it may have seemed.

“We must also thank those whose job during the armed struggle was just to ferry messages,” she said. So often, the stories that never get told are those of women.”

“We must also remember that in every armed struggle, the women were not just on the curbside; they were involved. Sometimes they were involved on both sides of the struggle,” she added.

Modise thanked the women who had come before her, saying: “We thank them for their courage to stand.”

She honoured the likes of mam’ Charlotte Maxeke for being at the forefront of educating women and leading from the front.

After the keynote address, attendants were allowed to ask questions. Modise responded and engaged with the questions posed, giving much insight into how platforms like this celebration and commemoration could help educate the youth about their history and hopefully pave the way to a much better future.

NEARLY 5,000 children, educators and school staff are quarantined in Mississippi after returning to classrooms at the start of the new school year, some under mask-optional policies.

The 69 outbreaks reported between Aug. 2 to Aug. 6, which was the second week of school for some districts, resulted in nearly 1,000 children and 300 teachers and staff testing positive for COVID-19, according to a weekly report from Mississippi’s Department of Health.

While many school districts adopted a mask mandate for the beginning of the school year, it was not universal throughout the state, despite pleading from the Mississippi State Medical Association last week for all districts to require students and staff to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

The highly contagious delta variant is ripping through Mississippi, which also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, more than quadrupling case numbers since June and causing a deficit of ICU beds.

The state’s early start to the new school year is providing a grim bellwether for school districts set to return more than 50 million students to classrooms over the next few weeks, many under mask-optional policies.

In southern Mississippi, Lamar County School District shuttered two of its schools during the last week in July and returned students to virtual learning until Aug. 16 after a week-long staggered reopening resulted in one high school identifying six cases among staff and 41 cases among students, forcing the quarantine of roughly 100 people. Highlighting just how contagious the delta variant is, after one week of in-person learning last year, the school district recorded only five cases among staff and five among students.

Despite the early warning signs from states like Mississippi and Arkansas, where than 800 students, educators and staff from one school district were quarantined just days after they began the new school year under a mask-optional policy, a handful of Republican governors are refusing to reconsider executive orders and state laws barring school districts from requiring masks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican governors are under increasing pressure this week as school districts defy their executive orders, some in the face of increased threats of financial penalties, and cities and counties take them to court over the matter. In Texas, school leaders in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio plan to require masks for students and school staff, as do Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed the Republican governors blocking school districts from enforcing masks, saying the Biden administration is actively looking for ways to safeguard districts who challenge state laws and executive orders.

“We are continuing to look for ways,” she said, “for the U.S. government to support districts and schools as they try to follow the science, do the right thing, and save lives.”

“If you’re not interested in following the public health guidelines to protect the lives of people in your state, to give parents some comfort as they’re sending their kids to school,” she said, “then get out of the way and let public officials, let local officials do their job to keep students safe. This is serious, and we’re talking about people’s lives

USNEWS

Deputy President David Mabuza says without urgently resolving inequalities in society, South Africa cannot successfully build and grow as a nation.

“Without urgently and tangibly addressing inequalities in society, nation-formation becomes a statement of intention rather than a statement of fact,” the Deputy President said on Wednesday.

Mabuza was addressing the 4th Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) Summit underway at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

The Deputy President addressed the summit in his capacity as Chairperson of the HRDC, a national multi-stakeholder advisory body established with the objective of improving the foundation of human resources in South Africa.

Held under the theme ‘Skills required for the 21st century’, the three-day summit aims to facilitate building the foundational knowledge to respond to the dictates of the changing world of work shaped by the realities of technological advancements.

Mabuza said the theme of the summit is relevant in the South African context to ensure that no one is left behind, as “we implement measures to rebuild and grow the economy”.

The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, Mabuza said, is premised on reviving the economy devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, through investment in employment creation initiatives, building the relevant skills and training for the economy, industries and jobs for the future.

“It is encouraging that the objectives of this 4th HRDC Summit focus mainly on building the foundation and skills for a transformed economy and society, and building a capable and ethical developmental state.

“These objectives are significant since the HRDC, as a multi-stakeholder advisory body, is uniquely positioned to ensure that we capacitate the unemployed, those in workplaces and those still in our schooling system, with requisite skills that can respond to new world realities and to make South Africa globally competitive,” Mabuza said.

The Deputy President said the HRDC should use the Revised HRD Strategy to address the four broad challenges of poverty and inequality, quality of education, absorptive capacity of the economy, and social cohesion that will cumulatively contribute towards the attainment of the National Development Plan’s outcomes.

“Before deliberating further on this 4th summit, let us reflect briefly on what was agreed to in 2018 at the 3rd HRDC Summit, to ensure that we underline policy and programmatic continuity, and avoid reinventing the wheel.  As social partners, we have to ask ourselves the question whether between the period of the last summit and this one, have we sizeably delivered on equipping and capacitating our young people with practical solutions.   

“If we are to recalibrate our human resources development efforts to be skills-based, innovation-led and entrepreneurial-focused, we must be deliberate in implementing resolutions that we take at each summit. That is why at the end of this summit, we need to emerge with a concrete plan of action that will demonstrate measurable progress by the time we meet for the next summit,” he said.

Mabuza welcomed the summit’s focus on building the foundation for a transformed economy.

“We presume there will also be strategic and thematic continuity between this 4th summit and previous summits in areas of implementing pathways and partnerships between training institutions, labour and industry.”

 – SAnews.gov.za