GLOBAL chemicals and energy company Sasol and independent statutory body the National Research Foundation (NRF) have established and awarded four jointly-funded South African research chairs.

A competitive call was launched during 2022 for two chairs that considered the critical areas of research investment in energy and power systems modelling, and green hydrogen.

Informed by the “excellence” of the proposals submitted, it was agreed that two additional chairs would be funded.

This total joint investment of more than R40-million over the next five years is expected to significantly increase the capacity and capability of South Africa in just energy transitions.

In addition, and considering the specialist areas of skills necessary, six fellowships have been awarded as part of the bespoke joint Postdoctoral Innovation Fellowships Programme.

These awards are expected to stimulate and accelerate joint academia-industry research in clean and sustainable energy and contribute to South Africa’s transition towards sustainable clean energy.

AWARDS

Two Sasol-NRF Research Chairs in Energy and Power Systems Modelling have been awarded to Professor Ramesh Bansal from the University of Pretoria (UP) and Professor Sunetra Chowdhury from the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Two Sasol-NRF Research Chairs in Green Hydrogen have been awarded to Professor Tien-Chien Jen from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Professor Prathieka Naidoo from Stellenbosch University.

Meanwhile, six postdoctoral innovation programme fellowships have been awarded and focus on research in the areas of green hydrogen, energy storage, waste utilisation towards a circular economy, in-situ characterisation of catalysts, and Fischer-Tropsch catalysis for power-to-liquids applications.

The successful applicants are from UJ, UP, UCT, the University of the Witwatersrand, the Durban University of Technology and North-West University. The two-year fellowships will include dedicated research time at Sasol’s research facilities in Sasolburg.

The growing partnership between Sasol and the NRF is posited to play a key role in the acceleration of the co-creation of knowledge for impact and skills development, and to address the critical energy challenges, showcasing the value of effective partnership within the innovation ecosystem.

These programmes are said to further advance the strong partnership among Sasol, the Sasol Foundation and the NRF that has supported 400 students and researchers from academic and research performing institutions in South Africa.  

Engineering News

THE Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) is to visit schools throughout the country, to monitor and
ensure equitable access to education for children of all social classes. 

CGE commissioners and staff will visit a sample of eight schools and four Early Childhood Development Centres (ECD) in the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Western Cape provinces to monitor learning conditions and ensure free access to education.
 
The monitoring campaign, which kicks off this month and continues in March, will put a special focus on the following issues:
 
•          School nutrition programmes. 
•          Learner populations in classrooms.
•          Availability and quality of learning/teaching resources.
•          School hygiene sanitation and female learners’ menstrual health 
•          Educator knowledge and awareness of the Policy Framework for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy Management of pregnancies and sexual abuse.
•          Promotion of dignity and provisions for learners with disabilities.
 
In line with accountability and transparency, the CGE will engage with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Provincial Departments of Education and the Portfolio Committee on Education in Parliament about the findings and recommendations.

The Commission for Gender Equality will also hold a media launch to share its findings and recommendations with key stakeholders and interested parties in the education sector.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Zayd Waghid

THE daily headlines from South Africa are largely gloomy. The country’s government seems unable to address a years-long electricity crisis that is steadily worsening. Unemployment is high. Food prices are climbing.

But there are pockets of excellence – like stories of social entrepreneurship, an approach that uses business principles to create positive social and environmental impact. It involves identifying social problems using entrepreneurial principles to develop, fund, and implement solutions.

Though entrepreneurship of any kind is not easy, it can instil incredible tenacity in the face of adversity. There are lessons here. For the past seven years I’ve sought to help trainee teachers harness those lessons by introducing them to the concept of social entrepreneurship.

To do so, I start with “Who Cares?”, a documentary by Brazilian filmmaker Mara Mourão. It’s about social entrepreneurs from seven countries who discover new and innovative ways to solve some of society’s most pressing matters. They do so while working with few resources and catering to fundamental human needs that governments, particularly in the global south, cannot provide.

I use this film in my classes to assist future teachers in understanding how global problems influence countries and to encourage students to think critically and imaginatively about ways to help lessen inequality in their communities.

This is critical for teachers. Many of the students who graduate from our programme will go on to work in disadvantaged communities where social entrepreneurship could create real change. It could also give pupils a chance to explore how they might pursue social entrepreneurship as a career.

How it started

The major aim of existing school and university curricula is to prepare students for higher education and to acquire a degree and subsequently work for a company. The emphasis is on improving people’s own lives rather than thinking about how to assist the communities in which they reside. By teaching my students about social entrepreneurship, I offer them a practical way to enact social justice. This is the notion that everyone should have equal rights and opportunities in society’s social, economic, and political spheres.

In 2016, I set out to study whether a group of 43 future teachers could grasp and apply the concept of social entrepreneurship. I was drawn to social entrepreneurship education because it often incorporates hands-on, experiential learning, which may be more interesting and beneficial for students than traditional classroom instruction. This was appealing: it would allow me to see the effect of my teaching on real-world issues.

Mourão’s 2013 documentary delves into the lives of social entrepreneurs such as Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, as well as others from Brazil, Peru, Tanzania, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the United States, whose socially beneficial ventures have significantly and positively affected certain communities.

Prior to seeing the documentary, hardly any of the students understood what social entrepreneurship was. Some students saw a clear connection between it and corporate social responsibility. The latter, though, is more concerned with the financial and social aims of increasing a company’s competitiveness than with improving people’s lives.

Subsequent cohorts of trainee teachers have also not initially grasped the concept of social entrepreneurship. The rigid South African school curriculum appears to be the root cause of this conceptual gap. Most young people are not given the chance at school to think critically and creatively, and the curriculum doesn’t offer enough opportunities for students to learn about or implement social entrepreneurship.

Towards establishing a community

The film, both for the initial cohort whose reactions I documented in a research paper, and for those who have followed, seemed to spark the students’ curiosity. It also showed them that seemingly small projects can count as entrepreneurship. Creating a vegetable garden at school is a way to teach learners the necessary skills and knowledge to be self-sufficient and aware of economic and environmental sustainability.

But what would this look like in practice?

To find out, the 2016 cohort and I identified a historically underprivileged high school in Cape Town where we hoped to help develop various sorts of social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Then we discovered that the school was already involved in a community engagement project through an annual market day. The proceeds were used to host an annual awareness campaign aimed at recognising, appreciating, and honouring the contributions of elderly South African citizens in the community.

Rather than starting something new, the trainee teachers worked with pupils taking part in the market day to help build their social ventures. This involved applying what they learned from “Who Cares?” to develop business plans.

And they learned about another important aspect of social entrepreneurship: listening to communities rather than assuming they know how to solve existing problems. Communities can enlighten universities about what needs to happen, what is already being done, and what collaboration might look like, as seen in the example of the school above.

(Zayd Waghid, Associate professor, Cape Peninsula University of Technology)

THE CONVERSATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE Gauteng Department of Education has confirmed that a Grade 10 boy who allegedly assaulted a female classmate has been suspended.

A video of the assault at Nic Diederichs High School in Krugersdorp has gone viral on social media.

The Gauteng Department of Education condemned the assault on the girl learner at the Krugersdorp school. 

‘‘The perpetrator was suspended on Wednesday, 1 February 2023, through correspondence that was served to his parents,’’ GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said.

Mabona said a disciplinary hearing by the school’s Disciplinary Committee (DC) is scheduled for 12 February 2023.

“Our officials visited the school today to verify circumstances surrounding the incident. Our psycho-social support team has also been deployed to provide counselling and trauma support for the victim,’’ Mabona added.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said that he strongly condemns any acts of misconduct by learners that dehumanises, demeans and potentially endangers other learners, and ultimately undermines the dignity of learning institutions.

He said learner ill-discipline will not be tolerated in Gauteng schools. 

The GDE appealed to parents in assisting to enforce discipline upon their children in and outside the school environment.

“We condemn, in the strongest sense, this despicable behaviour. No one can be allowed to assault anyone in our schools, and we especially condemn any form of gender-based violence in our schools. We are pleased that the perpetrator is suspended and will not be allowed back to our school before necessary rehabilitation,” said Chiloane.

Chiloane said the GDE will continue to monitor the situation and apply further interventions.

The school is not new to controversy.

In 2008, an 18-year-old Morne Harmse, known as the ‘Samurai Sword Killer’, attacked four people with a ‘‘samurai’’ sword.

Harmse took out a 60 centimeter katana sword and slit the throat of 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius who died on the scene.

He then, claiming that he was following Satan’s orders, slashed three other people, who were injured and survived the attack.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to all charges in April 2009, but he was released on parole in March 2020 with strict conditions.

INSIDE EDUCATION

PHUTI MOSOMANE

DEMOCRATIC Alliance (DA) councillor Boitumelo Sebego has called on the Provincial Education Department to urgently intervene in the closure of the overcrowded Deben Primary School in the Gamagara Municipality, Northern Cape.

The school has a capacity of 1400 learners but there are 1 885 learners enrolled at the school, and an additional 88 on the waiting list.

Despite efforts to report the overcrowding challenges by the school to the district, there appears to be no solution insight. Now, the school has been shut for four days due to overcrowding and the non-placement of learners who remain on the department’s waiting list for school placements.

Parents are angry and are keeping their children away from school, also making threats towards the school.

‘‘I conducted an oversight inspection of the school today [Wednesday], during which the school principal addressed teachers. He informed them that the school would remain closed because learners were not attending classes due to the department’s failure to address the current school crisis,’’ Sebego said.

To deal with overcrowding at the school, the principal ordered an additional mobile classroom through the department in August last year. It was meant to be delivered in December 2022 but has yet to arrive.

Although the school is scheduled to meet the education department on Thursday, the school community is growing increasingly agitated at the situation.

INSIDE EDUCATION