South Africans, especially young South Africans, are drowning in debt. According to the latest figures from the South African Reserve Bank, South Africans are spending more than 75% of their take-home income on debt.

Leana de Beer, CEO of WaFunda, a for-profit social impact enterprise focusing on financial literacy and access to education funding for youth and students, said: “Many South Africans are not making ends meet, the prevalence of illicit loans from illegal micro financiers, or abo mashonisa, is high. Local loan sharks are notorious for their exorbitant interest rates and brutally coercive extortion for repayments.”

Blackbullion South Africa is a new digital platform offering financial education for South African students.

De Beer explained that it was adapted for the local market from an award-winning international platform used by some 700 000 students and trusted by more than 40 university and college partners across the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

An important part of Blackbullion South Africa’s content development and localisation process involves discussions and focus groups with students to ensure the content is accessible and relevant for a local audience.

“Blackbullion South Africa takes the form of multimedia content streams, convenient lessons, quizzes, videos and articles, all structured into modules across personalised learning pathways,” she explained.

The platform takes a holistic approach to financial well-being without promoting any specific bank, product or service, De Beer said. “Instead it encourages the shifts in behaviour that will drive our future leaders towards financial success.”

“Through working with the private sector bursary providers, our goal is to bring long-term benefits, arming bursary beneficiaries with the latest tools and best practices for money management. Our view is that while we believe access to education should be democratised, we should also enhance access to financial literacy programmes to enable overall improved quality of life for students and youth,” she said.

Financial literacy will allow young people to assess what is important to them and help them gain the courage and confidence to attain professional fulfilment.

• – Inside Education

THE Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al-Mashat began her visit to the Assiut Governorate by touring a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) School, which comes within the framework of bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the United States of America.

During the visit, the Minister was accompanied by Major General Essam Saad, the Governor of Assiut.   

The school is one of the STEM schools implemented in partnership with the USAID, within the Basic Education Agreement amounting to $124 million since 2014.

This is implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, aiming to ensure educated, and skilled youth who can meet the demands of a dynamic labor market.  

Al-Mashat stressed the importance of partnerships with the USA and the USAID, to support the development efforts implemented in Egypt across sectors.

The Ministry of International Cooperation is working on establishing the new 2021 – 2025 strategy with the USAID to build on the efforts achieved in the last period in different areas including; SMEs, education, gender equality, and youth empowerment. 

The Minister added that the STEM schools project is being implemented in 11 governorates across the country, as 18 schools were implemented within the framework of cooperation between Egypt and the USA, benefiting over 5,000 students in its first phase.  

Al-Mashat explained that STEM schools play a key role in accelerating the Government of Egypt’s efforts to enhance investment in human capital in cooperation with development partners, so as to prepare the youth for the demands of a dynamic labor market. 

In 2021, Egypt concluded development financing agreements worth $2.47 billion in terms of investing in human capital in sectors such as, food security, health, basic and higher education, and SMEs.  

To ensure the sustainability of the project, and to provide qualified instructors to work in STEM schools, a one-year diploma and 4-year university program was established in 5 public universities, including Assiut University, to prepare teachers specialized in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to be able to lead the educational process in STEM schools.  

Last November, Egypt and the USAID signed 7 grant agreements worth $25 million within the framework of joint economic relations between both countries, thus enhancing development cooperation in several fields, in line with the country’s 2030 Vision.

The signed agreements allocate $17 million to the sector of basic education; $31 million to the U.S.-Egypt Higher Education Initiative (HEI); $4 million to U.S-Egyptian cooperation in the sector of science and technology; $27 million to economic governance; $5 million to agriculture and rural development; and $28 million to bolstering trade and investment in Egypt.  

It is worth noting that the current portfolio of cooperation with the USAID amounted to about $1 billion at the end of 2021, and the current portfolio of development cooperation in the education and technical education sector amounted to about $684 million.

ON this day in 1960, during a demonstration against the apartheid regime’s pass laws in Sharpeville in the Vaal Region, 69 people were murdered and 180 were injured.

This year, President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the Reagile Library in Koster in the North West, where he also delivered a keynote address.

He said over the past 28 years, the country has made significant progress in tackling poverty and deprivation. 
“We have built houses, hospitals and clinics. We have implemented universal basic education and free higher education. The vast majority of our people have access to decent water, sanitation and electricity in their homes,” said Ramaphosa.
 
“Society’s most vulnerable are supported by an extensive social welfare system.”

Ramaphosa also called for an end to hate crimes and discrimination against the LGBTQI-plus community.

Members of the community are often targets for crime, and face ridicule when going to the police.

Inside Education asked some of young people in the country about what Human Rights Day means – and if it still has relevance to them.

Dimpho Manthoadi, second year student at Varsity College in Pretoria.
“Human rights day used to be just a public holiday for me. I knew that on the 21st of March I have a day
away from school until I started reflecting on what human rights are and that opened my mind to a
world I never knew existed. From unfair treatment because of race or gender by peers, to even people
from high authority violating the rights of human beings. I do believe this day has lost its meaning because of the way the world works now versus how it used to be back then. We grew up knowing legends like Steve Biko and mama Winnie Mandela fought for our rights so that history doesn’t have to repeat itself. But it seems as though the vision our heroes had for our nation has failed because it’s not just unfair treatment towards people of colour and women but
now children are suffering there’s individuals out there that are violating their rights and they are the future of our nation but the people that are meant to protect these children aren’t. We have police officers that are meant to protect us but are violating our rights instead.”

Kutlwano Mothibedi, Grade12 learner at Sebetwane Secondary School in North West.
“Human Rights Day means every individual have rights, and rights go hand in hand with responsibilities.
These are the rights that every individual is entitled to, no matter who or what they are as long as they
live. People’s rights are still being violated, for example 1. right to health they are still denied services and
information about health. 2. The right to work, now you’re forced to vaccinate for you to be able to
work. 3. The right to life, people been killed.”

Theresa Ditlhobolo journalism graduate from Centurion.
“Human Rights for me means that I have a right to life, right to freedom. I have a right to dignity, culture
and to use my language freely. Human rights Day is a reminder to me that innocent people were killed
and wounded so I can move freely in Our Country.
No, the day has meaning and still will be, just that people shift the meaning of the day to what they
want.”

Dineo Maphoto, Grade 11 learner from Mohlapetse High School in Limpopo.
“Human Rights Day means that as a young person I have the right to education shelter, protection and to
be free in my country. However, our rights are always violated especially in schools where there’s always
racial issues. The day has lost meaning, like today I will be busy watching movies. The government does not do
enough to educate us about Human Rights Day.”

THE South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said that children are among society’s
most vulnerable members, therefore they require special protection.

More than 20 million of children live in the country. Children are defined as anybody under the age of 18 under the
South African Constitution.

It is the duty of parents, families, communities, and government, according to the Western Cape Department of Education, to ensure that all children are protected from harm and grow up in loving surroundings.

Children have special legal rights that are enforced by the state to guarantee this.

According to the Constitution of South Africa, Section 28 in the Bill of Rights children have the
following rights:

1.  Every child has the right to:
    A name and a nationality from birth.
    Family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed from the
   family environment.
    Basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services.
    Be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
    Be protected from exploitative labour practices.
    Not be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that are inappropriate
   for a person of that child’s age or risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or
   mental health or spiritual, moral or social development.
    Not be detained except as a measure of last resort, in which case, in addition to the
   rights a child enjoys under sections 12 and 35, the child may be detained only for the
   shortest appropriate period of time, and has the right to be kept separately from detained
   persons over the age of 18 years.
    Be treated in a manner, and kept in conditions, that take account of the child’s age and
   have a legal practitioner assigned to the child by the state, and at state expense, in civil
   proceedings affecting the child, if substantial injustice would otherwise result.
    Not be used directly in armed conflict, and to be protected in times of armed conflict.

Legislation that provides specific protection for children includes:

• The Child Care Act of 1983 that makes it a criminal offense if a person who’s responsible for caring for a child doesn’t provide the child with clothes, housing and medical care.

• The Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 that makes it illegal to employ a child under the age of 15.

• The Domestic Violence Act of 1998, defines different forms of domestic violence and explains how a child can get a protection order against the abuser.

• The Films and Publications Act of 1996, protects children from exploitation in child pornography.

The interests of the children are seen as most important in deciding on custody or access to children.

One example of new legislation passed in response to a Constitutional Court ruling is the Fraser judgment – the Natural Fathers of Children Born out of Wedlock Act of 1997.

It gives natural unmarried fathers, including those whose marriages aren’t recognised by the state, for example, Muslim and Hindu marriages the statutory right to go to court to ask for access, custody or guardianship of their children.

The Children’s Bill, which went before Parliament in 2003, is meant to replace the Child Care Act of 1983 and provides a holistic approach to the rights of all children.

Help protect our children and report abuse|

• Department of Social Development: 0800 220 250 
• Childline helpline: 0800 055 555

THE Department of Basic Education has gazetted the 2023 school calendar for inland and coastal students.

After two years of Covid-19 lockdowns which significantly impacted teaching time, the 2023 calendar will see a return to some normality with the return of ‘staggered’ open dates for both inland and coastal provinces.

This staggered date has historically accommodated people who were travelling from holidays – another part of South African life that has been significantly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2023, inland schools will open from 11 January, while coastal schools are set to open from 18 January. The closing date for both inland and coastal schools is 13 December.

This equates to 199 actual school days for students and 203 school days for teachers who are expected to arrive slightly earlier and leave slightly later than their pupils.

Inland cluster 2023 school calendar

The inland cluster includes the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West provinces.

Coastal cluster 2023 school calendar

The coastal cluster includes the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Nata, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces.

Since its outbreak two years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted education systems globally, affecting the most vulnerable learners the hardest, the department said in its annual performance plan tabled this week.

“Enrolment in the first quarter of 2021 was around 50,000 (0.4%) lower than expected. The problem concentrated in lower grades. 54% of contact time was lost in 2020 due to closures and rotations. In the second half of 2021, 22% of contact time lost due to rotations and regular absenteeism.”

However, these averages hide huge inequalities across grades and schools, it said.

“In historically disadvantaged schools, around 70% of a year’s worth of learning was lost in 2020. For every day of schooling lost, around 1.3 days of learning are lost.

“The heavy lifting in ensuring the success of the development program to improve the situation of the youngest children in our communities which will focus on better decisions, improved systems, improved capacity, effectiveness and performance so as to improve their learning outcomes.”

• – Business Tech

THE University of Cape Town (UCT) Council has agreed, in principle, to divestment from fossil fuels, including divesting its endowment formally from the fossil fuel industry.

This approach will put back into society, the environment and the global economy more than is being taken out, the council says.

This decision will be executed in a responsible, transitional manner. Firstly, through the immediate divestment from internationally exposed fossil fuel investments and immediate investment in renewable energy and/or green economy instead of new investments in fossil fuels

Secondly, in the local economy, UCT will work towards achieving a goal of being net-positive by 2030.

By divesting from fossil fuels, the university is further amplifying its position and signalling to policy makers the need to act now on climate change.

“This decision by the council exemplifies the university’s deep commitment to promoting the development and use of clean, sustainable and renewable energy. It is also part of how we make long-term investment decisions that support our teaching and research mandate as a university, says UCT finance executive director Vincent Motholo.

“We do not believe investments in fossil fuel are prudent. With the growing threat of climate change to the environment, drastic actions are needed and UCT needs to be part of the climate crisis solution.”

The decision by the university is a commitment to long-term sustainability, and part of its Vision 2030. It is part of a bigger vision, process and journey to look at how UCT can be more sustainable.

The university is joining many organisations in looking at its investments carefully and how it can continue the commitment to social justice, responsible investing and environmental sustainability.

• – Engineering News