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Podcast: Learnership to counter high unemployment and high school drop-out rate

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Podcast: Learnership to counter high unemployment and high school drop-out rate

Thuletho Zwane

Inside Education’s weekly feature on Kaya FM

Kgabo Cars is involved in skills development in the automotive sector. They empower aspirant motor mechanics with the necessary motor skills through their Automotive Repair and Maintenance Learnership Programme.

This is of particular importance given the high high school drop out rate which leads to unemployment and staggering economic growth.

Kgabo Cars Training Services uplifts youth within the Gauteng community in Soshanguve and Bok sburg. Co-founder Isaac Boshomane saw the need for jobs among the youth within the community and came up with a programme to train them.

 

Tanzania: Udom students display high notch novelties

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Tanzania: Udom students display high notch novelties

Christina Mseja

University of Dodoma (Udom) students have created a computer system to monitor progress of pre-mature babies in incubators and another for automatically counting people entering and exiting busy buildings.

The other innovation by the country’s largest university is the computerised system for detecting toxic gases in homes and at working places.

In an interview at the 13th Exhibitions on Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, the hopeful scientists showcased their inventions to people who visited the fair in Dar es Salaam.

A third-year student pursuing Bachelor of Science in Physics, Prosper Mshama, explained that the Premature Babies Incubator Computer System will enable health practitioners to monitor the progress of the premature babies even if the nurses are out of ward.

“Health practitioners have been facing a great challenge in taking care of premature babies in health facilities… this system will enable them to monitor the progress and conditions of the babies in incubators without physically being there,” he explained.

Mshama said there are many advantages of the computerised system, including timely notification when the baby is having a problem because it will immediately alert the nurses and doctors. The innovator was optimistic that the system will significantly improve handling of pre-mature babies and reduce deaths.

“The system will also make record and identify all premature babies in respective wards. It is our call to other stakeholders to support young people to make more innovations,” he urged. Another Udom student Pius Mwikola pursuing Bachelor of Science in Physics explained that they have created the Auto Digital Count Display System, which is capable of digitally counting people entering and exiting congested areas.

“This system will enable users to avoid physical counting in areas with many people,” the upcoming scientist said. Adding: “We are proud to design this system since we believe it will improve safety of people in buildings… it will ably store data that will give the exact number of people in the meeting or building in case of any emergency.”

The student mentioned another invention as phone detector Jammi device, which will be used in schools, universities and banks to monitor movements of people. “The device will be placed in classrooms to monitor students using phones particularly when writing examinations,” he said.

He explained that in case a student is using the phone, it will automatically send alert and if the phone will be in airplane mode it will automatically block it. Another student studying Bachelor of Physics John Massawe talked of his invention of Toxic Gas Project device capable of detecting harmful gasses in the environment.

“This device will play an important role in curbing air pollution which is mainly responsible for climate change,” he explained. He added; “The system will be capable of recording and alerting people in the householdsand factories in case there is toxic gas in the area.”

The student said they decided to create the system to support the country’s industrialisation drive, which will result into many factories emitting harmful gases to the environment. “It will therefore enable the government to understand the factories producing toxic gases and take precautionary measures,” he explained.

Apart from curbing air pollution, Massawe said they have come up with the project to help reduce cancer and lung diseases, which result from harmful gases.

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Driven by love for boxing

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Driven by love for boxing

Bongani Magasela

Former amateur boxer Charles Mtshali, 50, is so in love with children and boxing that he has started a makeshift gym in his yard in Tsakane Extension 19, on the East Rand.

The gym – home to about 48 children, the youngest of whom is seven – is called Bigger Walker Boxing Club.

Mtshali says he trained as an amateur at Geo Maroon Boxing Club in Springs. According to Mtshali, the gym was started by his uncle Gideon Tshabalala in 1976.

That gym is now under trainer Themba Zulu.

Mtshali did not achieve greatness but says he won many diplomas before he stopped fighting in 1984.

The father of three (one boy and two girls), said: “I noticed that our children have nothing to do after school and on weekends, so before they got involved in wrong things, I decided to start my gym here at home in 2014.

“I walked around bothering people with unused things like poles and basically anything that would be useful.

“I assembled all these myself to make things like a punching bag, and even the boxing ring. I am a handy man.

“Children love what they see and I also love what I see in my yard because at the end of the day, it enables me to train these children.

“My fighters are invited to amateur tournaments all the time because they are good.”

Mtshali has one set of worn out pads, and about four pairs of torn boxing gloves. He says they have one gum guard that his boxers share when they fight – an unhygienic practice.

“When a boxer is finished fighting, we quickly rinse it and give it to another boxer,” he said.

“We do not have head guards, skipping ropes, protectors and even bandages but my fighters do not notice all that.

“What drives them [and keeps them] happy is the love we all share for boxing.”

Mtshali’s biggest dilemma is when they must travel to boxing tournaments, due to lack of funds.

“We go around asking for donations so that we can hire a minibus to transport us,” he said, adding that parents love to see their children being active but assisting financially is another story.

“I am unemployed myself and my wife is also not working. I survive on piece jobs which include painting people’s houses and fitting tiles.”

The saddest moments come for Mtshali and his fighters when it is raining. They cannot train due to their facility being outdoors.

“We cannot train because we are exposed to rain, cold and wind,” he said.

“We have not produced a professional boxer but we will soon. My son [Manqoba]; my two neighbours’ sons – Sifiso Malinga and Nhlanhla Mtshali – will be good professionals,” he predicted.

Mtshali and his soldiers have appealed for help.

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Uganda: Government launches sex education in schools

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Uganda: Government launches sex education in schools

Stephen Otage

The Ministry of Education has said it has started carrying out adolescent health and sexuality education in schools to equip students with information to manage themselves.

In an interview last Friday at the inaugural session at Kololo Senior Secondary School, Henry Ssemakula, the officer-in-charge of counselling and guidance at the Ministry of Education, said some of the core objectives of introducing sexuality education in schools is to show the students how habits such as drug and alcohol abuse can lead to school dropout, early pregnancies, prostitution and acquiring HIV/Aids.

“We have not been sensitising young people about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse in schools yet we know that some young people outside school and even those at school are taking drugs,” he said.

He also explained that young people are introduced to such habits during adolescence out of peer influence but they can avoid the traps if given the proper information.

Implementation

Asked how the programme will be implemented, he said the Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) is coordinating the activities and they are partnering with World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Fund for Population (UNDP) and Unicef.

“UHMG came up with the concept which the Ministry of Education approved and wherever they go, they are required to go with someone from the ministry to ensure that they are teaching what is contained within the framework of sexuality education,” he said.

Dr Annet Nagudi, the head of resource mobilisation at UHMG, said they are targeting schools because such habits are introduced to young people at their prime age but when they grow up and are expected to be productive, cancers set in.

She affirmed that they are working with ministries of Education and Health to deliver the services in schools.

Grace Bikumbi, the clinical and addiction specialist at Butabika National Mental Referral Hospital, said more than half of the patients they receive are victims of drug abuse.

Sexuality education in schools has been a contentious subject with religious leaders majorly opposed to it saying it will corrupt the minds of young children.

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Students shut down Unisa’s Pietermaritzburg campus

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Students shut down Unisa’s Pietermaritzburg campus

Nompendulo Ngubane

Students at Unisa (University of South Africa) locked the gates of the Pietermaritzburg campus in Langalibalele Street on Thursday. They threatened to shut down all Unisa’s campuses in KZN if management does not address their issues.

Student say they are concerned about a shortage of staff and resources, safety and security, and delayed payments to students by Nsfas (National Student Financial Aid Scheme).

Deputy secretary of the Unisa KZN Student Representative Council Khetha Mthethwa said, “If they don’t respond [by Monday] we are taking to the streets.” He said all campuses in the province would then be shut down on Tuesday.

“Students are having a problem with Nsfas … Students have no money to buy books. Their registration has been finalised but they have not been paid. The list has been sent to Nsfas but they have not responded. Some are still owed last year’s funds. We don’t know how that is happening,” said Mthethwa.

“There are no study resources … The whole university [campus] has no photocopying machine. It’s a disgrace that such a big institution in Africa has no photocopying machine. Even last year we were complaining about the same thing. Students are not safe. There is only one security guard. We demand that they sort this out,” said Mthethwa.

Fourth-year student Amanda Thompson said, “There is no space in the library. On weekends they open at 1pm and that is not enough. We need the hours extended … This campus is the worst. They don’t listen to us.”

Sasco (South African Student Congress) treasurer at the Pietermaritzburg campus Philani Madonda said, “They have no staff in the library department. There was one employee. The employee went on leave. They replaced the employee with a person from the funding department. That person is clueless about the library services. There is a problem even with the funding office. They have no idea about the procedures of that office. We need qualified staff,” said Madonda.

University Registrar Dr Faroon Goolam said management had received a memorandum from the students and are currently attending to the matter.

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Court orders end to mud schools

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Court orders end to mud schools

Chris Gilili

The Bhisho High Court has found parts of the government’s norms and standards regulations for schools to be unconstitutional. The court has ordered that schools substantially built from mud as well as asbestos, wood or metal, be replaced with buildings that meet the National Building Regulations.

Judge Bantubonke Tokota read the judgment — written by Acting Judge Nomawabo Msizi — in court on Thursday morning. The case was brought by social movement Equal Education against Minister of Education Angie Motshekga. It was heard in March. The court also awarded costs to Equal Education.

The court order says that where the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure 2013 refer to “schools built entirely out of” mud, wood, asbestos or zinc, the wording must be replaced with “schools built entirely or substantially out of” these materials.

The court also found that the regulations compel government to provide water, power and sanitation in schools. Plans and reports on progress towards schools meeting norms and standards must also be made available to the public, the court found.

Much of the Education Department’s argument was based on a clause in the regulations that place responsibility for school repairs on other state or parastatal entities (e.g. Eskom for electricity). But the court found that this “escape” clause — as Equal Education has called it — was unlawful and invalid.

The court also found that plans for upgrading schools that were in place before the norms and standards regulations were published have to be made consistent with the regulations. The court also found that schools with no access to water, electricity and sanitation have to be prioritised.

The regulations committed to a three-year period for schools to meet norms and standards, but since they were published in 2013 this period has long since passed. It is unclear what time frame the state now has to implement the norms and standards.

Two representatives of Equal Education were at court. Provincial leader Luzuko Sidimba told GroundUp that the judgment was a big victory for the organisation and those who had stood by it throughout the campaign.

Equal Education subsequently published a statement saying, “Victories such as this validate the necessity of organising young people to demand rights that would otherwise not be freely afforded to them. Armed with an improved infrastructure law, EE will continue to keep a very close eye on the [Education departments].”

Spokesperson for the Department of Education, Elijah Mhlanga, was also in court. He said that the department welcomed the judgment. “We have made mistakes in our regulations, so the judgment will help us resolve them,” he said.

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Zimbabwe: Tertiary institutions close for election day

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Zimbabwe: Tertiary institutions close for election day

Staff Reporter

Tertiary institutions will close the second term on Friday to pave way for the harmonised elections set for July 30, Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Dr Desire Sibanda has said.

In a statement yesterday, Dr Sibanda said the institutions will open for the third term on September 3 to compensate for the early closure.

“This circular serves to inform you that the closing date for the second term for all tertiary education institutions under the ministry’s purview is now Friday July 20, 2018.

“This has been necessitated by the harmonised elections that are scheduled to take place on the 30th of July 2018.”

Dr Sibanda said the institutions will be used as polling stations and most of the staff will be participating in the elections.

The development comes after Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education announced that primary and secondary schools will close the second term on July 26 to pave way for the harmonised elections.

Primary and Secondary Education Secretary Dr Sylvia Utete Masango said the third term had been brought forward to September 4.

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100 minutes of Coding for Mandela

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100 minutes of Coding for Mandela

Emmanuel Tjiya

A crop of Mzansi A-listers yesterday paid a visit to Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, with a random act of kindness, proving in Mandela Day that they are much more than their oversized bank balances.

Basetsana Kumalo, Carol Bouwer, Khanya Mkangisa, Celeste Ntuli, Thembi Nyandeni and Bujy Bikwa surprised school children in the middle of their computer programming class at Diepsloot Skills Centre.

Hosted by the Do Good Circle in collaboration with the Gauteng department of social development and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the theme for the Mandela Day activity was “100 minutes of Coding for Mandela”.

The aim was to introduce schools to the futuristic world of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) – coding, robotics and gaming. This follows a call by the department of education earlier this year for SA schools to prioritise coding.

Before celebrities gave inspirational words of encouragement to the pupils,
Kumalo opened the function with a powerful prayer that sent vibrations through the class.

“I think there was an important message when President [Cyril] Ramaphosa said Thuma Mina earlier this year, it did not only apply to him but it was also a message that applied to us,” Bouwer said.

“What am I doing as a South African that says I can build this nation? South Africa is becoming a more empathetic nation and we should all be grateful for. It was something that was ploughed when Madiba took to the Union Buildings.”

American comedian Chris Rock’s ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock later made an appearance with her two children.

They have been in the country since Sunday. Last night, through her charity organisation The Angel Rock Project that has educational and micro-finance programmes in Diepsloot and Soweto, Compton-Rock took 150 girls for a night of festivities at Lesedi Cultural Village, about 50km northwest of Johannesburg, .

“I’m here to serve Nelson Mandela’s honour and his desire for all of us to serve humanity – not just today but everyday,” she said.

Gauteng school placements for 2019 will be available in August

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Gauteng school placements for 2019 will be available in August

Staff Reporter

Gauteng parents who applied for 2019 admissions for grades 1 and 8 pupils will know next month about the placement of their children.

The Gauteng education department opened an online application system for grades 1 and 8 in April. At end May, the department had received more than 569 302 applications

Education spokesman Steve Mabona said parents will be informed about their applications on August 3 as more time is required to finalise the waiting list with the schools and districts.

“Parents will receive a message advising them on the outcome of their applications. They can also log-on to gdeadmissions.gov.za to check the status of their application. They can also visit the nearest district office or public schools for any admission-related matters. We urge parents to accept offers of placement within seven working days of receipt of the offer,” Mabona said.

He warned that failure to respond to the offer within seven working days will result in the forfeiture of the offer to the next applicant on the school’s waiting list.

“Placement will be conducted on a first-come first-served basis. It must be noted that space availability is the key determinant of learners to be placed in a school. Those parents who failed to submit the required documents to schools during the allocated timeframe can submit their documents at district offices from September 10  till September 14,” Mabona said.

Nigeria has 12th highest number of foreign students in U.S., says envoy

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Nigeria has 12th highest number of foreign students in U.S., says envoy

Vincent Obia

United States Consul General F. John Bray disclosed yesterday in Lagos that Nigeria had the highest number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying in the US and ranked 12th among the over one million foreign students in the country.

Bray spoke at the Consulate General in Lagos during a pre-departure orientation for Nigerian students heading to US to study.

He said 35,364 of the international students in the US were from sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Bray, “There are currently 11,710 students from Nigeria studying in the United States. 49.5 per cent undergraduate; 36.2 per cent graduate students, 2 per cent are non-degree candidates, and the remaining 12.3 per cent are on Optional Practical Training.

“Compared to last year, this represents a 9.7 per cent increase. The number of Nigerians studying in the US has been going up for the past seven years.”

He said students from Nigeria attended about 800 institutions in each of America’s 50 states. “The most popular state is Texas, with 1,540 students, while the most popular college/university is Houston Community College, with 220 students.”

Bray said the US Department of State had granted scholarships to about 250 Nigerian students from the Lagos centre of its EducationUSA programme to study at institutions in the US.

He explained that EducationUSA was a US Department of State network of over 425 international student advising centres in more than 175 countries promoting higher education in America to students around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about opportunities to study at any of the over 4,700 accredited post-secondary institutions in the US.

“EducationUSA is your official source on US higher education,” the consular general stated. “To date, about 250 student-members of the Lagos EducationUSA Center studying at U.S. institutions in the fall of 2018, have received scholarships from US institutions totalling over $4 million.”

He added, “One-12th grader got a full ride scholarship to Harvard to study Political Science. Many of the graduate students with whom EducationUSA worked were admitted to fully funded doctoral programs in the STEM fields.

“Six Opportunity Fund Program grantees will be going for their fully funded PhD programs in STEM fields.

“I am very proud of EducationUSA Lagos for reaching approximately 25,000 students this year, through various means, such as at the centre, on-line, at fairs, etc. information on studying in the US (Source: EducationUSA Lagos).”

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