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Day Zero: Sadtu accuses Premier Helen Zille of delaying water plan announcement

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Day Zero: Sadtu accuses Premier Helen Zille of delaying water plan announcement

Thabo Mohlala

South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) Western Cape has lashed out at Premier Helen Zille for reacting so late to the situation which threatens to lead to a complete shutdown of schooling in the province. Premier Zille is scheduled to meet with the principals of around 1000 schools in the greater Cape region this weekend.

In a statement released on Thursday, the union accused Zille’s government of not caring about schools, particularly those catering for the working class, leaving them to develop their own water plans.

“They are expecting schools to develop their own respective water plans, HOW? She has at this late stage summoned school principals to a meeting to discuss the water crisis in the city and surrounding areas,” the union said.

Sadtu said the provincial government took so long to involve schools in the plans related to Day Zero, adding it was concerned “about the safety of stock piling water and what the health risk of this exercise will entail”.

The union also said turning off the taps at schools would cause disastrous, health and safety issues.

“Many schools have more than 1000 learners and turning off the taps will have a catastrophic effect on the health and well-being of learners in our schools. [This] will lead to a huge sanitation disaster, the collapse of the school feeding scheme, lack of drinking water, water for learners who are injured at school, fire and other hazards,” said Sadtu.

Other concerns it highlighted included an increase in learner absenteeism or complete stay aways because parents could send their children to collect water as well as malnutrition and starvation beacuse most working-class children received their only meal through school nutrition programmes and turning off the taps would jeopardise these.  

“We are calling on the province not to switch off water at schools, but rather to ensure it stays connected when schools are open,” pledging to increase its water saving awareness programme through its 14000 members.

The union’s concerns come shortly after the provincial education department gave assurances that it has put contingency measures in place to ensure schools do not close during the water crisis. The department’s Jessica Shelver told Inside Education that plans would be announced once they have been finalised and this is what got the Sadtu’s ire.

Shelver said the provincial government conducted an assessment of the approximately 400 schools with existing boreholes and that the majority of these boreholes required minimal work to operationalize for hygiene and fire safety purposes.

 “We are also finalising plans for schools that require additional support to secure their water supply. A range of measures are under consideration, including additional water storage and the distribution of water to schools,” said Shelver.

Added Shelver: “WCED also identified schools as strategic agencies to spread the message and contribute to water saving measures.” Last November and early this year, the department issued guidelines to schools to notify them about Level 6 water restrictions.

“[The] schools are well placed to contribute to water saving, given the learner population in the Western Cape. They are also well placed to educate families about water saving, via their children,” said Shelver.

Rural girl beats the odds to become South Africa’s spelling bee champ

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Rural girl beats the odds to become South Africa’s spelling bee champ

Benson Ntlemo

Magangeni Primary School in the Collins Chabane municipality in Limpopo says that the success of a 13-year-old who won a national competition shows that it is the epitome of educational excellence.

Hlulani Baloyi, 13, of Malamulele Township won the Mzansi Spelling Bee Competition.

Hlulani who is in grade 7 will fly South Africa’s flag at the continental level in Kenya in June and she will fly with a representative of the school and one of the parents.

Her win was celebrated at the school this week and in attendance was Malamulele central circuit manager Shadrack Maluleke representing the Limpopo department of education.

The chairman of the school governing body Malamulele Sombhane said Hlulani made history.

“It is the first time that I have heard of that a primary school child from Malamulele flies out of South Africa after winning a national competition,” said Sombhane.

He said her win was not an isolated case but was a reflection on the school itself.

“This means that in terms of quality education we are giving it to the community we deserve the limelight that comes with Hlulani’s win,” he said.

He praised Hlulani as a crack pupil.

“She has represented the school on many occasions but this win beats all of them,” he said saying that her win at the national event did not take them by surprise.

But he said although the school did the department of education proud, they had no classrooms.

“We have requested for classrooms for many years and were put on a priority list but we were not given any,” said Sombhane/

The school has 1,270 pupils in 14 permanent classrooms and 5 mobile classes.

The school also has 34 educators.

The principal Lucky Mashaba sits in a small office with many trophies.

The shy girl said she was not going to disappoint at the continental competition.

“I am going to do my best,” she said.

Her father is Lazarus Baloyi a well-known ward councillor in the Collins Chabane municipality.

“Although it did not come as a shock to me, credit my go to the school because a pupil may be intelligent but if the school is not organised she won’t excel,” said Baloyi.

Magangeni School started in 1973 with 86 learners.

It is one of the most popular schools in Malamulele and people hire taxis to take their children to the school from far off places.

“We turn away many pupils a year who want to be admitted at the school because there is not space,” said Mashaba.

The school excelled in the National teaching awards in 2015 and 2016.

Mashaba himself became second best in the province on two occasions when for school leadership.

One of the former teachers, Morris Chauke, represented Limpopo recently in the national awards.

One of the teachers, Esther Hlungwani, became second nationally in teaching mathematics.

“The school may be situated in the old section of the township but we attract pupils from everywhere and we have produced products who are pillars of society,” said Mashaba.

He says South Africa must appreciate the role the school the school plays and must start with recognising Hlulani’s achievement.

“She has become like Oscarine Masuluke who represented his people,” he said.

Wits, UNISA and labour unions reach wage deal just days before school starts

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Wits, UNISA and labour unions reach wage deal just days before school starts

Thabo Mohlala

The recent settlements of labour disputes between unions and the management teams at Unisa and Wits might have been forced by the impending start of the academic year next week Monday.

Last week Unisa signed a settlement offer with National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) following a protracted strike action that paralysed the registration process.

Commenting on their settlement with Unisa management, Nehawu’s Ntsako Nombelani told Inside Education that their strike action was well coordinated.

He said it was part of their strategy to ensure any strike action they embarked on resulted in the maximum impact on the employer and that they planned it to coincide with an important activity, which at this time of the year at universities, was the student registration process.

No credible academic year can commence without properly registered students and this seems to have been what compelled the university management to settle with the unions.

In the recent past, several universities were rocked by disruptions mainly spearheaded by students and have conceded on several fronts to avert the complete shutdown of activities on their campuses.

Wits University settled a week-long strike action embarked upon by four labour unions. These include Nehawu, National Metal Workers Union of South Africa (Numsa), the Administrative, Library and Technical Staff Association (ALTSA), the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (Asawu).

The workers originally demanded 9% salary increase while Wits management offered 6.8%. The unions also demanded to be part of the decision-making in relation to performance incentives.

In the statement released yesterday, Nehawu confirmed the new salary scales secured after the strike action. Nehawu’s Khaya Xaba said after intense negotiations the parties agreed to settle on wage increases of between 7% and 10%.

He said dog handlers, drivers, meal allowance per shift, night shift and night allowances would increase by 10%.

He added the parties also agreed to formulate a workable plan to “turn Wits into a high-performance institution and motivate workers beyond salary increases”.

Wits’ Buhle Zuma said yesterday, “the salary increase agreement is differentiated from 7% to 9.2% depending on the employee’s grade, including a provision for performance. ALTSA, ASAWU and the University have indicated their intention to refer management’s 2018 salary offer, which includes a provision for performance, for arbitration”.

Asked if they signed with the labour unions to avoid the disruption of the start of classes next week, Zuma denied they were under any pressure to settle against their will. She said the continued labour action was not benefiting any of the parties involved and they all realised the need to find one another. She conceded this was a relief and also removed one of the biggest hurdles that would have impacted the classes next week.

At the time of publishing, Durban University of Technology (DUT), was the only institution that was yet to settle its dispute with the striking workers, most of whom belong to Nehawu.

Negotiations look set to drag on considering the huge gap between the parties where workers demanding a 10% salary increase while the university offered 4%.

Nehawu spoke tough and vowed not to back down until their salary demands were met by management.

DUT campus opening delayed by a week due to workers’ strike

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DUT campus opening delayed by a week due to workers’ strike

Bonile Khanyi

Thousands of Durban University of Technology (DUT) students will not be returning to campus on Monday after the university’s management team announced its decision to delay the start of the academic year by a week.

According to media reports, DUT said on Thursday that its 2018 academic year would be delayed due to an ongoing strike.

Lectures are now expected to begin on Monday, 12 February 2018.

This comes after wage negotiations between three labour unions and the university’s management reached a deadlock on Wednesday.

Last week, The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), the Tertiary Education National Union of South Africa (Tenusa) and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) demanded an initial 10% salary hike, a R400 increase on their monthly housing allowance and a R9,000 once-off bonus.

The three unions have since dropped their demands to an 8% salary hike, a R350 housing allowance and no once-off bonus.

However, DUT is offering a 6.5% increase for both basic salaries and housing allowances and no once-off bonus.

DUT’s spokesperson Alan Khan said the unions also rejected the university’s request for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to assist them in the matter.

He also said despite the disruptions caused by the striking workers, students could still register online or on campus as the university remains open.

“While protestors have tried to disrupt student registration‚ the university remains open. Students are registering online,” said Khan.

Best-performing schools in NSC exams hailed by portfolio committee on basic education

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Best-performing schools in NSC exams hailed by portfolio committee on basic education

Bonile Khanyi

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has expressed its appreciation and satisfaction with the schools that have continued to perform well in the National Senior Certificate exams.

This comes after the committee concluded its visit to the Bohlabela Education District in Mpumalanga on Wednesday where it visited several schools over three days, according to a statement issued by the parliamentary communication services on behalf of the committee chairperson, Nomalungelo Gina.

Gina pointed to how well the class of 2017 performed by highlighting the case of Magigwana Secondary School which obtained a 100% pass rate in Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Business studies despite having a large enrolment.

“This is highly commendable. It is a best practice model that should be replicated by other schools,” said Gina.

She also gave thanks to the educators and learners of Moses Mnisi Secondary school where four of the five grades obtained 100% pass rates and the Grade 12 learners who obtained a 99.3% pass rate for the 2017 NSC examinations.

“In both cases, strong leadership was demonstrated. This was coupled with good support from the Senior Management Teams at the schools, other teachers, the School Governing Bodies and involvement of parents. Learner discipline has also been found to be of a high standard at good performing school,” said Gina.

Meanwhile, the committee issued a stern warning to the schools who have not been performing well and appealed to the school’s educators to prioritise the learners’ needs.

“It is important that teaching and learning should take place. All other issues are secondary but should be ironed out to ensure the existence of conducive environment for teaching and learning at schools,” said Gina.

“These young learners are our future, the future of the country. We have to ensure that they are properly educated.”

The Committee also appealed to education authorities to assist and monitor those schools to ensure that they meet their potential.

The beauty of informal education – Why teacher learners need a day out

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The beauty of informal education – Why teacher learners need a day out

Gugulethu K. Radebe

After spending just over three years of my life as a teacher or a teacher’s aide, I learned a lot of lessons about the school system and how it works. I had the great pleasure of watching learners light up as they finally figured out a concept they previously did not understand and watched them learn to probe more into an issue and ask the “right” questions.

I spent a lot of this time pondering about how I could make learning a more meaningful experience for my learners and one that they find pleasurable and rewarding. A lot of these questions were answered in one way or another in some workshop somewhere but many of these answers applied to some learners but not to others. I then had the privilege of pursuing a different way of teaching in the form of facilitating learning at the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

This move, amongst other things, was fuelled by my passion for learning and teaching that went beyond the school curriculum. I got into a space that valued human rights, difficult conversations and community building as much -if not more- than I do.

The South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, which is the body in charge of the Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town centres, aims to provide a space where learners and communities can look at the Holocaust and other genocides as a case-study for teaching humanity, equality, and the importance of human rights and democracy.

The museum space allows me to interact with learners in a very different manner than I could in a traditional teaching classroom. Though we don’t have the luxury of building relationships with learners, we have the gift of anonymity which allows learners to feel safer and to feel like they can own their opinions without fear of judgement and punishment. They have an opportunity to look at, sometimes, familiar content in a way that’s different from the tradition teacher and whiteboard scene they’ve learned to get used to.

They can ask questions and wonder about issues that far exceed what is required for a test or an exam at the end of the school term. It allows them the opportunity to be immersed in information and allows them to pick an area of interest within that area, that way making it feel more relevant to them and their everyday.

Teachers often teach how they learn, which means that students taught by an auditory learner often do a lot of listening and are often expected to verbally communicate what they learn. Many museum spaces allow learners to be exposed to a healthy mix of all learning styles, from activities for kinesthetic learners to videos, audio and art for auditory and visual learners. These spaces allow learners to grasp information in ways that feel most comfortable to them.

They allow all learners to work with new information and process it how they deem fit without the pressure to express themselves in a certain way by the guide or facilitator. This experience allows learners to have a sense of control over their learning, making it a much more meaningful and rewarding experience for them. These spaces, with the right preparation from the teacher, can allow learners to better engage with concepts they may have previously struggled with and may make engaging with the same content at a later stage more comfortable to learners.

Aside from the educational benefits, informal learning environments allow learners to interact with one another in a different space, this may be in the form of casual socialising between the learning experiences or in the form of discussions and activities in the learning sessions. Learners get the chance to learn about one another and learn to interact in a manner that may differ from how they interact in their comfort zones.

Excursions and school outings allow learners to explore the width and depth of any topic and learning with the hope that they find something meaningful and significant for themselves in the content they are exposed to. It allows their brains to experience familiar content in an unfamiliar way which brings the content to life for them and it’s with this fresh understanding that learners are able to cognitively and emotively process content that many may have just remembered for a test and forgotten.

As teachers, we need to more conscious of the importance of this informal learning to afford our learners the opportunity to learn lessons for a lifetime and not just until the end of the exam period.

Gugulethu K. Radebe is a teacher, poet and social activist. 

Lebogang Maile: Encouraging township entrepreneurship is important for communities

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Lebogang Maile: Encouraging township entrepreneurship is important for communities

Ido Lekota

Providing skills to township entrepreneurs will go a long way in nurturing the much-needed culture of small businesses in these communities. This is what the Gauteng MEC of Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development Lebogang Maile believes.

On Wednesday Maile launched the applications for this year’s Township Entrepreneurship Award – a R500 000 winning prize competition aimed at honouring and encouraging entrepreneurs who are running successful businesses in the various Gauteng Townships.

Speaking to Inside Education on Wednesday, Maile decried the fact that there are economic activities in the township worth approximately R100 billion – “but the money generated through these activities does not go into the pockets of our people.”

This, Maile says, is because instead of being centres of production, townships are mainly centres of consumption. He blamed this on the low entrepreneurial activity in the areas.

He says it is through entrepreneurial training and support from the government and big business that the townships can be transformed into sites of production producing what residents consume.

To achieve this, the government has support programmes for township entrepreneurs which include the development of economic infrastructures – such as industrial parks; providing access to the internet; funding and enhancing access to the markets as well as support for innovation.

“Our commitment is definitely to encourage the culture of entrepreneurship and teaching young people while they are still in school about becoming entrepreneurs through subjects such as life skills.”

The MEC says programmes such as Tshepo One Million are aimed at tackling youth unemployment by providing skills to the youth and encouraging them to become innovative.

Launched by the Gauteng Provincial government in partnership with the big business, the programme  is aimed at giving the youth work opportunities and offering those involved in small business ventures some business development opportunities.

The programme is also about youth skills development focusing on sectors such as manufacturing, creative industries, ICT and construction to enhance youth economic development.

Teddy Bear Clinic offers help for Reiger Park High learners traumatised by sex video

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Teddy Bear Clinic offers help for Reiger Park High learners traumatised by sex video

Thabo Mohlala

The Teddy Bear Clinic has made contact with Reiger Park High School to assist learners and teachers left traumatised after a video of principal having sex with some learners went viral.

The clinic’s director, Shaheda Omar, yesterday told Inside Education they would provide support for learners to enable them to overcome the shock brought about by the incident.  The clinic also provided counselling to the 87 learners who were molested at AB Xuma Primary School in Orlando Soweto in October last year.

The Gauteng education MEC yesterday removed three more teachers allegedly involved in the video saga. The Principal also resigned. Although it was later discovered the principal left the system already, Lesufi said he would report him to the South African Council of Educators.

“We will employ a wide range of intervention strategies to assist the learners to get through the effects of this traumatic experience. We will be working with learners on an individual basis and then in group sessions. Our intervention also encompasses creating awareness among the learners about appropriate behaviour, how to report abuse; what is an acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and the reporting mechanisms. The whole idea is to enable the learners to get the right support that they deserve because it is part of our duty to ensure children are protected,” said Omar.

Speaking about the progress at AB Xuma Primary School, Omar said there was a lot of progress and that learners also responded well to their interventions.

Omar said they used widespread intervention techniques to ensure learners affected by the abuse, including those who were not, also benefit from the sessions.

“[At AB Xuma]We also used the one-on-one approach as well as group sessions to help learners deal better with the pain. The initial response we received from the learners was a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. But if we look at where they were then and where they are now, I must say they showed a great deal of improvement. We feel they have been empowered and given a voice; a platform they can use in future to report any incident of abuse,” said Omar.

She said they also worked with teachers through their ‘Educators’ Training Programme’ aimed at empowering them on what to do when they noticed abuse. Omar said she noticed during her interactions with most teachers that they had no clue what to do in such a situation.

“We remind them that reporting these incidents is part of their responsibility and we also share with them reporting mechanisms and procedures. But others may be aware of incidences of abuse but may decide not to stick their necks out in terms of reporting the matter for fear of reprisals,” Omar said.

She said it was crucial that both teachers and learners were in a position to not only identify abuse but to also understand procedures to be followed. Omar said the clinic was always proactive and worked closely with schools throughout the year to raise awareness about issues of abuse.

Hard work pays off: Top achieving Free State Schools receive top-notch facilities

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Hard work pays off: Top achieving Free State Schools receive top-notch facilities

Thabo Mohlala

Three schools based in the Fezile Dabi district in the Free State yesterday scored big following their good performance in the 2017 grade 12 results. They have each been rewarded with renovated science and computer laboratories.

This is part of the “Incentivised Infrastructure Award”, a partnership between Kagiso Shanduka Trust (KST) and the Free State Department of Education (FSDoE). Recipients of the awards are schools that have attained or exceeded 90% pass rate benchmark.

The three schools are Matlwangtlwang Secondary School in Steynruss, Konanelo Secondary School in Kroonstad and Bodibeng Secondary School, also based in Kroonstad.

Free State education MEC, Tate Makgoe, recently heaped praise on the Fezile Dabi as one of the districts that have contributed more passes which catapulted the province to the number one spot nationally.

Michael Phutsisi and Thabiso Ratsomo, representing FSDoE and KST respectively, unveiled the facilities.

KST’s communications head, Nontando Mthethwa, said in the media release that the three schools received the award based on the class of 2015’s academic performance.

Mthethwa said the initiative is part of the KST’s District Whole Schools Development Programme (DWSDP) which is being implemented in the Fezile Dabi and Motheo districts in the Free State province.

A distinctive feature of the programme is the development of schools’ infrastructure to motivate learners and teachers to produce good academic results. The awards are preceded by a thorough school’s needs analysis and the outcome of the analysis will determine what infrastructure facility the school will get.

These include classrooms, administration and ablution blocks, libraries, Grade R facilities, kitchen and eating area. Lack of proper and decent infrastructure in most rural based schools has been highlighted as one of the key contributory factors to poor learner performance.

The other key component of the programme is its emphasis on the active role of parents and communities in which the schools are based. Communities and parents are encouraged and empowered to help secure and maintain the schools infrastructure as well as combat vandalism and theft.

“We encourage community members to protect this infrastructure so that generations to come can also benefit from it. The matric class of 2015 performed well and as a result the class of 2018 are benefiting from the fruits of their hard work, it is now in the hands of the class of 2018 to work hard and leave a legacy for other learners,” said Phutsisi.

The collaboration between KST and FSDoE is heralded as the best model of leveraging public-private partnerships aimed at identifying key projects that can drive the transformation of the education system as well as improve the culture of teaching and learning.

Phutsisi said their partnership with KST has so far yielded positive outcomes such as delivering basic school infrastructure in both Fezile Dabi and Motheo districts. He said they were also able to provide a holistic and integrated programme geared towards improving performance, adding this is what is contributed to making the Free State as the leading province in the matric results.

“We hope that learners, parents and community members will find value in the investment in education and continue to support learners.” concluded Mthethwa.

Northern Cape to be the first province to teach the Nama language at schools

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Northern Cape to be the first province to teach the Nama language at schools

Thabo Mohlala

The Premier of the Northern Cape, Sylvia Lucas, on Monday officially launched Nama, an indigenous Khoi language to be taught at schools in the province. Accompanied by her Members of Executive Council and a delegation from Namibia, Lucas officiated at the august ceremony held at Riemvasmaak Primary School.

The language was first introduced in two schools in Riemvasmaak and Khuboes as an extramural activity and later phased in from Grade R. Lucas said initially the project presented many challenges one of which was the use of too large a sample but this time around they decided to pilot it in the two schools.

She said introducing the Nama language at schools in the province is part of their plans to preserve and develop the rich history and heritage of all indigenous languages in the country with the provincial department of education being an implementing agency.

She said Nama is part of Khoekhoe, a Khoisan language spoken by about 250,000 people in parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. It is spoken mostly by three groups namely, Nama, Damar and Hailom. In South Africa Nama speaking people are confined to parts of the Northern Cape such as Upington, Kakamas, Riemvasmaak, Pella, Kuboes, Steinkopf, Augrabies and Marchand.

“Strengthening and protection of the indigenous languages of our province has been an area in which the Department of Education has played an active role in empowering especially the communities of Platfontein and the Namakwa region in the development of these languages,” said Lucas.

The Provincial Government has also roped in the Pan African South African Languages Board (Pansalb), a statutory body created to, among others, help promote all indigenous and marginalised languages and ensure they enjoy equal status and respect.

Lucas praised the Department of Basic Education by making sure due recognition, preservation and promotion of the Nama language is guaranteed.

Inside Education spoke to two prominent members of the Khoi community, Christian Martin and Khoi Mo Blouw, who welcome the development. They said the initiative made them feel like an integral part of the South African society.

Martin said this was great news for the Khoi community.

“New life has been blown into the Khoi and San people. This is because language embodies culture, tradition and rites. Language differentiates animals from human beings. Today we can say this government restored our dignity. We are Khoi and San again not the other or Coloured or mixed people. This is Khoi in its true meaning,” said Martin, who is also an MP in the Eastern Cape.

Mo Blouw said he was moved to tears when he found out.

“I felt moved that morning and I couldn’t stop the tears from welling in my eyes. I realised that I am very fortunate to belong to a group whose members were present at the launch of the first official Khoi language to be implemented. Let us put our differences aside and move forward and break this Colouredness that was designed to divide and seems to haunt us even within our different Khoi movements,” Mo Blouw said.

Lucas said the idea to preserve and develop the language was given impetus by the twinning agreement with the Karas regional Council in Namibia. The Northern Cape and Namibia share a border and as such, they have a lot in common such particularly in culture, languages and the economy.

Lucas said the agreement was designed in such a way that it paid particular attention to trade and investment (economic), transport, environment, tourism and conservation, fisheries and aquaculture, basic education, tertiary education, sports, arts and culture, local government matters, safety and security issues.

She said currently they had developed an action plan and workstreams to implement and expand the agreement to include areas such as sports interaction, culture and heritage.

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