"Backlog as Free Education Extended"

Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 18 Oct, 2008

Report in the Weekender (18 October 2008)

"AS THE African National Congress (ANC) prepares to extend free education to 60% of schools next year, it has emerged that little has been done in the past year to ease infrastructure backlogs at the poorest schools.

After almost 15 years of democracy, and an education department with a budget allocation larger than any other government department, there remain thousands of schools across the country that still do not have sanitation, water, electricity, science laboratories or sports facilities."

Post in General, News Stories, Primary Education, Secondary Education | comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Trial Access to OECDSource (especially for Education)

Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 18 Sep, 2008
UCT has trial access to SourceOECD, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development's online portal for their online journals, books, reports and statistical databases, until 16 October 2008. There is a link to the database on the Trials web page at
 
 
" SourceOECD is the online portal to all the OECD’s books, periodicals, statistics and databases. It comprises of thematic book collections, periodicals, reference titles, OECD statistical databases and International Energy Agency (IEA) statistical databases – all in full text. An interesting page to visit is the Hot Topics page  to see OECD documents, key reports, multimedia and articles from the world's media on key global issues such as Development and Africa and Agriculture and Biofuels. "
 
Some of the titles  which you have access to in terms of this trial, (fulltext, pdfs) include:-
*   Reviews of National Policies for Education, South Africa  (print copy on order)
*   Trends Shaping Education  2008  (print copy on order)
*   Education at a glance 2008:  OECD Indicators  (print copy on order)
as well as various publications on PISA

Please let Caroline Dean have feedback and recommendations  (caroline.dean at uct.ac.za)
 

Post in Higher Education, Primary Education, Maths and Science, Secondary Education, Adult Education | comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Nkosi Albert Luthuli Young Historians’ Competition

Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 7 Jun, 2008

The Nkosi Albert Luthuli Young Historians' Competition is  a national oral history competition open to all learners from Grade 8 to Grade 11, and all history educators in secondary schools.   The national finals takes place 1 - 4 October 2008.       The competition is a joint project by South African History Online and the South African Department of Education.

The competition is open to all learners from Grade 8 to Grade 11 and all history educators in secondary schools.

Learners will be required to research and prepare a presentation or a documentary film or video on one of the following topics:

  • Our unsung heroes: Investigate the life of a member of your community, showing, through oral history research, how the individual has shown leadership qualities and through commitment and dedication, made a difference to your community;

  • Investigate an example of local community struggle in your community against apartheid, in which the community came together to demonstrate their opposition to some apartheid government action that directly affected the local community. For example the Potato Boycotts in Mpumalanga or the Sekhukhuneland (Limpopo) revolt in the 1950’s of rural communities. Background on this community resistance can be found in the two volumes of The Road to Democracy in South Africa (SADET) that was distributed to schools. (Sekhukhuneland (volume 1) and the 1973 Durban strikes (volume 2)).

  • Investigate how the formation of the community-based organizations that were affiliated to the United Democratic Front affected members of your community by interviewing people who participated in its formation or various youth, women, student and other civic organization affiliates;

  • Investigate the re emergence of the labour movement that commenced with the Durban strikes of 1973 and the impact of working class mobilization on the community; or

  • Investigate the role played by members of your family and community in the South African war against Angola and other neighbouring states in the 1980s, whether in the South African National Defence Force or the liberation armies as South Africa commemorates the 20th anniversary of the defeat of the SADF at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 2008.

  • Investigate the history of your school through interviews with former learners, parents and other members of the community, focusing on what changes have taken place around education, particularly in terms of attitudes and organization.

 (As there seem to be technical problems with posting links, go to http://www.sahistory.org.za/classroom/albertluthuli/history.htm for information about the competition, the FAQs, instructions on how to enter and last year's winners) 

 

 


 

Post in Secondary Education | comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Bill of Responsibilities

Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 20 Feb, 2008

The new bill of responsibilities is being rolled out this week to all schools. 

The aim of the bill is to teach youngsters how to enforce the Bill of Rights, contained in the country's constitution, in their daily lives.

The 12 core responsibilities contained in the bill spell out exactly how they should do so.

Although all learners will be made familiar with its core values, it will only be taught formally to pupils in secondary schools, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday, according to IOL. 

Post in Secondary Education | comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

«Previous   1 2