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ANC draft proposal on education reform
A set of policy proposals titled Revolutionary Morality: The ANC and Business was presented to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in March and will be distributed to the party’s branches for debate ahead of the ANC’s national policy conference in June. Regarding education, the draft proposals for tackling the woes of the school system are in line with Education Minister Naledi Pandor’s thinking. The document provides assessments of higher education, adult basic education and training and further education and training (FET) colleges, without the complacent attribution of all current problems to apartheid. Policies and practices that are not delivering are identified for their urgent revision. It is proposed that government ‘needs to consider a more centralised control of the funding of national priorities’ in schooling. It says provincial funding may be suitable for ‘normal business’ but that special initiatives, including additional teachers for under-performing schools, might need their own measures, such as ring-fenced funding and conditional grants.
A central problem is that, despite increased overall allocations to education, provincial spending as a share of provinces’ budgets has been falling. The falls have been from 45.7% in 2002/03 to 44.7% the following year, while a fall to 42.8% is projected in 2008/09. The policy document says too many children still lack textbooks, insufficient time is spent on teaching, and resources often do not reach the intended beneficiaries. It points to fee increases and overcrowding as key problems in higher education, but does not offer specific remedies. On the largedrop-out rate and the time many students take to complete programmes, it says there ‘is an urgent need to focus on academic development’. On Abet, it finds the current approach is not working and proposes that literacy training be separated into formal Abet for those who want to study further, and general literacy for ‘those who simply want to read, write and be numerate’.
The proposals also suggest that FET colleges (at the core of addressing the country’s skills shortages) could become a national function, rather than a provincial one. On the development of the ICT industry, the policy proposal calls for immediate infrastructure interventions to improve access to affordable bandwidth and cutting telecoms costs.
Regarding mathematics teaching in South Africa
The country needs maths skills for future development. But the maths failure rate at schools is high, good maths teachers are few and far between, and most maths teachers in state schools have not been trained in the outcomes-based education (OBE) system. The government’s sector education training authorities (Setas) are perceived to be underperforming, and have not been spending millions of rands earmarked for education and training. In 2006, only 10% of learners took maths on the higher grade. Even more alarming is that there were 1 000 fewer passes on the higher grade than the year before. In a chapter, ‘The State of Mathematics and Science Education: Schools are not Equal’, in the Human Sciences Research Council’s State of the Nation report (2005-2006), Dr Vijay Reddy says by most performance indicators, South Africa is performing poorly in mathematics. And in her six-year trend analysis of the situation, she notes that in 2002 the department of education revealed that the national average for numeracy was 30% at the grade three level. In response, Penny Vinjevold, the deputy director general: further education and training in the department of education, says: ‘It’s a long-term project. You don’t produce maths on the higher grade overnight.
The [standard grade] results have been spectacular.’ Regarding the 2006 results she adds: ‘Yes, we are down by about 1 000 on the higher grade. I don’t know what happened.’ Vinjevold says the government will train 2 400 teachers in a special course in 2007. There will be 80 master teachers teaching these 2 400 teachers. ‘Yes, it is a worrying situation and we are concerned ... and it’s not just South Africa that has this problem, it’s the whole world’. Lynne Rivett-Carnac, principal of an independent school and a maths educator, said, ‘The reality at South African schools is that, at primary level, there are almost no teachers who have any tertiary mathematics training [at state schools]. To expect these teachers to teach mathematics constructively, without the necessary support material, is totally unrealistic.’ Maths educator Floyd Mathibela, a lecturer at Tsiba College in the Western Cape, feels that there are a few reasons for the dismal pass rate in maths. For one, maths is perceived as a language that can only be understood if one understands English.
Despite opposition from many quarters, Mathibela feels that a feasible solution lies in ensuring that the proposed department of education initiative to provide elementary education in the mother tongue is implemented with the greatest care. ‘Black learners are struggling with maths due to the double-whammy of first having to understand English and then the maths behind every concept.’ He also noted that not enough resources are being invested in a practical adult education system that would help in fostering a culture of learning.
Outstanding teaching in science and mathematics to be recognised
The Royal Society of South Africa, the oldest multi-disciplinary science-based society in South Africa, has as its aim to further all aspects of science. It holds an annual science essay competition for learners. In 2008 it celebrates its centenary, and as part of its centenary celebrations it will honour outstanding science teaching at the Further Education and Training (FET) level by awarding nine prestigious Centenary Medals in Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. In each of these categories the Royal Society of South Africa will award medals to Life-time Achievers, Young Achievers (35 years and under) and Rural Teachers. The closing date for nominations is August 31, 2007, and the winners will be invited to receive their medals at a ceremony in Cape Town during April 2008
Plagiarism and the Internet in South Africa
Plagiarism is a very real problem in South African schools and universities. Dr Derek Swemmer, registrar of the University of the Witwatersrand which has about 24 000 students, says not all schools teach their pupils how to reference properly the sources they use when they compile projects and essays, and many students end up at university unaware that plagiarism is theft. ‘It depends on which school the student has been at. There are some schools where good referencing is taught, and some where that ethos doesn’t exist. The upshot is that for Wits, plagiarism is the ‘growth industry’ of student disciplinary issues, although very few of the plagiarism cases it deals with are incidents of intentional cheating. Many students simply do not understand that the thoughts and opinions found in the public arena, and especially on the Internet, cannot be appropriated as their own’, says Swemmer. Probably at least 50% of all student disciplinary processes at Wits involve plagiarism. However, the new school curriculum is based on principles of teaching pupils to think for themselves and has created a space for research skills through its focus on what is called continuous assessment, with 25% of a pupil’s final mark comprising points for projects and essays done throughout the year. ‘It happens, but we don’t tolerate it,’ says Rob le Roux, headmaster of Cape Town’s Westerford High School. ‘It’s one of the critical parts of outcomesbased education (OBE) ... proper referencing skills,’ says Le Roux.
Prof David Benatar, head of the University of Cape Town’s philosophy department, said, ‘I am never seduced by the claim ‘we are engaged in OBE’. I am certainly not seeing it in the students.’ This means universities are spending a lot of time teaching pupils that plagiarism is bad, and how to reference the sources they use properly. Many South African tertiary education institutions, and some schools, use antiplagiarism mechanisms such as the website Turn It In, which allows lecturers and teachers to submit essays about which they have suspicions for cross-referencing. Plagiarism is not unique to SA, and other countries that use OBE in schools have faced hard questions on whether allowing course work has opened up a Pandora’s box. Penny Vinjevold, the national education department’s deputy director-general of further education and training said that ‘there is more opportunity for plagiarism, but teachers must set a task with a twist, something that requires a lot of application. Teachers must take plagiarism seriously. They must give zero if they pick it up ... but it’s nothing to panic about. We do our best to eliminate it’.
Computer multilingualism in South Africa
Microsoft South Africa has introduced a pioneering language programme that will give a massive boost to promoting multilingualism in South Africa. The Language Interface Pack will initially be available in Afrikaans, isiZulu and Setswana and may be accessed through Office 2007. Microsoft said that schools that are part of the programme will receive computers with software already installed in the language they use. The software will be free of charge and all teachers and learners could download it. The next languages to be developed are Sesotho sa lebowa and isiXhosa. The initiative echoes Education Minister Naledi Pandor’s sentiments about the need to develop and use the nine indigenous languages in schools. Speaking at a conference on language policy implementation at Unisa last year, Pandor said, ‘The role of language and access to language skills is critical to enabling individuals to realise their full potential to participate in and contribute to the social, cultural and intellectual life of the South African society.’
The project is a product of ‘partnership’ between various role players, notably the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb), the National Language Board, various government departments, translators and the academic community. Microsoft started with Afrikaans, isiZulu and Setswana because they ‘are technologically advanced in terms of the use of [computer] phrases’. Siphiwe Ntuli, who teaches grade nine at Stanger Secondary School in KwaZulu-Natal, said the school started to use the software early last year and since then learners have shown great enthusiasm and drive to use the computers. ‘I found that learners enjoy working on the computer and have grown in confidence simply because it is in the language they understand. There is that sense of closeness to it and as a result they are free to explore and learn new things on their own,’ said Ntuli.
Gifted children
Says Professor Gertie Pretorius, director of the Institute for Child and Adult Guidance in Johannesburg: ‘Gifted children may present an entire continuum of behaviours. A gifted child may come across as uninterested because she is not stimulated and does not find the work challenging enough. On the other hand, a child like this may come across as fidgety, hyperactive or ‘naughty’, because she does not fit in on an academic level with the rest of her peers. Socially, gifted children are often seen as strange or different, with interests that do not align with those of their peers.’ According to the experts, the earlier the problem is detected and dealt with, the better for the child, the parents and, naturally, for the teacher. Professor Shirley Kokot is president of the National Association for Gifted and Talented Children in South Africa.
Constant pleas from parents led to her founding Radford House in 1996, the only school of its kind in Africa, and one of few in the world dealing exclusively with gifted children. ‘Our mission is the optimum realisation of intellectual potential as well as healthy emotional, social and physical development for the benefit of self and society,’ says Kokot. Professor Pretorius said that in the department of education, an inclusion policy is followed, which means that there are no government funded institutions [exclusively for the gifted child]. Radford House differs from mainstream schooling in that there is more learner involvement, says Kokot. ‘We instil thinking skills and research skills, using content or knowledge for a purpose. It’s simply good education. Every teacher who comes to Radford has to be retrained, and classes are, of necessity, small. Everything is taught thematically. Although schooling at Radford is largely centred on the primary grades, the school now caters for grades 5 and onwards, due to the reluctance of learners to leave the school. Children in the higher grades work towards the Cambridge examinations, choosing their subjects for O levels.
Training freight train drivers
The government of Queensland is looking at training 200 South Africans as freight train drivers in a bid to contribute to the country’s skills development. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said that there was a potential to build a training partnership, as there were many similarities between Queensland and South Africa’s railway systems as both were operating a narrow-gauge system. He said that Queensland could offer expertise in various areas, such as maintenance, signalling and freightforwarding systems. Beattie, accompanied by a business delegation, was touring South Africa to expand international partnerships and strengthen trade and investment ties.
Zambia to train researchers in information and communication technology skills
Zambia will establish a centre to train researchers in information and communication technology skills for scientific research into the peaceful application of nuclear science and technology, and also in areas such as agriculture, communication, health and education. The centre, based at the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR) in Lusaka, is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has provided $24m worth of equipment. Researchers from any African country will be welcome to use the centre for online research. Zambia is the second African country, after Rwanda, tocommission a centre to provide training in information and communication technologies.
Botswana’s International University of Science and Technology delayed
The government of Botswana is seeking a private partnership to overcome delays in getting its longawaited science and technology university off the ground. The deadline for opening the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) has been moved from 2007 to 2009. Badumetse Hobona of Botswana’s Ministry of Education, the coordinator of the $1.5b project, says that a public-private partnership will make the 2009 target possible. So far both local and international companies have expressed interest. The private sector will not only be involved in the financing but also in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the facility, and will also participate in the development and delivery of BIUST curricula to ensure its relevance to the needs of the country. The government hopes BIUST will produce a workforce capable of participating in technology transfer and facilitating economic development. Legislation for the establishment of the university is now in place, and a 1 700-hectare plot has been purchased in Palapye, halfway between Gaborone and Francistown.
HESS wins science excellence prize
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) has been awarded a one third share of the €1m 2007 European Union Descartes prize for excellence in transnational science projects, sharing the prize equally with two other winning teams. HESS has revolutionized existing astronomical observation techniques and increased knowledge and understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond. The HESS gamma-ray telescopes are operated in Namibia by a consortium of scientists from Germany, France, the UK, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Armenia, South Africa and Namibia.
Laptops to overtake desktops
IDC forecasts that laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computer in 2011. The demand for desktops will continue to slowly grow at a declining rate as portable PCs become faster and more efficient. The laptop market will grow by 16.1% year-on-year to 2011, compared to 3.8% for desktop PCs. World-wide, 82m portable computers and 140m desktop PCs were shipped in 2006. Compared to 2005, the numbers of laptops shipped rose by 26.3%, while desktops increased by only 2%. 2005 was the first year that laptops outsold desktop computers in the US. The shift away from fixed machines reflects the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce and the ubiquity of wireless networks.