By Lehlohonolo Mofokeng The number of vandalised schools in South Africa during the lockdown period stood at 1 577 as at 19 May 2020, according to the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga. Barely 24 hours later, Kwazulu-Natal MEC of Education, Kwazi Mshengu, shared with his social media followers how Covid-19 essential goods were stolen […]
Basic Education
Posted inEquality, General
My ideal township school
By Lehlohonolo Israel Mofokeng There is no doubt there is a hive of township schools that continue to show signs of holistic excellence. By holistic excellence, I mean developing conscious learners who are not detached from the realities of their lives — learners who will engage with hegemonic structures, learners who will understand that their […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
Crunch time for educational publishers
It’s rare that a national industry is confronted with a single threat to its future. That just happened to South African publishing. A few days ago, the South African department of basic education (DBE) released a policy document, for public comment, that explains how the DBE would like to handle textbooks going forward. (If you’re […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Angie not to blame for teen pregnancy but…
The world’s super-teacher, Ron Clark, recently told CNN how he “met a principal who was recently named as the administrator of the year in her state”. “She was loved and adored by all but she told me she was leaving the profession. I screamed ‘you can’t leave us’ and she quite bluntly replied ‘look, if […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC policy conference ignores the burning issue of the day
The African National Congress’ policy conference kicked off in Johannesburg this week. Its intellectual equivalent of mud wrestling was over a truckload of documents analysing party organisational renewal, nationalisation, job creation, investment and land redistribution. There was also President Jacob Zuma’s catchily titled but ponderously composed Second Transition centrepiece of policy proposals, which is his […]