Fight for textbooks back in court, report

30 MAR 2014 17:25 SAPA

Several schools in the Limpopo Province are dragging the Department of Basic Education to court for failing to deliver textbooks.

Limpopo schools are taking the fight for textbooks back to court, City Press reported on Sunday.

The move was being spearheaded by 23 schools that say that between them they still need 18,000 books.

The case, initiated by lobby group Basic Education for All, through civil rights organisation Section27, is due to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

The parties want the court to rule that the basic education department must provide all outstanding books by April 7.

The department said it was aware of the court action and studying the documents, City Press reported. Last year, the department promised that by January, all public schools around the country would have textbooks for every pupil in every subject.

In 2012 the department failed to deliver books to Limpopo schools until June. –Sapa

Creecy reveals wrongs at high school

March 26 2014 at 07:57pm 

By NONTOBEKO MTSHALI

The Star

Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy. Photo: Itumeleng English

Johannesburg -

Brakpan High School took centre stage at the Gauteng legislature on Tuesday when Education MEC Barbara Creecy answered to corruption and sexual harassment allegations against the school’s staff.

Creecy told the legislature that the school had been placed under administration.

She was responding to questions posed by Cope MPL Hermene Koorts about the findings of a forensic report into the school’s finances and complaints against the principal.

Creecy said the department had received complaints about financial mismanagement in December 2012.

The department ordered an independent probe, and it was finalised in August last year.

Creecy said the audit report recommended that the school governing body (SGB) be disbanded and that disciplinary action be taken against the principal and other members of the school’s management.

The recommendations were followed and a district director was now

monitoring the school.

Creecy said the department had offered training to the SGB, but only one member attended. The department had partnered with an audit firm that would offer mentoring and coaching on financial management to schools as part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility programme.

The MEC also responded to questions about a sexual harassment case against a teacher at the school who is still on the department’s payroll and continues to work with children.

Creecy said the teacher was charged, found guilty, given a three-month suspended sentence and fined an amount equivalent to three months’ salary.

The Star understands that the teacher made comments of a sexual nature to pupils. He was not criminally charged.

nontobeko.mtshali@inl.co.za

The Star

Call-up for graduates

Another Dictatorship Brought to you by The ANC Government

Olebogeng Molatlhwa | 18 March, 2014 00:01

They said graduates would spend a year gaining experience relevant to what they had studied. "This would not be in-service training," said Manana. File photo

Image by: Elmond Jiyane

All graduates - irrespective of whether their education was privately funded or paid for through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme - might soon be forced to undertake a year of community service.

This is according to the ANC national executive committee's sub-committee on education and health, which said yesterday that it would implement the proposal in the next five years.

Committee chairman Naledi Pandor, the home affairs minister, and committee member Mduduzi Manana, deputy minister of higher education and training, tried to allay graduates' fears that they would be forced to postpone their entry into the labour market to undertake compulsory menial work in the public service.

They said graduates would spend a year gaining experience relevant to what they had studied.

"This would not be in-service training," said Manana.

At the ANC's elective conference in Mangaung, Free State, in December 2012, delegates of the conference's education and health commission resolved that consideration "must be given to a graduate tax for all graduates from higher education institutions".

The tax was intended to bolster the coffers of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which was expected to play a bigger role in the state's plans for free education for all undergraduate s.

The tax proposal was scrapped after a huge outcry.

The ANC committee proposed that community service first be imposed on all graduate students who had received bursaries or loans from an aid scheme and later on all graduates.

The idea has drawn mixed reactions, with some commentators giving it the green light on condition it is properly implemented.

Professor Servaas van der Berg, of Stellenbosch University , dismissed the idea as "sub-optimal" and derided it as a waste of valuable time.

"It will not work. All it would do is postpone the period within which one would have entered the labour market by a year," said Van der Berg.

"People will be . put in jobs in which they will be under-utilised."

And the notion that there is a large number of unemployed graduates with degrees who need practical training to find a job had been exaggerated, Van der Berg said.

He noted that Stats SA's labour force survey showed that the number of degreed graduates in employment was about 55000.

However, it showed that about 340000 graduates, including holders of diplomas and certificates, were without a job in 2011.

Education specialist Graeme Bloch conditionally supported the idea.

For the whole thing to be workable there would have to be skills transference, he said.

There would be additional strain on the fiscus because graduates would get a stipend for their year in public service.

Bloch suggested that funds assigned to the Expanded Public Works Programme be redirected to the community service initiative.

Luzuko Buku, general secretary of the SA Students' Congress, said he did not know "where the money will emerge from".

"Whatever its make-up, there must be consultation [with graduates] and people should not be forced to work in unbearable conditions."

Bloch predicted that students would not like the idea but urged them to see the positive side.

"You have to use your degree to give back," Bloch said.

24% of matrics would have passed if pass mark was 50%

Jeanne van der Merwe and Sipho Masondo @City_Press

That’s what the matric pass rate would have been if the pass mark was 50%

Between 22% and 24% – that’s how many of South Africa’s matriculants would probably have passed had they been forced to score at least 50% for each subject.

City Press asked top statisticians to work out what the pass rate would have been if University of the Free State Vice-Chancellor Jonathan Jansen and other analysts got their wish of the matric subject pass marks being pegged at 50%.

The senior statisticians spoke to City Press on condition of anonymity.

They based their estimates on the historical distribution of marks in past matric exams, the proportion of the population enrolled for tertiary education and the fact that 30.6% of matriculants obtained university entrance passes that require a minimum of a 43% average.

Analysts agreed that while the standard of the matric exam papers was high and comparable to the best in the world, the pass marks were too low.

Professor Emeritus Johan Muller, a University of Cape Town education policy analyst, said: “The bar is too low. The exam paper is comparable, but our bar is lower than most countries in the world whose university entrance passes are set at 50% for all subjects.”

Education policy expert Graeme Bloch agreed, saying: “The pass marks are not sufficient but during my day, it was exactly the same. It’s wrong, but it doesn’t hold people from doing well.

“Parents want a 50% pass mark and I’m happy to go with that too.”

Aslam Fataar, a Stellenbosch University education policy researcher and deputy president of the SA Education Research Association, said he was all for an increase in pass marks, albeit gradually.

“It’s worth considering increasing the lowest pass mark of 30% by 5% every five years until we get to 50%,” he said.

In September, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga commissioned an investigation into raising the 30% pass requirement.

The findings are expected to be submitted in March.

The performance in key subjects for the 562 112 matric pupils of 2013 paints a depressing picture:

» Of the 241 509 who wrote maths, only 63 034 (26.1%) passed with 50% or more;

» Of the 184 383 who wrote physical science, 47 202 (25.6%) passed with 50% or higher;

» Of the 301 718 who wrote life sciences, 83 576 (27.7%) scored 50% or more; and

» Of the 454 666 who wrote English first additional language – which is also the language of teaching and learning in most schools – only 118 213 (26%) scored 50% and above.

At the moment, a university entrance pass requires matriculants to obtain 50% in four subjects, at least 40% for their home language, 30% for the language of teaching and learning, and remaining subjects at 30%.

Motshekga told City Press that passing matric was much more difficult now than it had been in previous years.

The 2013 exam papers were quality assured and benchmarked by the board of Cambridge International Examinations, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Australia’s Board of Studies New South Wales.

Cambridge has quality assured exams in Singapore, Mauritius and Botswana.

The SQA has worked with countries in central and eastern Europe, central and South America, the Middle East and other African countries.

Muller, Fataar and Bloch agreed that the exam standard was high, but that the pupils would not fare well because of poor teaching.

Analysts said it would take between 20 and 25 years to fix the education system and make it produce quality matriculants with the right pass marks.

Fataar said: “It takes a generation to fix it. An education system can’t be turned around in five or 10 years.

“Unfortunately, it takes a very short time to mess it up. There are no easy answers.”

Motshekga admitted that there were shortcomings in the system.

“There is a skills gap where most of our kids don’t measure up to the curriculum, international standards and when we compare ourselves to many countries in the world,” she said.

She added that her department was now working to improve it.

Muller and Bloch heaped praise on Motshekga.

“I think she is a good minister, she has the right ideas,” said Muller.

“She is on the right track,” said Bloch.

Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said: “Collectively we celebrate the pass rate, yet underneath that is a continuous undermining of what we want in society.”

Matric pupil gets a zero for swearing at marker in exam script

6 February 2014 16:22

A pupil’s matric result has been declared null and void after he swore in an examination paper, a spokesperson for Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant has said.

“One candidate used inappropriate language in an examination script with reference to the marker (who was not known to the pupil),” said Bronagh Casey today.

“The sanction was that the result in that subject was declared null and void.”

She said the pupil would, however, be allowed to write the 2014 February/March supplementary exam in that subject.

Casey would not be drawn on what subject paper the pupil had been writing, or what exactly the remark was.

“We are not disclosing that information,” she said.

There were eight cases of irregularities which were reported and investigated in the province last year.

These included pupils who were in possession of cellphones inside an exam room, candidates found in possession of unauthorised materials or crib notes, and candidates using inappropriate language in an answer script.

In the 2013 matric exam, five pupils were found in possession of cellphones and were sanctioned, but could write the 2014 exam.

Another pupil found using a cellphone was barred from writing the exam for two years. He would be allowed to write the 2016 matric exam.

One person found in possession of crib notes was also barred from writing the exam for two years.

All eight had their results declared null and void, she said.

“When the candidate’s results are declared null and void, the result for the specific subject is marked as irregular but the candidate will receive results for the other subjects as well as a letter informing the candidate about the irregularity that occurred and the sanction imposed,” said Casey.

“The candidate will not receive a National Senior Certificate until she/he rewrites the subject and applies for a combination of results.”

In 2012, the results of 17 pupils were declared null and void in the province.

Students 'abuse' state financial aid

17 minutes ago Blanché de Vries, Die Burger

(Shutterstock)

Cape Town - Students apparently lie to the South African government student loan and bursary scheme (NSFAS) in order to get loans, reported Die Burger.

This was revealed during a meeting in parliament, where the department of higher education and training supplied information about financial aid at universities.

At the meeting problems in paying out loans to students were also discussed.

The department informed a parliamentary standing committee that only half of the students who qualify for financial aid can be assisted.

This is because there is not enough money available to help everyone who applies to NSFAS.

Msulwa Daca, head of NSFAS, said the organisation is trying to develop a system to prevent students from abusing the financial aid available

Sex before school shock

FEB 3, 2011 | ALEX MATLALA

MORE than 60 percent of female pupils at Mavalani Secondary School in Giyani, Limpopo, wake up for school from their boyfriends' homes.

Most of these children became so drunk that they slept half-naked in the streets, making themselves ultimate victims of rape and unprotected sex 

The school was in the spotlight last week after 57 pupils were found to be pregnant last month. The youngest pregnant girl is 13 years old.

The school's enrolment stands at 1078 pupils - 382 boys and 696 girls.

Health department spokesperson Cecil Motsepe said a team dispatched last week to the school had discovered that it was normal for pupils to sleep away from home.

Motsepe explained that the majority of pupils, both boys and girls, wake up together and prepare themselves before going to school.

Motsepe said the report also showed that parents had not yet broken the silence around sex-related issues with their teenage children.

Meanwhile, the South African Schools Governing Bodies attributed the scourge of teenage pregnancy at the school to the fact that it was surrounded by a number of taverns.

Provincial chairperson Hitler Morwatshehla said investigations had indicated that pupils from Mavalani drink liquor heavily on Saturdays and Sundays.

"During the research, we discovered that young girls between the ages of 12 and 17 formed the majority of those taking booze on Sundays, a day before school.

"Most of these children became so drunk that they slept half-naked in the streets, making themselves ultimate victims of rape and unprotected sex," Morwatshehla said.

Although learning and teaching was back to normal at the school, principal Meserea Mahungu had not returned to the school since she was suspended by parents on Friday.

This was after angry community members and pupils destroyed the school's property, accusing her of conniving with Sowetan "to tarnish the image of the school".

Provincial education department spokesperson Pat Kgomo said the principal had been advised to stay at home for a while until the situation is conducive for her to go back.

Kgomo said the department will in the meantime engage the community to see to it that learning and teaching continue while parents and the department try to solve the problems plaguing the school.

The SA Council of Educators said yesterday it has set aside five days - from February 14 to 18 - to visit the schools and communities with similar problems in Limpopo.

Sace spokesperson Temba Ndhlovu said the council will meet teachers, parents, pupils and other stakeholders to discuss matters involving the code of professional ethics and to see how the problem facing Mavalani could be overcome.