By JOSI-FAY SALVADORI What are the implications for education of five more years of ANC government? Gadra Education manager, Dr Ashley Westaway, says the education system we have now, is “the ANC’s system” – and, to see what it stands for, we have to look at what exists currently. “Crudely speaking, we’ve got 80% dysfunctional public schools, 20% functional public schools. That 20% can be thought of as 10% + 10%, with the first half being former Model C schools, and the other half being the one-in-nine no-fee paying schools that are functional. Eight in nine no-fee paying schools are…
Author: Rod Amner
The Eastern Cape is the worst-performing province in most of the categories covered by the 2017 School Monitoring Survey (SMS) released on Monday 8 April. The province recorded the second highest percentage of teacher absenteeism in the country, with 12% of teachers marked absent daily. This means that of the 54 026 teachers in the Eastern Cape, an average of 6 483 is bunking school every day. Meanwhile, a substantially lower proportion of primary and secondary schools in the Eastern Cape (64%), compared to the national average (78%), have all their teaching posts filled. The survey showed that Eastern Cape…
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) recent announcement that it is making headway in providing libraries or media centres to schools, has been challenged by a local literacy organisation. According to the 2017 School Monitoring Survey (SMS) announced by Minister Angie Motshekga on Monday, learner access to libraries increased from 45% in 2011 to 62% in 2017. DBE Director for Research, Stephen Taylor, said, “It is encouraging to note that this increase has been largely pro-poor, with the largest improvements having been among Quintile 1 to 4 schools.” Libraries are only really effective in schools where there is a teacher-librarian…
By Temba Mkosi GBS Bank has agreed to sponsor two water tanks for every Makhanda pre-primary school. However, Luzuko Pre-Primary supervisor, Pamela Sandi, said that two tanks per school are insufficient. This is because she and other school supervisors feel compelled to donate some of their water to desperate residents. There are at least 19 pre-primary schools in Makhanda – seven of the 19 currently have no water tanks, while eight have just one each. Sandi said her school already had two water tanks, which were donated by the Rotary Club. “We have water tanks but when the rain is…
The Lebone Centre recently celebrated World Read Aloud Day by having staff members and Project Read volunteers read to approximately 600 children in Grahamstown. This year’s story, written for the Nal’ibali campaign by Ann Walton, was entitled “Where are you?” and was read in three different languages (Afrikaans, isiXhosa, and English), depending on the audience. The schools that were visited included Grahamstown Primary, George Dickerson Primary, St Mary’s Primary, Heidi Pre-Primary, Sun City Preschool and a few smaller preschools in the area. Staff dressed up for the occasion and special storyboards were drawn by Chanelle Staude, a local artist and Project…
Alicedale’s two townships – Transriviere (coloured) and KwaNonzwakazi (black African) – lie cheek by jowl. But, when Grocott’s Mail recently visited the area for comment on the service delivery crisis in the town, the political fault lines between the townships were marked. Young people in Transriviere willingly revealed their deep frustrations with Makana, while several residents in Nonzwakazi, including a Makana councillor, were unwilling to be quoted or photographed. Here is a snapshot of what some locals had to say. Jessica Rothman (right), with friends “Makana is very ‘unfit’. If we call them for a pipe that has burst, nobody comes. But, if…
The province’s farmers have been battling the worst drought in a century for the past four years, says Agri Eastern Cape president, Dougie Stern. The cumulative effect of four consecutive years of way-below-average rainfall is placing an enormous financial strain on farmers. “They have had to spend money simply to keep their productive animals in a productive state,” he said. He said the situation was “critical” in about two-thirds of the province, with the western half – including the Makana and Bedford districts – worst affected. “It is a sad reality that we have had absolutely no assistance as commercial…
2011: Strategy completed for Riebeeck East (RE) water. November 2012: Pre-feasibility study indicates that owing to high poverty levels, it is not economically feasible to seek surface water alternatives for RE. Study recommends the use of rainwater harvesting tanks to diversify the water mix for households and the use of a defunct irrigation dam of 30 000 m/3 to augment domestic supply. 2015: Riebeeck East experiences severe drought conditions. Residents sign a petition about the water crisis, which is sent to Parliament. February 2015: Site visit investigation by two engineers from the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) indicates that while…
Riebeeck East’s meagre borehole water supply is deteriorating daily. Resident and DA councillor Cary Clark says the interim solution of lowering the pumps in the existing boreholes is not helping much. “We are regularly without water and the pressure is not enough to get the water to everyone. There are some people who live higher up or further out of the village who are getting almost no water,” she said. The last remaining water in the existing boreholes is being throttled: the valves are opened for an hour at 5am, 12 noon and 6pm. Municipal officials have yet to meet…
The official estimate of the water level at Settler’s Dam is a paltry 15%. The much smaller Howieson’s Poort is at about 25%. Four consecutive years of well-below-average rainfall have taken their toll. Grahamstown Residents Association secretary Tim Bull estimates that the dams’ water supply to the western side of the city will last for another 35 days before they reach their ‘dead water’ level. High temperatures and evaporation can reduce these estimates, though rainfall can extend them. However, unless there is substantial rainfall, we will reach Day Zero mid-February – the start of the Rhodes University academic year. If a…