We can't afford not to - Costing the provision of functional school This paper pursues three closely related objectives: to review the field of international and local research which, particularly over the past two decades, has pointed to the positive causal relationship between functional school libraries and improved learner outcomes; to contextualize the current state of affairs in South African schools; and lastly, to provide detailed cost estimates which can be used as the basis for a comprehensive implementation plan.
Submission to Portfolio Committee on Basic Education – Comments on How to Improve Basic Education This paper deals with the broad basic infrastructural needs and backlogs faced by many South African schools, which include the supply of water; sanitation; electricity; libraries; laboratories and computer centres. There still exists major inequality in access to basic resources in our schools. This is reflected in the disparate results between poor and privileged schools, with the latter performing better across the board.
SA’s ‘incomes-based’ education system perpetuates inequality IN LONG Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela places enormous hope in education. “Education is the great engine of personal development,” he writes. “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm- workers can become the president.” Many people know this quote.
Nambia's Elections 2009: Democracy without Democrats? The smooth transition to Independence during 1989/1990, which followed a long and protracted anti-colonial liberation struggle, turned Namibia into an internationally applauded showpiece of African democracy. Based on a constitutionally enshrined multi-party democracy, the country set standards for controlled change within a normative framework in respect of what is generally labeled by those who hold the power of definition as “good governance”.
People from Mhondoro Ngezi speak on the constitution Crisis Coalition in conjunction with Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe held a constitutional meeting this week at Mamina growth point in Mhondoro Ngezi, Mashonaland West province. More than 80 villagers attended the meeting, including councilors from various wards. The meeting is part of the ongoing meetings being held by Crisis coalition to stimulate debate around the envisaged constitution making process.
Watchdogs need citizens to watch over them If we want institutions that watch over our rights, we ought to do more to watch over them. The appointment of a new Human Rights Commission (HRC) a few weeks ago should have been controversial. The new chair, former public protector Lawrence Mushwana, has been criticised by some for a perceived unwillingness to tackle political power-holders. Half the commissioners are former African National Congress (ANC) MPs, while respected figures with no ties to the ANC were ignored.
Civil society and the post-Polokwane South African state: assessing civil society’s prospects of improved policy engagement Citizens' organisations in South Africa may have more influence than they believe - but only if they think more strategically and try harder to represent people at the grassroots. This is the key finding of this study of civil society organisations undertaken by the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg and funded by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.
Equal Education campaigns for better schools Windows to change - Over the past five years, Luhlaza Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, accumulated more than 500 broken windows. Pupils and teachers accepted this as an unpleasant reality. They shivered through winter, complained to one another and stuck pieces of cardboard over the holes.
Filmmakers Against Racism The Berlinale 2009 presented four movies from a South African project called 'Filmmakers Against Racism', which is supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Producer Don Edkins, whose film 'Taxi to the Dark Side' was awarded an Oscar in 2008, talks in an interview about the initiative and xenophobia in South Africa.