Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Zandile Bangani was born and raised in Cape Town. She writes about matters pertaining to education and is committed to improving the level of education available to working-class and impoverished families.
A community-based and volunteer-run after-school programme in Khayelitsha is supporting working parents by providing a safe space for their children to do their homework and have fun.
If South African Sign Language is recognised as one of the country’s official languages, it will considerably ease many of the deaf community’s problems of access, education and equality.
Coronavirus lockdown regulations have denied graduates not only the chance to get into a gown and hat but also the chance to celebrate their success with loved ones and inspire future generations.
The coronavirus pandemic forced schools to shut abruptly, exposing the huge inequality between impoverished and privileged pupils as learning moved online and schoolgirls faced exploitation.
Duma Says: Wash Your Hands, Wear a Mask is about living with the coronavirus. It’s free and comes in various languages, with funds from bought copies going to the visually impaired author’s alma mater.
Students at the Eastern Cape TVET college say their return to campus after its Covid-19 closure has been blighted by health risks, late NSFAS payments and an unresponsive management.
Some students are funded for two extra years when they do not complete studies within specified periods. Many say this is a blanket treatment of their struggles and must be reviewed.
Although the number of Covid-19 infections continues to increase, the Department of Basic Education is preparing for another cohort of learners to go back to school.
The reopening of schools in South Africa is continuing apace amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With many teachers falling ill and some dying, support for them is crucial.
A lack of access to data and hardware means impoverished students are once again at a major disadvantage as teaching moves online during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Post-apartheid student activism draws heavily on the Class of 1976’s legacy of resistance. Black students remain marginalised and the Covid-19 pandemic once again brings inequalities to the fore.
Science has given the green light to schools reopening as children are unlikely to catch or transmit Covid-19. But the lack of water and toilets in addition to overcrowding at no-fee schools poses a risk.
Vulnerable households are struggling to put food on the table as the government lockdown puts their livelihoods on hold. Vouchers and food parcels help, but are they enough to prevent malnutrition?
The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic is being felt not only in the growing number of infections but also in an increase in general anxiety and cases of gender-based violence.
The Department of Basic Education has been unable to support pupils with different learning needs during the lockdown, leaving parents concerned that their children are being left behind.
Online learning is not as simple as downloading the educational material and in an unequal country like South Africa, not all pupils have equal access to the internet.
Leaving children unsupervised as schools close is a worry. But the Covid-19 lockdown means parents staying at home too. Not earning is impossible for people struggling to afford the basics of life.
Students have been protesting at the start of the academic year against financial exclusion and a lack of accommodation. It’s an all too familiar situation, but what are the alternatives?
ACFS Community Education in Meadowlands provides daily meals and after-school support to children, and now has a computer lab. Parents can learn, too, and benefit from the vegetable garden.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence, but its shelters are battling to stay afloat – and government departments have been slow to explain why.
A Wits scholar hopes to preserve knowledge production systems passed down from generation to generation in the games children play, which are now at risk of disappearing.