EDUCATION - The African Mirror

May

12

2021

It’s time to stop ignoring paid childcare in urban Africa

EDUCATION

EARLYMOMENTSMATTER is the hashtag that UNICEF and many others use when advocating for the importance of early childhood development. And it makes sense. The early years – when brain development is at its most rapid – set the course for a lot of what follows. This includes learning, earning and happiness. ROBERT HUGHES, Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine PATRICIA KITSAO-WEKULO, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center There are, however, two ways to look at this “critical period”. Firstly, a risky period of vulnerability. The rapidly developing infant brain…

Jun

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania to offer alternative education for school dropouts including pregnant girls

EDUCATION

SECONDARY school drop-outs in Tanzania will be offered the opportunity to resume studies in alternative colleges, the government has said, part of a shift away from a disputed policy under which pregnant girls were expelled from school. Such expulsions had increased under the tenure of maverick President John Magufuli, who died in March, according to rights groups who accused his government of discriminating against female students based on a policy that dated back to 1961. "We are offering an alternative path to education to all children who missed their education for any reason, including those girls who got pregnant while…

Jun

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Counting the cost of lost schooling in South Africa

EDUCATION

A year ago, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we predicted that school closures in South Africa would result in learning losses. A loss of contact learning time would lead to lower educational outcomes, and the losses would be higher in no-fee schools (serving children from low-income families) than in fee-paying schools. VIJAY REDDY, Distinguished Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research Council Now we can update how much contact teaching time was lost in 2020 and make an “informed speculation” on the amount of learning loss based on changes in test scores between 2019 and 2020. Globally, the literature on…

May

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Kids with a desk and a quiet place to study do better in school, data shows

EDUCATION

ASK what students need to learn at home, and the answer often involves access to Wi-Fi or a digital device. For example, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 sets aside US$7.1 billion to support access to high-speed internet for schools and libraries. DAVID RUTKOWSKI, Associate Professor of Education Policy, Indiana University DIRK HASTEDT, Executive Director IEA, Indiana University What often gets overlooked is whether kids have a desk at home or a quiet place to study. As researchers who focus on education policy and how students perform on standardized tests, we decided to take a closer look – on…

May

07

2021

By The African Mirror

How the pandemic is hurting university students’ mental health

EDUCATION

EMMANUEL OJO, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand ANNIE BURGER, PhD student, Stellenbosch University ANTHONY J ONWUEGBUZIE, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge BRYAN JASON BERGSTEEDT, Lecturer (Clinical Anatomy), Stellenbosch University SAMANTHA ADAMS, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Psychology, Stellenbosch University TALITHA CROWLEY, Senior lecturer at the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Stellenbosch University INSTITUTIONS of higher education worldwide are undergoing unprecedented change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and colleges have been forced to switch to online teaching and learning. Many were unprepared for this move to what is termed emergency remote teaching and learning. It is now just more…

May

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Teachify: A gap in SA education system identified

EDUCATION

THROUGHOUT the years, young people have been taught that the most effective way to become successful in life is to get formal education which will hopefully give them a chance at being employed. However, as times are changing, excessive high unemployment rates are making it difficult for new entrants to be absorbed by the job market. Furthermore, traditional approaches to education mean that when students leave the schooling system, they are not well suited to what the job market requires. To make things worse, the education system has never put an emphasis on preparing students to be confident enough to…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Education and inequality in 2021: how to change the system

EDUCATION

SINCE its earliest traces, at least 5,000 years ago, formal education – meaning an education centred on literacy and numeracy – has always been highly selective. Ancient Egyptian priest schools and schools for scribes in Sumeria were only open to the children of the clergy or future monarchs. CONRAD HUGHES, Research Associate at the University of Geneva's department of Education and Psychology; Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva's La Grande Boissière, Université de Genève Later on, the wealthy would use private tutors, such as the Sophists of Athens (500 - 400 BCE). Ancient Greek schools, such…

Apr

23

2021

By The African Mirror

From the ashes, library vows to rebuild unrivaled Africa collection

EDUCATION

KIM HARRISBERG CAPE TOWN is reeling after one of its worst fires in recent history tore through the University of Cape Town campus, forcing 4,000 students to evacuate as it consumed precious items from the library's rare African Studies collection. Tens of thousands of books, manuscripts, films and government publications from across Africa were on Sunday turned to ash in the Jagger Library; many more emerged water damaged. The library housed one of the world's biggest collections of African history books and unique African films, including early editions of the first Black-owned newspaper in South Africa. Ujala Satgoor, executive director…

Jun

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Education cannot wait investments transform children’s lives in Somalia

EDUCATION

ABDALLE AHMED MUMIN TEN-YEAR-OLD Sabah Abdi from Ali Isse, a small rural village on the Somaliland-Ethiopian border, scored well in her recent exams, placing third overall in her local village school of 400 students. Yet it was just three years ago Sabah spent her days helping with household chores and herding goats, rather than studying because her pastoralist family could not afford her school fees. “I’m very glad to be among the top three students in the village school. I am hoping to be a doctor and cure sick people in the village when I grow up,” Sabah told IPS. Droughts,…

May

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Boosting connectivity in African universities: a lofty ideal, but doable

EDUCATION

CONNECTING African universities to high-speed internet can help drive the development of digital skills and capabilities. This would also benefit secondary schools and technical and vocational colleges. WILLIE TAFADZWA CHINYAMURINDI, Professor, University of Fort Hare A strong argument has been made, that improving connectivity should be viewed as a priority infrastructure investment. The World Bank published a report last year pointing out the drawbacks of poor connectivity. It noted that the lack of affordable and high-speed broadband for African universities was the main barrier to the use of technology in education and research. And it prevented African faculty and students…