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Nov
04
2023
By The African Mirror
South Africa’s literacy crisis: our app could help young readers by using home language and English

South Africa’s literacy crisis: our app could help young readers by using home language and English

EDUCATION
LAURETTE MARAIS, Senior Researcher, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research LAURETTE PRETORIUS, Professor Extraordinarius, Stellenbosch University LITERACY changes lives: in Unesco’s words, it “empowers and liberates people, … reduces poverty, increases participation in the labour market and has positive effects on health and sustainable development”. But in South Africa, 8 out of 10 children cannot read for meaning by the end of their third school year. During the first three years of their education, South African children receive schooling in one of the 11 written official languages. Generally, this means being taught in their home language. Then, at the beginning…
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Oct
26
2023
By The African Mirror
HIV-positive parents in Zimbabwe struggle to manage their children’s education – study shows how

HIV-positive parents in Zimbabwe struggle to manage their children’s education – study shows how

HEALTH
OVER the past three decades, researchers have explored various aspects of the impact of the HIV pandemic. One focus area has been children who have lost their parents to AIDS. Less attention has been given to children who are raised by parents living with HIV. This group has become much bigger as more people have access to antiretroviral therapy and are therefore expected to raise their children. TATENDA ZINYEMBA, Researcher of Economics, Health, and Governance, United Nations University Our research in Zimbabwe looked at the effects the HIV status of parents had on their children’s education. In Zimbabwe, the current…
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Oct
22
2023
By MISHECK KHUMBILO NYIRONGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Innovative radio programming transforms agriculture, enables education and offers a lifeline in eastern Zambia

Innovative radio programming transforms agriculture, enables education and offers a lifeline in eastern Zambia

NEWS
FOR Bauti Chipeta, working the land among the rolling hills and lush fields of the Lundazi District in the heart of eastern Zambia, life had begun to feel like an endless struggle. With fertilisers increasingly expensive and the land more and more denuded, cash crops brought in less and less each year and the cutting down of local forests had led to erratic rainfall. Then Chipeta discovered a local community radio station, Chikaya. “I started listening to community radio in 2018 when they also introduced us to permaculture and agroecology approaches on how to grow local seeds,” Chipeta recalled. The…
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Oct
06
2023
By AMY WEST, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Writing In The Sand: This young woman’s early memories of her grandmother kept her dreams of an education alive

Writing In The Sand: This young woman’s early memories of her grandmother kept her dreams of an education alive

LITERATURE
WHEN Tholoana was four, her grandmother taught her to write her name using a stick to carve out the letters in the sand outside her home, a one-bedroom brick house in a small, peri-urban area outside of Maseru, Lesotho. “She didn’t have much of an education, but she taught me letters by the shapes they formed: downward wash basins, chairs, standing tree, and eggs. This is how my name took form,” said Tholoana, recalling those early years, and speaking now at the Cape University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town. “I come from the dusty ground, like a true warrior,”…
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Oct
05
2023
By The African Mirror
History teaching in South Africa could be vastly improved – if language skills were added to the mix

History teaching in South Africa could be vastly improved – if language skills were added to the mix

EDUCATION
IN recent years there’s been growing recognition among education experts that integrating content and language learning is key to promoting comprehensive academic achievement. This is particularly relevant in multilingual education systems where English serves as the primary medium of instruction. NHLANHLA MPOFU, Chair- Curriculum Studies, Stellenbosch University So, in 2013, South Africa’s Department of Basic Education, which is responsible for primary and secondary education, set out to enhance academic performance through a strategy called English Across the Curriculum. This approach involves integrating language skills in content subjects such as history. Language skills include listening and speaking; reading and viewing; writing…
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Jun
15
2023
By The African Mirror
Kenya’s budget doesn’t allocate funds for new education initiatives – this will stall innovation in the country

Kenya’s budget doesn’t allocate funds for new education initiatives – this will stall innovation in the country

EDUCATION
PRESIDENT William Ruto’s first budget for Kenya sets no education priorities. The Finance Bill 2023 doesn’t make it clear what Kenya is trying to achieve – stronger foundational learning, technical and vocational skills, or innovation. Author MOSES NGWARE, Senior Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center This is despite the importance placed on deepening technical capacity to drive economic growth, and education reforms spelt out in the official policy. This also comes against the backdrop of a political campaign promise to “bridge current teacher shortage gap of 116,000 within two financial years”. The allocation to education in the 2023/24…
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Mar
11
2023
By The African Mirror
Teachers change lives – but what makes a great teacher?

Teachers change lives – but what makes a great teacher?

EDUCATION
EXCELLENT teachers can change our lives. Researchers have shown that good teachers encourage us to think critically, reflect and learn across disciplines. These are all skills that can set us up for life. Author ZAYD WAGHID, Associate professor, Cape Peninsula University of Technology I have had the privilege of being taught by a few brilliant teachers in my life, and I have also observed teaching excellence at the numerous schools I have visited over the years as an education academic. Those who stand out are devoted, imaginative, motivated and motivating, and eager to overcome challenging conditions to make a positive…
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Feb
16
2023
By The African Mirror
Tanzania has ditched school rankings. It should replace them with something more useful

Tanzania has ditched school rankings. It should replace them with something more useful

EDUCATION
WHILE announcing the results of the 2022 Certificate of Secondary School Examination, Tanzania’s National Examination Council did not provide school rankings for the first time in decades. School rankings have been announced for national primary and secondary school exams every year since the early 1990s. The rankings have become the main national talking point and students and parents often use them to determine school choices. Author SIMON NGALOMBA, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, SARChI in Higher Education and Human Development Research Group, University of the Free State Explaining the decision, education minister Professor Adolf Mkenda said the examination council had decided in…
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Jan
21
2023
By The African Mirror
Kenya’s school reform is entering a new phase in 2023 – but the country isn’t ready

Kenya’s school reform is entering a new phase in 2023 – but the country isn’t ready

EDUCATION
THE start of the 2023 school year in Kenya marks an important occasion: the first cohort of pupils to adopt a new curriculum in 2017 are entering junior secondary school. The competence-based curriculum, as it is known, was launched in 2017 to replace the 8-4-4 system that had been in place for 32 years. The older system was criticised for its emphasis on teachers instructing students and on examinations. An evaluation in 1998, 13 years after it was introduced, detailed numerous shortcomings. These include subjecting students to a heavy workload. Author JANEROSE MUTEGI KIBAARA, Lecturer of Education Management and Policy,…
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Jan
10
2023
By The African Mirror
6 priorities to get Kenya’s curriculum back on track – or risk excluding many children from education

6 priorities to get Kenya’s curriculum back on track – or risk excluding many children from education

EDUCATION
KENYA’S education curriculum was reformed in 2017 to improve its quality – but now many Kenyans are calling for change again. Public disillusionment with the competency-based curriculum has forced a government review. Frustrations with the curriculum centre around the complexity of learning activities and its sustainability given the high costs involved in its delivery. Authors ELISHEBA KIRU, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center BRENDA WAWIRE, Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center The previous 8-4-4 curriculum, launched in 1985, required eight years of primary schooling and four years each of secondary and tertiary education. Critics…
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