Education

“Sometimes I only manage to make R10 a day just to put bread on the table, - 17-year-old boy

When you’re 14 years old, your parents normally take care of you. But Sivuyile Sibhozo from Site C Taiwan Informal Settlement in Khayelitsha has been taking care of his brother and grandmother for the past three years.

Nombulelo Damba

Feature | 23 April 2015

UCT and transformation part three: the debate over what is taught

What should and what should not be taught at our universities? The demands of the Rhodes Must Fall students include calls for major changes to the content of courses at UCT. In the third article in our series we report on some of the debates over what students are taught.

GroundUp Staff

Feature | 23 April 2015

UCT and transformation part two: the students

Is the University of Cape Town (UCT) transforming? In this, the second article in our series, we look at how the student body is changing.

GroundUp Staff

Feature | 16 April 2015

UCT and transformation: Part one

Is the University of Cape Town (UCT) transforming? What does transformation mean? In a series of articles GroundUp provides the key facts and arguments on the main points of contention facing South Africa’s oldest tertiary institution.

GroundUp Staff

Feature | 9 April 2015

Long wait for Motsepe money

Khayelitsha residents who applied for funds from the Khayelitsha Motsepe Foundation in 2013 might have to wait months for the money, says the head of the Motsepe Foundation in the Western Cape, Steve Mashalane.

Nombulelo Damba

Feature | 8 April 2015

Countrywide protests by education activists over delayed government plans

Excitement and frustration were evident outside Parliament when students and Equal Education (EE) members slept overnight on the pavement in protest at the delayed release of the provincial implementation plans for Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 2 April 2015

The daily failures of a typical South African school

“You breathe in oxygen through your left lung and breathe out carbon dioxide through your right lung.” That’s what a life-science teacher taught her class at a Cape Town school where I worked for several weeks last year as part of my teacher training.

A teacher

Opinion | 1 April 2015

Rhodes and the politics of pain

A statue that appears to commemorate racism and imperialism occupies a uniquely privileged position on the university campus, causing evident pain to some students, professors and staff.

Jeremy Seekings and Nicoli Nattrass

Opinion | 31 March 2015

Madala goes back to school

A Gugulethu man is a living testimony to the old adage “you are never too old to learn”. At the age of 63 he is back at school to finish his matric after a 46 year absence.

Michael Nkalane

News | 27 March 2015

Fate of Ottery school for child offenders uncertain

Michael Jackson impersonations, singing, rapping and gumboot dancing were on display Friday morning when boys from the Ottery Youth and Education Centre celebrated for Human Rights Day. The centre's hall was filled with students, one after another performing a song, a dance piece or reading a passage to describe what Human Rights Day meant to them.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 23 March 2015

This campaign will change the way our schools are run

This year, Equal Education is running a campaign on School Governing Board (SGB) Elections in South African public schools. Functional, inclusive SGBs are a key component of fixing schools, writes Raphael Chaskalson.

Raphael Chaskalson

Opinion | 19 March 2015

No help for girl disabled by public toilet

Chumisa Fudumele was seven years old when a toilet fell on her, leaving her disabled. A year later, her parents are struggling to get her back into a school.

Zintle Swana

News | 12 March 2015

Khayelitsha students sent home for not paying voluntary fee

Dozens of Grade 12 students were sent home on Tuesday from Qhayiya Secondary School in Khayelitsha because they were unable to pay a “voluntary fee” to the school.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 11 March 2015

Philippi students speak out about police showdown

On 6 March there was a violent stand-off between students from Philippi High School and the police in the Cape Town CBD. GroundUp reported this. Here is a statement issued by the students on the events of that day.

Philippi High School Students

Opinion | 11 March 2015

Double-shift for Cape Town primary school causes tension

The parents of Mfuleni “tent school” students say that they are still unhappy with the arrangements made to accommodate their children. Now, community leaders are threatening to “evict” Bardale Primary School’s principal, if more classroom space is not made available.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 11 March 2015

Sanitary pads: no sign that Zuma’s promise has been kept

Four years after President Jacob Zuma promised sanitary towels for poor women, there is no sign that his promise has been kept.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Brief | 10 March 2015