Metcalfe Report on Verification of Textbook Deliveries in Limpopo, released

The investigation team, led by former higher education director general Mary Metcalfe, aimed at verifying how many textbooks Limpopo schools have received, were unable to make an accurate assessment of how many books have reached schools as yet.

The team measured deliveries at 10% of the province’s 4 000 schools under the watchful eye of unions, the Congress of South African Students, school governing body associations and the South African Principals’ Association.

Although the team could not complete a full audit of deliveries it did present some “very concerning” findings.

The team found that as of July 3 “only 48% of the books had been delivered to the schools, with 52% of the books still sitting in the district warehouse”, despite claims by the government Department of Basic Education, at a joint briefing with Section 27 on June 28, that approximately 98% of textbooks had been delivered to schools.

To read more go to Victoria John’s article in the Mail & Guardian by Clicking Here!

To download the Metcalfe Report Click Here!

South Africa loses increasing numbers of teachers via emigration

In a recent presentation titled “South African teacher migration: an issue of political debate“, Rian de Villiers from the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria indicated that South Africa loses approximately 4000 teachers each year to emigration. This means that new teachers will have to be aggresively recruited and produced to curb the decline in numbers of teachers.

De Villiers showed that teachers loss in South Africa was due to attrition, career change and massive recruitment by foreign countries.

Factors which seem to be pushing teachers out of SA were:

• Career dissatisfaction
• Low salaries
• Unemployment

Factors attracting teachers to other countries include:

• Higher salaries
• Professional development
• Travel opportunities
• Friends and family overseas
• Recruitment agency persuasion.

Possible solutions given by De Villiers include:

• Recruiting retired and unemployed subject experts
• Having a compulsory one-year internship after graduation
• Making more bursary schemes available for prospective student teachers
• Monitoring teacher recruitment agencies closely
• Introducing international relocation grants
• Eliminating negative perceptions about the teaching profession
• Improving teachers’ work conditions

To read more:

Go to Michelle Jones’ article in the Star Newspaper by Clicking Here!   

Go to Michelle Jones and Leanne Jansen’s article in The Mercury by Clicking Here! 

To access Rian De Villiers’ presentation Click Here!

SARUA brings out a new report on Higher Education in the SADC region

The Southern African Regional Universities Association(SARUA) recently brought out a report on Higher Education in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The report is titled Building Higher education Scenarios 2025: a strategic agenda for development in SADC.

To download the report Click Here!