Education

40 years on – still no quality public education!

21st June 2016 Mzi Velapi 0

1976 marks the year when students in Soweto and throughout the country stood up against the apartheid regime and fought for quality education.
2016: fast-forward 40 years, the dream of public quality education has not been realized after 22 years of democracy. Elitsha has been consistently covering stories about the lack of quality public education. From Ikhwezi Lesizwe Primary school in Khayelitsha to Gordon Primary school in Alexandra township in Johannesburg to Chubekile Senior Secondary School in Kwa-Zakhele in Port Elizabeth.

UCT Shackville protesters effectively expelled

25th May 2016 GroundUp 0

An interdict against a number of University of Cape Town (UCT) students was made an order of court. As a result, five students find themselves effectively expelled.
The five (of the original 16 named respondents) are not allowed on campus for an indefinite period of time except with express written consent of the vice-chancellor. They are: Alex Hotz, Masixole Mlandu, Chumani Maxwele, Slovo Magida and Zola Shokane. They will also have to pay UCT’s costs including the costs of two counsel.

Learner by day parent at night

8th December 2015 Dibuseng Phaloane 0

The Department of Basic Education has reported that there were 20,000 learner pregnancies in 2014. The highest number of pregnancies was in Gauteng with over 5,000 and the Eastern Cape at over 3,000. According to the list of schools with high pregnancy rates, Jabulile Secondary in Orange Farm had 32 learners, Botebo-Tsebo in Sebokeng (Unit 14) 48 learners and Esokwazi in Unit 8 in Sebokeng had 51 cases of pregnancy.

Statement of the parents of UWC and CPUT

8th December 2015 Elitsha reporters 0

We are parents of students at the University of the Western Cape and CPUT. We are in support of the Fees Must Fall campaign. We know our children. They are not violent nor hooligans. We strenuously reject, the crude propaganda of University management to cast them in this light. This is nothing short of attempting to criminalise the student struggle so as to avoid negotiating with their legitimate demands and grievances.

#FeesMustFall feature

8th December 2015 Mzi Velapi 0

In October 2015, we saw one of the biggest student protests in post apartheid Africa. Students from tertiary institutions protesting against fee increments and called for “free quality Afrocentric socialist education.” Outsourced workers at the instutions joined the protest action calling for insourcing. So much has been written on the campaign and what lessons that can be learnt from it.
The protest was a response to proposed fee hikes by the institutions.

Student-worker alliance forces universities to insource

8th December 2015 Mzi Velapi 0

Service workers at South Africa’s universities were outsourced since the late 1990’s after the ANC government adopted its GEAR economic policy. This meant that cleaners, security, transport and catering workers were no longer directly employed by univerities. They were now employed by outsourced companies, losing most of their benefits and earning less than half their wages.

Victory for poor students and workers at NMMU

8th December 2015 Joseph Chirume 0

After weeks of protests and putting pressure on university management, students from poor families and workers at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University were victorious. The university council released a statement saying that they have resolved to commit the university to ending outsourcing of service workers. The council also pledged debt relief for students.

#WitsFeesMustFall

8th December 2015 Nicolas Dieltiens 0

The student strike at Wits University gained momentum when the vice chancellor and his executive deadlocked in negotiations with maybe 2,000 students in the occupied Senate House (renamed Solomon Mahlangu House) over a fee hike of 10.5% for next year.

Student-nurses at Dora Nginza go on strike

15th October 2015 Joseph Chirume 0

Trainee nurses at Port Elizabeth’s Lilitha campus spent three weeks locked out of the college protesting against a new protocol that required them to wear their uniforms when attending lectures.
The nurses, who are based at Lilitha’s sub-campus at Dora Nginza hospital, felt that the college was overstepping its mandate as this was not part of the agreement they had signed when they enrolled for their nursing programme.