The death of 15-year-old Limpopo schoolgirl Lufuno Mavhunga on 12 April 2o21 after she was apparently bullied at school has sent shockwaves through the education landscape. The slender Grade 10 pupil allegedly took her own life. This is every parent’s worst nightmare.
Bullying is not unique to South Africa. Recently, France was shaken by the murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl whose body was found in a river. She had allegedly also been the victim of bullying at school. A few phone calls to school principals confirmed my suspicion that it is increasing, especially among girls.
What is also upsetting is that other pupils recorded the Limpopo incident on their cellphones and spread it on social media without even thinking of rushing to help her. This raises questions about the moral compass of our children and what schools can (or should) do about these forms of behaviour.
Full-time school attendance for primary school pupils is not wise, says expert
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I was the circuit manager for Stellenbosch when a new building was constructed for Kayamandi High School. After principal Maphelo Ntshanga and his pupils had moved, hundreds of pupils were temporarily accommodated in the old building. And thus, Makupula High School was born. Charles Ndlebe, then deputy head of Kayamandi, was appointed as principal.
Today it is a school of excellence with subjects such as accounting, computer studies, economics and tourism. Despite the pandemic, Makupula achieved a pass rate of 94% in 2020 – a repetition of its 2019 results. Devoted teachers, motivated pupils, supportive parents and a dynamic head have shown that it is not the building but what happens
My matric year in 1976 was not easy. Due to the youth uprising, we were out of school for a long time. There were no online facilities. However, after numerous extra classes over weekends and in the evenings, and thanks to matric exemption, I could realise my dream to qualify as a teacher at the University of the Working Class (UWC). Here I would reach political maturity and get involved with the student protest against apartheid. As one of six children of parents from the working class, my studies would not have been possible without a government bursary.
It is 40 years later. It is said that history repeats itself every 40 years. True or not, last week I had to teach my students (via online classes) that the world is a set of related systems in which problems cannot be solved in isolation. In good times, governments embrace a bureaucratic management style, just as in 2017 when Jacob Zuma, without consultation, announced free higher education. In bad times we discover the value of
5.1% drop in matric pass rate far less than experts expected
By Zodidi Dano
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THE Class of 2020 and their teachers need to be congratulated on the outstanding performance of the 76.2% pass rate they have achieved.
This is according to education experts who said that under the circumstances brought about by the pandemic the 5.1% drop was far less than what was expected.
University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Professor Labby Ramrathan said: “I am a bit surprised that it fell by just over 5%, taking into consideration the extent to which learners had to do self-learning, the opportunities to study in overcrowded homes, lack of adequate access to learning infrastructure and lesser number of school days.”
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