Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Basic Education calls for submissions

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education is shifting its focus towards the delivery of, and challenges facing, quality education in South Africa.

This after the Committee noted areas of concern, particularly with regard to equal access to quality education by all categories of learners and questionable levels of learning outcomes.

The Committee is now calling for written submissions on aspects affecting quality outcomes in primary and high schools. Those aspects include the following:

• curriculum content
• teacher development
• class size
• managerial capacity at schools
  
• orientating schools towards specialisation
• values in education.

Submissions are also invited on the issue of access to education. This pertains to such issues as geographic location of schools and infrastructure; language barriers; homeless children/orphans; children in trouble with the law and education in prisons and inclusive education.

Through these submissions, the Committee aims to obtain first-hand information on the pressure points and to find mutual solutions that would make positive contribution towards improving areas of concern within the basic education system.

All stakeholders and teachers in particular are urged to contribute and send their submissions by 28 February 2010.

Submissions should be emailed to Committee Secretary: Mr Llewellyn Brown, Committee Secretary at lbrown@parliament.gov.za by no later than 28 February 2010

Enquiries tel Mr Llewellyn Brown: (021) 403 3764, cell 083 709 8450

Via PMG

Learn the News - Africa's first children's newspaper

From bizcommunity.com

South African schoolchildren are reading hot-off-the-press world news in a newspaper, written for them in simple language they can understand. Learn the News is Africa's first free newspaper for children. Created by Johannesburg journalist Duncan Guy, the newspaper is produced by the South African Press Association (Sapa) a non-governmental news agency. It is funded by the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, a funding organisation founded by renowned currency speculator and philanthropist George Soros. To receive the paper schools have to register as subscribers to the Learn the News website for free. The newspaper is distributed via email free on Tuesdays and Thursdays during school terms. The teachers print out the publication on A4 or A3 paper and put it up in the libraries or information centres where the children can access it. Schools are encouraged to print extra copies and send them to neighbouring schools that do not have access to the internet. Currently more than 250 schools in the country have subscribed to the website.
Rest of the story is here.

Blog Revival!

The Western Cape Education Librarians Interest Group is up and running ... as we hope this blog soon will be. The group had its first meeting on 11 November 2009, at the University of Stellenbosch. Members of the group are Education librarians from Cape Peninsula University of Technology Library, University of Stellenbosch Library, University of the Western Cape Library and the University of Cape Town Libraries.

Google Newsletter for Teachers

The latest Google Newsletter for Librarians alerts readers to a new Google resource -- a newsletter for teachers. They ask librarians to spread the news.....

National Health Promoting Schools Conference

National Health Promoting Schools Conference 2006 to be held on 14 - 16 September 2006 at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. http://healthpromotingschools.co.za/conference/

Robert Stueart's visit

Thanks, Ingrid, for setting up the blog. Have you heard about Robert Stueart's visit to Cape Town? Either 7 or 8 August.
Regards
Benita

Welcome

A group of Education Librarians present at the Western Cape Higher Education Libraries Interest Group colloquium have decided to set up this blog to be able to easily communicate with each other, to flag issues, alert each other to resources and other useful pieces of information, so that we are able to provide a better service to the members of our various communities.

Education Librarians in the Western Cape used to meet regularly in the dim past, but this fell by the wayside, so this blog is a means of re-convening that group so we can pass information on electronically.