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.