Education plays a key role in the development of any society. Responding to the need for empirical evidence on the demand for and supply of public educators in South Africa, the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council-led consortium to conduct nation-wide research on the factors determining educator supply and demand in South African public education system. Growth demand for educators depends on learner enrolments and the learner-educator ratio, while replacement demand for educators depends on employment trends, demographics and attrition (including morbidity and morality). Educator supply depends on a number of factors, such as education graduates, morbidity and morality, and educators returning after a break from the profession
Growth demand for educators depends on learner enrolments and the learner-educator ratio, while replacement demand for educators depends on employment trends, demographics and attrition (including morbidity and morality). 'Educator Supply and Demand in the South African Public Education System: Integrated Report' depends on a number of factors, such as education graduates, morbidity and morality, and educators returning after a break from the profession.
This report is an integration of the seven reports which emerged from the research, and pulls together the findings arising from it. What emerges is that the resignation, death and ageing of the present educator force are likely to have a significant effect on replacement demand for educators over the next four years.
Driven by centralised state processes, externally mandated and regulated, the restructuring of teacher education curriculum and institutions in South Africa has radically changed the teacher education landscape. How universities mediate, contest and resist the resulting pressures has differed, according to their historical legacy, their specific trajectories of restructuring, and their leadership dynamics. This monograph traces the micro-level responses of teacher educators at five universities experiencing the impact of the restructuring processes with varying degrees of intensity, and selected as representative of the system as a whole.
The analysis reveals distinct patterns of recurriculation, ranging from bureaucratic compliance to creating academic coherence between contrasting legacies. What becomes clear is the need for teacher education academics to grasp the challenges and opportunities to assert their power over shaping curriculum processes that will produce competent, confident teachers.
"ICT-in-Education Toolkit provides education policy makers, planners and practitioners with a systematic process to formulate, plan and evaluate education development programs enhanced by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)."
Facilitating Online is a course intended for training educators as online facilitators of fully online and mixed mode courses. The Centre for Educational Technology (CET) produced a Course Leader's Guide as an Open Educational Resource to assist educators and trainers who wish to implement a course on online facilitation within their institution or across several institutions. The guide contains the course model, week-by-week learning activities, general guidance to the course leader on how to implement and customise the course and specific guidelines on each learning activity.
CORE Education is a not for profit educational research, development and implementation organisation in New Zealand. CORE aims to provide educators with the quality professional learning opportunity in an online context. Centre4 acts as the portal to this e-learning world and you are welcome to explore it in the areas that interest you. While many communities are open to the wider public, some areas have restricted access for project participants. Their purposes are indicated below.
You will also find a wide range of online conferences and seminars which are both current and archived. We welcome you to participate with us in extending the effective use of learning communities across the wider educational community.
"The Committee commenced its public hearings into the challenges in access to and delivery of quality education in South Africa. This would lead to a report being tabled by the Committee to assist the Department in its planning around education issues. "
This Green Paper, launched by the South African Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande in January 2012, identifies the key challenges facing South African higher education and sets out a path for overcoming these obstacles.
"South Africa is significantly underperforming in education, particularly mathematics teaching and learning. Fundamental reforms are needed in the public sector. Business leaders need to incorporate an understanding of private education and other market experiments and schooling innovations in their overall perspective and priorities for intervention and reform.
Read more in a new CDE Insight, MATHEMATICS OUTCOMES IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS: What are the facts? What should be done? "
From 2009 every Grade 9 pupil will be writing a national certificate whether they are leaving school or not.
This was one of five major policy changes announced by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor on Monday. Other changes include proposals to:
Lower teacher pupil ratios;
Rearrange districts into smaller more manageable areas;
Get Internet into every school in the country by 2013; and,
Expand Further Education and Training Colleges
The module Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Diverse Classrooms is intended as a guide to teaching mathematics for in-service teachers in primary schools. It is informed by the inclusive education policy (Education White Paper 6 Special Needs Education, 2001) and supports teachers in dealing with the diversity of learners in South African classrooms.
Our vision is to mobilise business, government and civil society to work collaboratively towards meeting the educational challenges facing South Africa. The S@CC initiative speaks to the idea that enhancing the quality of education, improving the school environment and encouraging engagement between parents and teachers are meaningful and attainable goals that would provide an upward spiral of real change in society.
S@CC is committed to realising the Third Dinokeng Scenario: Walking Together. This scenario envisions a future for South Africa marked by collaboration, engagement and active citizenship, in which multiple sectors work together in support of a better South Africa.
The Department of Basic Education has pleasure in releasing the series called Mind the Gap study guides for Grade 12 learners. The first subjects in the series include Life Sciences, Accounting, Economics and Geography. These study guides are another innovative and committed attempt by the Department of Basic Education to improve the academic performance of Grade 12 candidates in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination.
The Mind the Gap study guide series is produced in both English and Afrikaans to assist those learners that have been underperforming due to a lack of exposure to the content requirements of the curriculum. The series aims to mind-the-gap between failing and passing, by bridging-the-gap in
learners' understanding of commonly tested concepts so candidates can pass.
Each of the Mind the Gap study guides provides explanations of key terminology, simple explanations and examples of the types of questions that learners can expect to be asked in an exam. Model answers are included to assist learners in building their understanding. Learners are also referred to specific questions in past national exam papers and exam memos that are available on the Department's website.
"The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days. The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives.
There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterwards. Links to watch the sessions will be posted a few days before the conference begins, in the "Sessions" and "Schedule" pages, and recording links will be listed soon thereafter. "
"The OpenEducationDisc focuses solely on meeting educational needs of students of all ages. Software has been chosen to address specific IT needs across a wide range of subject areas. The contents of the disc therefore differ from the OpenDisc and are listed"
Two senior educationists were invited to share candidly what they felt was the state of education in South Africa and, if wanting, where solutions lay. The seminar was held at the head office of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The forum was
"Our current technological trajectory promises unfathomable, roller-coaster innovation with no braking system. While the ride is exciting, it moves so quickly that we typically don't have time to think about the possible unintended consequences that might accompany it. The result is that we find ourselves unable to effectively respond to hot-button issues like cyberbullying and sexting because they seem to come out of nowhere."
Developing and using quality learning resources in an Open Educational Resources environment: The aim of SAIDE ACEMaths project was to pilot a collaborative process for the selection, adaptation and use of OER materials for teacher education programmes in South Africa.