Nelson Mandela’s words continue to inspire and guide us, reminding us of the power of unity, forgiveness, and the pursuit of justice. If you happened to be putting together a short list of leaders who have had the greatest impact on the world, then Nelson Mandela would surely be at or near the top. As […]

More than 80% of South Africa’s grade 4 pupils – who are on average nine or 10 years old – cannot read for meaning. That means they can’t answer basic questions about or draw inferences from a text they’re reading. This worrying statistic emerged from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which […]

South Africa has made remarkable contributions to the world of science and innovation. From groundbreaking medical advancements to everyday household inventions, South African inventors have left their mark on the global stage. Here are seven South African scientific inventions that you probably didn’t know about. CAT SCAN In 1972, physicists Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield […]

More than 200 schoolchildren in Limpopo have been trained to capture precious data about water quality from boreholes and rivers near their schools in a project linked to the United Nations and run by the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Citizen scientists trained through a University of the Western Cape project are helping to […]

Sign language is on its way to becoming the 12th official language in South Africa after parliament recently agreed to amend the constitution to this end. The move will bring to fruition three decades of a struggle to empower the country’s deaf community. An official language has legal status in a state and serves as […]

In Parliament on Tuesday, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) blamed poor literacy rates and the failure of its National Reading Plan (implemented in 2019) on the Covid pandemic. Briefing Parliament on Tuesday, the Department of Basic Education blamed poor literacy rates on the Covid pandemic. Last week the Progress on International Reading Literacy Study […]

Natural landscapes are continually transformed to make room for agricultural and urban developments – often at the expense of important habitats and species. That’s why, to avoid unnecessary species extinctions, it’s crucial to know which habitats to protect. In a recent paper we studied how changes to the landscape affected butterflies in a grassland area […]

Joseph Saunders from Wentworth was one of 72 South Durban residents to be capped at the most recent Engen Community Computer School graduation ceremony held in early May. The school has been transforming lives in South Durban for 14 years by offering unemployed residents free introductory-level computer skills training. To date, the school has capped […]

South Africans can take several measures to minimize the amount of spam calls and unsolicited marketing they are regularly bombarded with. ALSO READ: WhatsApp adds cool new feature: Chat Lock SPAM CALLS IN SOUTH AFRICA In 2021, Truecaller’s Global Spam & Scam Report found that South Africa had the 9th-highest rate of spam calls in the world. […]

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has taken public participation to another level by publishing a children’s book aimed at encouraging children interest in local government children’s book. ALSO READ: What are the Characteristics of Werewolf Books？ The book titled: My Local Government, was recently launched at the sixth Annual SALGA National Communicators’ Forum in […]

Kunyashe is a Grade 1 pupil in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s very focused on her schoolwork. She shares a tiny one-roomed shack, hardly bigger than a double bed, with her mother and four siblings. Kunyashe receives a meal at school – her teacher once saw the little girl spooning some of this meal into […]

The Chairperson of the University of Cape Town’s council, Babalwa Ngyonyama has resigned, with immediate effect. This follows a recommendation from a high-powered panel, established to investigate governance at UCT, in an interim report, that she be immediately removed. The panel consists of Judge Lex Mpati (chair), Judge Azhar Cachalia, Dr Bernadette Johnson and Dr […]

Reading literacy has raised concern among education stakeholders in the country. Kunyashe is a Grade 1 pupil in Cape Town, South Africa. Reading literacy has raised concern among education stakeholders in the country. Kunyashe is a Grade 1 pupil in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s very focused on her schoolwork. She shares a tiny one-roomed […]

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) students are living in uncertainty about their future following an eviction order. STUDENTS EVICTED FROM CAMPUS After tumultuous protesters damaged buildings and vehicles, the school forced students to leave campus. However, some don’t think this is a good alternative, while others worry about their academic future. The institution sponsored 52 buses […]

Rock deposits in a cave system inhabited by early human ancestors in South Africa may be almost 2 million years younger than previously thought, a new study has found, which may cast doubt over whether humankind may have originated in the country. NEW READ | [WATCH] – Huge wave hits a boat According to Bloomberg, the study, which used sediment analysis, […]

According to the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021), a staggering 81 percent of the country’s grade 4’s lack the ability to read for meaning in any of the official languages. 12 426 grade 4’s were tested and compared to other learners in 42 different countries. South Africa did not fair very […]

Talking to your baby or toddler shapes the structure of their brain, my colleagues and I have discovered. For the study, which is published in The Journal of Neuroscience, we enrolled 163 children at either six months of age or 30 months of age. The children wore a small audio recorder in a specially made vest […]

An international literacy study has confirmed that 81% of South Africa’s grade 4 children could not read for meaning in any language in 2021, almost exactly the same proportion as in 2011. This means that a decade of slow progress in reading has been wiped out. 81% of grade 4 children in South African could […]

Most philosophers of education or philosophically inclined scholars of education in the past century and a half would agree with the claim that, ideally, education should be the practice of freedom. That is, it ought to cultivate the ability to intelligently decide how we want to shape our lives. The aim of education should be […]

While South Africa faces a deepening literacy crisis, teachers in Makhanda are battling in overcrowded classrooms. They need more teachers. They need more funds. Learners need one-on-one support. Last week Viewfinder and GroundUp revealed that the Department of Basic Education has failed to implement its National Reading Plan. The country’s literacy crisis is acute: the vast majority […]

The University of Cape Town (UCT) remains the top university in South Africa, according to the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR). ALSO READ | Dis-Chem co-founder Ivan Saltzman to step down as CEO UCT climbed three spots in the 2023 global rankings to 267th. The University of Witwatersrand was the second-best-placed university in the country and climbed two spots to […]

Pangolins are animals that you may not be able to picture in your mind’s eye – here’s a brief overview. Pangolins look very similar to the American armadillo but with scales covering all of their body except their face. But here’s the kicker, these animals are being poached by the ton-load from their habitats in […]

The DA demands an audit of all the National School Nutrition Programmes after thousands of kids were left hungry in KZN and EC schools. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to institute an audit of all the National School Nutrition Programmes (NSNP) in all the provinces. READ […]

Six years since a contractor was paid to build prefab classrooms, learners at Kulo-Mbombo Primary School in Qombolo, Eastern Cape, are still being taught in crumbling mud buildings. Broken windows and collapsing walls have primary school children shivering through classes. There are no answers from the Eastern Cape Department of Education, despite appointing a contractor […]

A “massive reading campaign” for South African schools announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019 has never got off the ground, despite triumphant claims in Parliament by the Department of Basic Education (DBE). Viewfinder and GroundUp can reveal that the Department’s National Reading Plan – which it had not made publicly available – is a […]