South Africa: The need for a radical restructuring of specialized education in the new South Africa

Sigamoney Naicker, a lecturer in Specialized Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Western Cape, provides an analysis of specialized education after one year of the first democratic government in South Africa.     

An educational way ahead for South Africa?

The vast (and increasing) majority of the South African population are non-white, and suffer many disadvantages. Solutions for these must be sought by political, economic, and social transformations which the present regime will not allow. However, internal economic pressures (especially the shortage of skilled and intermediate personnel necessary for the modernisation and enlargement of present enterprises) show the need for a much larger and better educated non-white work-force. In certain sectors of industry in some parts of the country, non-white South Africans are extending their education and moving into apprenticeship or other training opportunities, especially where white intermediate specialists are moving out.Less opposition is sometimes shown to the advancement of non-white personnel than previously, partly because industries and commerce welcome them, and partly because whites who in earlier times would have resented non-white competition are aspiring to other educational and social futures. However, the possibilities of acquiring intermediate education and training remain very difficult for non-whites (especially the black population) because of discrimination, very unequal provision and erratic distribution, and the poor supply of black teachers.Much provision for the South African non-white population will probably have to be of a supplementary character. To that extent, the South African need for hasty reorientation both in technological and in general education becomeseducationally comparable to the need felt in well-schooled industrial countries for post-compulsory readjustments between schooling and industry, and for second-chance opportunities. Prospects for implementation in South Africa are considered against the long tradition of segregation and the division of administrative responsibilities in the educational system. South African problems are also considered for their wider relevance for the use of post-compulsory education in circumstances of rapid change, especially where educational provision has to be re-engaged for different social and economic needs.

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Zusammenfassung Die überwältigende (und noch ständig wachsende) Mehrheit der südafrikanischen Bevölkerung ist farbig und leidet unter vielen Nachteilen. Für diese müssen Lösungen gesucht werden durch politische, wirtschaftliche und soziale Umwandlungen, die das gegenwärtige Regime nicht zulässt. Interne wirtschaftliche Erfordernisse (insbesondere der Bedarf an Facharbeitern und mittlerem Personal für die Modernisierung und Ausdehnung bestehender Unternehmen) zeigen die Notwendigkeit einer viel umfangreicheren und besser ausgebildeten farbigen Arbeiterschaft auf. In gewissen Industriesektoren in einigen Teilen des Landes verlängern Farbige ihre Ausbildung, indem sie Lehrlings- oder andere Ausbildungsmöglichkeiten wahrnehmen, vor allem auf den Gebieten, von denen weisse mittlere Fachleute abwandern.Dem Fortschritt farbigen Personals wird vielfach weniger Widerstand entgegengesetzt, als bisher der Fall war, teils weil Industrie und Handel mittlere Arbeitskräfte brauchen, teils weil die Weissen, die sich früher gegen eine farbige Konkurrenz gewandt hätten, jetzt einen anderen Bildungs- und Sozialstandard anstreben. Immerhin bleiben die Möglichkeiten für Farbige (besonders die Schwarzen) infolge von Diskriminierung, sehr ungleichem Ausbildungsangebot und ungleichmässiger Verteilung sowie dem Mangel an schwarzen Lehrern stark beschränkt.Ein grosser Teil des Ausbildungsangebots für die farbige Bevölkerung Süd-Afrikas wird wahrscheinlich ergänzender Natur sein müssen. Insofern ist die Notwendigkeit für schnelle Umorientierung sowohl der technischen als auch der allgemeinen Bildung in Süd-Afrika vergleichbar mit der Bildungssituation in Industrieländern, die gut mit Schulen ausgestattet sind, in denen sich aber für die Zeit nach dem Schulpflichtalter ein Bedarf nach Neuausrichtung des Verhältnisses zwischen Schule und Industrie sowie nach zweiten Chancen spürbar bemerkbar macht. Die Aussichten für die Durchführung entsprechender Änderungen in Süd-Afrika werden gegen die lange Tradition von Segregation und administrativer Verantwortungsteilung im Bildungswesen abgewogen. Ferner werden die Probleme Süd-Afrikas auf ihre weitgehendere Relevanz für Nach-Schul-Ausbildung unter Verhältnissen schnellen Wandels hin untersucht, vor allem dort, wo das Bildungsangebot für verschiedene soziale und wirtschaftliche Notwendigkeiten in Anspruch genommen werden muss.

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Résumé La grande majorité (croissante) de la population sud-africaine est constituée de non-blancs et souffre de nombreux désavantages. Les solutions doivent être recherchées par des transformations sociales, économiques et politiques que le régime actuel ne permet pas. Toutefois, les pressions économiques intérieures (plus particulièrement la pénurie de personnel qualifié et intermédiaire pour la modernisation et l'agrandissement des entreprises actuelles) montre la nécessité d'une force de travail non-blanche plus importante et mieux éduquée. Dans certains secteurs de l'industrie, et dans certaines parties du pays, les sud-africains non-blancs sont en train de développer leur éducation et entrent en apprentissage, ou profitent d'autres opportunités de formation, là surtout où les spécialistes intermédiaires blancs s'en vont.La promotion du personnel non-blanc suscite parfois une opposition moindre que par le passé, en partie du fait que les industries et le commerce leur font bon accueil, mais aussi parce que les blancs qui, auparavant, auraient pris ombrage de la compétition des non-blancs, aspirent maintenant à un avenir social et éducatif différent. Toutefois les possibilités d'acquérir une éducation et une formation intermédiaires pour restent minimes les non-blancs (surtout pour la population noire) à cause de la discrimination, des prestations éducationnelles très inégales, de la distribution irrégulière, et du nombre restreint d'enseignants noirs.La plus grande partie des prestations éducationnelles concernant la population sud-africaine non-blanche devra probablement revêtir un caractère complémentaire. A ce point, le besoin ressenti par l'Afrique du Sud d'une réorientation urgente, tant dans le domaine technologique que dans celui de l'éducation générale, est comparable, sur le plan de l'éducation, au besoin que les pays industriels bien scolarisés, ressentent d'une adaptation post-obligatoire entre l'établissement scolaire et l'industrie, et d'opportunités d'une seconde chance. Les perspectives d'une mise en oeuvre de ces réformes en Afrique du Sud sont traitées, en tenant compte de la longue tradition de ségrégation, et de la division des responsabilités administratives dans le système de l'éducation. Les problèmes sud-africains méritent aussi d'être examinés parce que bien appropriés à d'autre situations où des changements rapides font sentir la nécessité de recourir à l'enseignement post-obligatoire, spécialement là où les prestations éducationnelles doivent être ré-engagées pour répondre à des besoins sociaux et économiques différents.

     

Education and skills for development in South Africa: Reflections on the accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa

In July 2005, President Mbeki announced the launch of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), a new development strategy designed to help the South African state meet the ANC's 2004 election pledges, namely:

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halve unemployment;     

Providing services for young children in South Africa

This paper contains an analysis of services for young children set within the social and economic context of a less developed country, namely South Africa. It deals first with the present status of provision, and illustrates the level of ethnic bias prevailing; it then examines four mainstream models of more equitable provision, and highlights the formidable costs involved. The paper concludes that provision for young South African children will probably remain conservative in terms of impact, but illustrates the importance of developing economically realistic models.     

Standards-based accountability in South Africa

The implementation of standards-based accountability (SBA) interventions aimed at improving school performance often focuses on the testing component, at the expense of capacity building. This was the case in South Africa when a SBA programme was instituted by government in 2000, which was accompanied by substantial rises in senior certificate pass rates between 2000 and 2003. Our analysis indicates that the bulk of these effects was achieved by manipulating the results by means of 4 measures: eliminating high-risk candidates, encouraging candidates to register at the easier standard grade, lowering the standard of examination questions, and raising raw scores during the moderation process. However, research results from other school improvement programmes in the country indicate that significant improvement in school performance is possible when capacity-building elements are combined with accountability measures.     

Jewish Education in South Africa

The Jewish Counseling and Service Agency is a family agency whose origins date back to 1861 in Newark. The current agency represents a consolidation of several agencies which at one time provided separate services.     

Special Education in South Africa

THE APARTHEID POLICY in South Africa has legally separated its 35 million inhabitants into four official racial groups. Political power and privilege have been vested entirely in the white group (i.e., 14% of the population), while the blacks are sociopolitically disadvantaged. The systems of education and special education strikingly reflect, and are a product of the divided, inequitable society. The majority of black South African students are academically retarded due to the inadequacy and inequity of the educational and sociopolitical system. Moreover, facilities for black handicapped children both within and outside the mainstream are extremely limited. For whites, there are far better facilities for disabled children, but their education system tends to be conceptually antiquated and narrow‐minded. The past decade has seen some improvements in the provision of special education facilities and in the approach to education generally. Significant political changes are now occurring in 1990, which are heralding the downfall of the apartheid system and are likely to produce a major overhaul of the education and special education systems for all children. However, the enormity of numbers involved remains a major problem and calls for innovative solutions.     

Goldie Comes to South Africa

现在,北京的天气非常冷了。晚上睡觉,Goldie不得不盖上厚厚的棉被。"天气真冷,明天上学可要多穿点衣服了。"Goldie想着想着就睡着了。她的想法被身下的魔毯知道了,于是……     

Moral Education in South Africa

Abstract

Moral education in South Africa has always been a matter of priority to parents and educationalists alike. Although it is not taught as a separate subject in the schooling process, much attention is paid to it throughout the school curriculum. Particularly in religious education and in social studies time is devoted to matters of moral conduct. The basis for moral education has almost right through been a Christian approach to life. This is the case in schools for black and for white pupils. A great number of devoted teachers go to great lengths to prepare young people for life in such a way that they may become steadfast citizens of the country. The role of parents, youth organizations, churches and ‐‐ in the case of black youths ‐‐ tribal customs, should, however, not be underestimated in the moral training of young people.     

The Trip to South Africa

南非是一个位于非洲大陆最南端的国家,素有“彩虹之国”的美誉。2010年的世界杯足球赛将在这里举行哦。你对这个国家的了解有多少呢？我给大家设计了4条旅游路线。赶快选择你最喜欢的路线,并带上你要完成的任务,开始你的南非之旅吧！     

Citizenship Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa

How is citizenship understood in South Africa, a new democracy with a deeply divided past? This paper describes the approach to citizenship education in recent educational policy, and in curriculum developments. It does so against the background of a conceptualisation of citizenship based on both the participatory vision of the anti-apartheid struggle and on the citizen as presented in the new Constitution. The shifting nature of the divisions that still deeply divide this society is explored, together with tensions between what can be called the official conceptualisation of citizenship and a more popular interpretation of citizenship as access to socio economic rights. This tension poses potential problems in the democratic polity, as well as a challenge for citizenship education.     

University Lecturers’ Understanding of Sustainability

This paper describes the results of a research project that investigated the ways that academics understand sustainability within their own disciplines. It describes a range of ways in which academics view sustainability in the context of their teaching, and a range of ways they suggest that sustainability could be integrated into their teaching. Its genesis was an industry/university forum held at Macquarie University (Australia) that identified the need to integrate ideas of sustainable development within university curricula in all disciplines to prepare students for their professional roles. At a global level, participants in the 2002 Johannesburg Earth Summit emphatically endorsed the proposal that sustainable development needs to be an integral component of all levels of education. Environmental bodies have often focused their attention on development of materials to support sustainable development within specific environmentally focused disciplines. In contrast, the present project acknowledges that issues of sustainability need to span the whole range of subjects and extend to the development of appropriate curriculum. Real change in thinking about sustainability requires creative pedagogy which acknowledges the different ways that people think about sustainability and provides spaces in which their ideas can be developed.     

南非以结果为本位的教育改革

以结果为本位的教育是20世纪90年代在北美首先发展起来的。以结果为本位的教育有着深刻的理论和实践渊源,并建立在一定的前提假设之上,在具体的实践过程中,还得遵循相应的实施原则。在特定的背景下以结果为本位的教育传入南非后,经历了一系列的发展过程,在实施过程中也出现了一些问题。