Africa > Education

Education in Africa

  • The Prem Rawat Foundation’s Peace Education Program is having a profound impact on youth in South Africa.

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2015/12/11 Amid a world discourse often dominated by discussions of violence and politics, The Prem Rawat Foundation’s Peace Education Program is having a profound impact on youth in South Africa. Prem Rawat recently spoke to students enrolled in the Peace Education Program (PEP) at TSiBA, an acclaimed nonprofit business school in Capetown, South Africa that specializes in giving disadvantaged youth opportunities to become entrepreneurial leaders. Hundreds of students at the tertiary school have participated in PEP, an innovative multimedia course that’s based on Rawat’s international talks about topics such as peace, hope and appreciation. On Nov. 27 they had the opportunity to discuss what they were learning with him, ask him questions, and hear him speak at the school as part of its Annual Social Change Lecture series. A lot of students reported that PEP was having a profound impact on their lives.

  • School dropout rate rising as drought boosts hunger in Zimbabwe

    ZIMBABWE, 2015/11/23 At the same time as Thabiso Dube isn’t helping his mother at home, the scrawny 8-year-old is working alongside her, doing odd jobs in exchange for food. He should be in class, but has virtually dropped out of school because he is always hungry, said his mother Sithandile Dube, of Lupane district in Matebeleland North province. Thabiso only goes to school “if he has the strength,” she says – which can be as little as once a week, usually at the same time as there is enough to eat at home. “We haven’t had enough (food) for a long time. Our crop failed. That’s why presently I have to work for other people,” she said. Over the completed five years, Zimbabwe’s two Matebeleland provinces and the country’s Midlands have been suffering from a disastrous mix of erratic rainfall, flash floods and long dry spells.

  • Why local content in Africa’s extractive sector won’t work without home grown human capital

    AFRICA, 2015/11/21 For over 30 years a lot of African nations have been exploring their natural resources, whether oil, gas or minerals. In the last ten years a lot of additional have joined the natural resource exploitation club. A lot of have as well witnessed economic increase and development. Significant investments have been poured into the development and increase of the extractive industry on the continent. But there is a disconnect between the industry and institutions of higher education. These are supposed to provide and develop the necessary skills, competencies and human capital required to develop and manage the industry. But there is a substantial gap between the kinds of graduates that universities are producing and what extractive industries need.

  • Eneza CEO: With real money to be made, education sector not only for NGOs

    KENYA, 2015/11/21 Three years ago American teacher Toni Maraviglia gave up the opportunity to study at the Haas School of Business in Berkley, one of the top such institutions in the world. Instead, she opted to remain in Kenya and founded an education company helping students prepare for exams by quizzing them via SMS on topics learnt in class. Maraviglia was motivated by her experiences working for an NGO in rural Nyanza on a programme that quadrupled the passing rate of students. So she co-founded Eneza Education (again called M-Prep), which has since expanded beyond quizzing to offer full courses for students – at a small fee. Through Eneza, students and teachers access courses and assessments via basic phones and have the option to interact with live instructors.

  • Kenya: Restore the Sanctity of National Examinations

    KENYA, 2015/10/26 Spotlight is once again on the Kenya National Examinations Council over the administration of the ongoing Form Four exams. Reports from various parts of the country indicate widespread leakage of the test papers and by presently some suspects have been charged in court at the Coast having been found with the test papers illegally. However, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi has dismissed reports of the leakage, insisting the process of exam government has been water-tight. But evidence is available that indicates the contrary.

  • Akhona Landu said she is shocked by the actions of police at the campus, south africa

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2015/10/26 The University of the Western Cape's SRC president Akhona Landu said she is shocked by the actions of police at the campus. In an before interview with News24, Landu was forced to drop the line next she said police were firing rubber bullets at them. Landu said police used stun grenades and water cannons to disperse protesting students at the campus gates. "Upon returning from Erica Road, we were standing at the gates of the university and police warned us to go back to our residences. We refused and a little later stun grenades were fired. The students are angry presently and they are burning bins outside residences, singing struggle songs. Police keep coming in to separate us using water cannons and stun grenades," Landu told News24.

  • Solidarity With South African Student Protesters

    AFRICA, 2015/10/26 Over 800 students and student groups from 200 international institutions have signed a statement of support for the #FeesMustFall protesters. We are South Africans and/or alumni of South African tertiary institutions studying abroad at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), King's College London, University College London (UCL), Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, New York University (NYU), City University of New York (CUNY), UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Michigan, Georgetown University, Boston University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Sydney University, University of Toronto, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Zhejiang Normal University, Brown, Australian National University, Columbia, Cornell, London School of Economics (LSE), Leeds University, Leiden University, Maastricht University, Lund, Massey University, New School for Social Research, New South Wales University, Goldsmiths, Princeton, Peking University, Rutgers University, Sciences Po, Seoul National University, Stanford, St Andrews, Trinity College Dublin, Universidade de São Paulo, University of Bologna, University of Barcelona, University of Chicago, University of Edinburgh, University of Amsterdam, University of Glasgow, University of Toronto, University of Vienna, University of Warwick, University of Utrecht, University of York, Yale and a lot of other institutions.

  • About 300 students of the Federal Government Girls' College

    NIGERIA, 2015/10/26 About 300 students of the Federal Government Girls' College in Efon Alaaye, Ekiti National, have been infected with an outbreak of a disease suspected to be cholera. Although some of the students affected were treated and discharged, a good number were still undergoing treatment in the hospital. There were reports that parents had started rushing to retrieve their wards from the school as news of the epidemic became widespread on Thursday. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that signs were noticed on October 10, at the same time as some students showed symptoms of the infection. Although the school principal, Grace Ogunyomi, reported the matter to the national government, no immediate action beyond the routine medical attention was provided.

  • mathematics and some school subjects in Shona and Ndebele, Zimbabwe

    ZIMBABWE, 2015/10/26 ZANU PF MP for Buhera South, Joseph Chinotimba has demanded the teaching of mathematics and some school subjects in Shona and Ndebele arguing this was the best way students not gifted in the English language could pass. Speaking in Parliament last week, Chinotimba said Zimbabwe should take a cue from nations such as China and Cuba which were schooling their young in local languages. "If you go to China, the people in China learn Chinese until they attain their degrees. The same applies to Yugoslavia and Cuba," Chinotimba said in a question he was directing to Education Minister Lazarus Dokora. "My question is at the same time as are we going to respect our local languages such as Shona and Ndebele so that we are able to work mathematical problems either in Ndebele or in Shona?

  • Global Confucius Institutes Day celebrated in Benin

    BENIN, 2015/09/29 The University of Abomey-calavi on Saturday afternoon hosted second annual World Confucius Institutes Day aims to promote the Chinese language and culture, Xinhua reporter witnessed on spot. Students from the Confucius Institute of Abomey Calavi University, Chinese culture lovers, officials of the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou and academic authorities of Benin universities were on the forefront of spectators to cultural and artistic events that occurred as part of the celebration. For over three hours, students of the Confucius Institute performed music, traditional Chinese dance and martial art demonstration.
Trending Articles