Two educational establishments have reached the top of the class for energy performance by using renewable ground source energy.

St John’s College, Oxford, and the new Ynysowen Community Primary School in South Wales, will reap major financial and environmental benefits from ground source heat pump technology from ENER-G.

The 280-pupil school, near Aberfan, and 500-student College are among a growing number of educational establishments using ground source heat pumps to harness solar energy absorbed by the earth as a cheap and reliable source of renewable energy.

By exploiting the relatively stable temperatures found under the earth’s surface, ground source heat pump systems are able to deliver heating and cooling at very high efficiencies.

for full story - Technology Information - Top Of The Class For Renewable Energy Performance

Pretoria – Teachers across the country have welcomed the roll out of the Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI), saying they were looking forward to sharing ideas, learning from each other and improving the quality of the education system.

The initiative is focused at improving Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in teaching and learning and aims to ensure every teacher owns and uses a laptop, by providing them with a monthly allowance which will cover the purchase costs as well as the costs of connectivity.

The ICT package will consist of appropriate hardware and software, as well as, internet connectivity, all with prescribed minimum specifications. Teachers participating in the initiative will be required to utilize the facility in their teaching, as well as for administration.

On Thursday, teachers countrywide got a brief lesson on computer literacy, including connectivity of email, internet and the use of various software packages.

An overwhelmed Grade 8 and 9 teacher from a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal, Mkhatshwa Junior Secondary School, Mthunzi Mbewane hailed the initiative,

“It [technology] helps us to work smart. We will benefit a lot from the laptops as we will get information to assist us in improving our teaching skills.

“With this initiative, teachers will be able to share ideas and learn from each other on the methods they use in their schools to improve the standard of learning, especially for under performing schools,” Mbewane said.

The TLI forms part of the cohesive plan by the department and other stakeholders in education to improve overall quality of education by making resources available to learners and teachers in the public education sector.

As from Monday, the qualifying teachers will be able to buy laptops from suppliers accredited to participate in the initiative.

The teachers would have a choice of packages, which range from R250 and R390 a month from suppliers that have been accredited by the department.

Each qualifying teacher would be given a monthly allowance of R130 but would have to add the rest.

The laptop package would include school administration materials and the national curriculum, as well as internet connectivity.

The suppliers include Dell, HP, LG, Pinnacle, Sahara, Vodacom, MTN, Lenovo, Fujitsu Siemens, Cell C, Mecer, and Telkom.

Launching the TLI, Education Deputy Minister Enver Surty said the initiative will enable teachers to access data information and be able to utilise it in their schools.

“Currently we have 80 percent information on learners in the data and next year we will have 100 percent and be able to track all of them.”

He urged teachers to make use of the laptops, not only for themselves but learners.

Education stakeholders have described the initiative as a tool to expose teachers to the world of knowledge and help them improve the quality of teaching.

South African Democratic Teachers Union President Thobile Ntola welcomed the initiative, saying that the technology will allow the department to circulate information directly to the teachers.

“We commend the Education Labour Relations Council for taking a bold step to assist teachers,” Ntola said, adding that well trained and supported teachers leads to quality of education delivery.

National Professional Teacher's Organisation President Ezra Ramasehla said the laptops will make a difference in helping teachers to deliver quality service in the classrooms.

“Education remains a tried and tested vehicle to take learners out of the vicious cycle of poverty, and the laptops have potential to expose our teachers to the level they have never been before,” Ramasehla said. – BuaNews

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Pretoria – After months of deliberations and planning by the Department of Basic Education, the Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI) is set to be rolled out on Thursday with a key focus on teacher training and development in ICT, computer literacy and pedago

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Pretoria - The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) has launched a career advice helpline to equip learners with information to navigate work and study paths.

The helpline, which started to operate recently, will enable learners to increase their employability and manage their own career development as well as providing a resource for career advisers.

A team of career guidance councillors is in place to assist learners seeking advice on post school opportunities.

The launch of the helpline follows the announcement made by Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande during his 2010/11 budget speech, where he announced that he had tasked SAQA with the establishment of a national career advice helpline.

An amount of R100 million has been allocated by the department for the project, the money will be spent over a three year period.

Director of SAQA’s Career Advice Service, Paul West said the service will be available to people of all ages and can be accessed by phone, SMS, website, e-mail, letter or in person.

“This means that anyone, for example, a learner needing to choose school subjects, a school leaver wanting to study further or a working person wanting to switch to a different kind of work can find the information and support to take the next step,” West explained.

He also added that making a career choice is one of the most important decisions a learner makes, therefore, it is imperative that learners have the necessary information and get advice before making decisions.

The lasting legacy of the first World Cup on African soil should be that of education.

Addressing heads of state during the 1Goal: Education for All Summit in Pretoria on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said there was no greater legacy than that of education.

“The most important investment in the future of any nation is in education. No legacy can be higher than that,” he said.

The President told the summit that there were approximately 72 million children across the world that were not going to school, and half of those children were in Africa.

The aim of the 1Goal campaign is to raise international awareness about these who children who are not in school.

1Goal aims to help the millions who do not have access to education by ensuring that governments keep their promises related to education and provide the money needed to get every boy and girl to school by 2015 or by the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014

Zuma urged the world leaders to renew their commitment to advancing the millennium Development Goals relating to education, which included giving every citizen in every society the benefit of an education.

World governments needed to redouble their efforts to ensure that the suffering of those most affected was not prolonged, he added.

Zuma called on African countries to focus on the basics, such as ensuring school fees and uniforms did not become a “barrier” to education.

“We have to fund feeding schemes to ensure that children are healthy and physically ready to study. We have to strengthen ties with community and non-governmental organisations, the religious sector and others to help us reach children in remote areas who are not attending school,” the President added.

More teachers needed to be employed and trained, to improve the quality of learning and teaching, and more investments had to be made in programmes that kept children from dropping out of school, he said.

Other speakers at the summit also emphasised the need for the World Cup to leave behind a legacy that would impact on future generations.

Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokena told the heads of state that they had the opportunity to create the greatest legacy in one of the world’s biggest sporting event in history by giving children worldwide access to education.

“We have just seen the world’s greatest game celebrate its greatest tournament but now we have the chance to score a bigger goal,” he said.

Mokena said the world had failed to deliver on its promise to ensure that every child in the world had an education.

He called on world governments to act quickly and decisively in providing children everywhere access to education.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said some of the biggest names in world football including Pele, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo, as well as teams such as Manchester United and Barcelona had added support to the 1Goal campaign.

The campaign would translate into giving hope to children and youngsters across the world and hope was what the youth of the world needed, he added.

1Goal ambassador, 12-year-old Nthabiseng Tshabalala asked the leaders to give the children of the world the same opportunities they had when they were younger.

“There are millions of children in Africa and around the world who can’t go to school. I think that our government and other governments should do everything they can to make sure that all children are allowed to get the education they need for their futures.

“As leaders, you had your opportunity to go to school. Please sure make that 72 million children get theirs,” she said.

The African Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation also gave the campaign its support at the summit. - BuaNews

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