I’m sure we all remember a time before internet. You know, when we had to do a project for school and had to go to the library and actually look stuff up in books. The first set of books was normally the Encyclopedia Britannica. After 244 years, no more.
This might turn out to be the most inspiring documentary you will watch all year. A serious campaign is underway to bring down Joseph Kony, the infamous leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group: the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA is responsible for an unquantifiable number of atrocities across Uganda. Human trafficking, brutal rape, and child soldier deployment are commonplace. This is KONY 2102.
Did you know that Shrien Dewani’s lawyer used the previous advert to try and convince a court that South African jails were dangerous and that he shouldn’t be extradited from Britain to face trial for allegedly killing his wife Anni? The sequel, which aired last night for the first time, is bound to instil yet more fear in drunken drivers’ minds.
Late last month we reported how several posh Gauteng private schools were planning to make iPads mandatory learning aids in their classes, and now several rural schools are getting sponsored iPads for their learners, too. We like. We like a lot.
It’s a long standing rumour in varsities around the world. The girl who’s marks aren’t quite up to scratch, so she goes to speak to her professor in his office. Some flirting happens, a cute smile, who knows – but all of a sudden she’s got straight A’s. This doesn’t quite work when you do the same in an assignment, and especially not when you’re a 56 year-old male.
How’s this? I was late to school every now and then, but I was never met with police. This seems a little hardcore: 27 pupils who arrived late for school were greeted by a group of police officers waiting for them. This comes after 700 students and some teachers arrived late to the same school on Monday.
The US, the most powerful nation in the world both in terms of their economy and military seem to be lacking in one crucial area; education. A recent short study done by a high school student portrays the average American student as not knowing all too much about their own country.
Residents of several of Manchester University’s accommodations recently received what can only be described as an incredibly awkward letter from management. It comprises talk of blocked drains, “taking care of your business”, and disposing of discharges appropriately.
Cosatu has come out guns blazing at that DA Students’ Organisation poster that has raised a few eyebrows this week. Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, Zet Luzipo, provincial secretary for Cosatu, and no stranger to speaking his mind, slammed the poster saying: “It entrenches white supremacy that we fought against during the liberation struggle.”
With the news that Apple looks set to revolutionise school learning with its textbook initiative, comes another report that a Johannesburg private school is going to make iPads compulsory this year, at parents’ cost. How long until other schools follow suit?
Tertiary education is turning into a very dangerous pursuit indeed. Following on the heels of the incident at the University of Johannesburg not too long ago, similar chaos is currently underway at the Vaal University of Technology. Students have been queuing since Monday to get registered for classes, but have been faced with heavy, and some would say aggressive, security.
During orientation at NWU in Potchefstroom on Saturday night, a group of first-year students were told to “clean themselves in a swimming pool.” When they left, not a single one of the “conductors” in charge noticed the group had one less member. The body was only later found at the bottom of the pool when a different group of students went for a swim.
As part of their ‘reinvention of the textbook,’ Apple yesterday unveiled three new applications for use in the digital educational under their Apple in Education program: iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U. The tools are designed to allow for interactive textbooks, digital textbook creation, and open-access educational resources from top universities, respectively.
Regular visitor to South Africa, Oprah Winfrey, is in the country again. She’s here to attend the graduation of the first batch of girls to matriculate from her school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. The former talk show host will also try to squeeze in a catch up with her buddy Madiba, if he’s up to it.
The mother of a prospective student has been killed in a stampede for late registrations at the University of Johannesburg, which has been confirmed by a spokesperson for the university.
Here’s a little inspiration for your Friday morning. A 19-year old boy with no arms has just found out he has got into the university of his choice, having written his matric exams with his feet. Letlhogonolo Mafela, from Matshepe Village, North West has done his school and his family proud.
South Africa’s much awaited IEB Matric results are in, and while there is a noticeable increase in the overall pass rate, commentators have aired concerns over some of the trends emerging. Here’s the Sparks Notes version. Pay attention, there may be a test later.
That’s just one of the facts I gleaned from the new Rustenburg Girls High School promotional video which has just hit the net – you might want to have a peep. Besides from the school’s excellent educational offering and facilities, I was more impressed with the head-girl, who completely owns the camera. Her delivery was […]
It’s Just a Plant is an illustrated picture book about marijuana for the younger members of society. The plot is fairly simple: Jackie catches her folks smoking a joint one evening, and then her mother takes her on a trip the next day to learn more about marijuana.
A new laser is to be built that is as powerful as “concentrating the rays of the sun for the entire earth onto the tip of a pen”. Scientists claim it could allow them boil the very fabric of space, AKA the vacuum. Because that’s a fantastic idea. It is official, mankind has a death-wish.
Samsung Africa has unveiled a unique initiative they are calling the Samsung Internet Schools Programme. The initial programme will span five African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. In time it will branch out into other African countries too. The school is a mobile, solar-powered, independent classroom housed in a container.
Black schoolboys in the UK are deliberately underachieving because academic success is seen as “gay”. Apparently there is a cultural misconception that being clever is a sign of homosexuality. Instead, many of these boys rather turn to a so-called “hustle culture” to make money, because it is more “manly”.
Three boys from Oudtshoorn High School have been arrested after a sex video did the rounds at the school. The clip involves them and a girl engaging in some rather disturbing after-school activities. The 15-year-old girl laid a charge of statutory rape against them, after the video’s existence became public knowledge.
How do you wake a deaf person, especially if the building that they are in is on fire? You squirt a puff of wasabi at them, obviously. Seven Japanese researchers were awarded the Ig Nobel prize for chemistry in the 21st annual Ig Nobel awards, a spoof of the real Nobel awards, at Harvard University last night for their invention.
The South African and Vietnamese governments have come together and agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding that will seek ways to stop rhino poaching. Ironically, the Vietnamese officials asked that a domestic medical research institute verify that rhino horn had no medicinal properties, and to make this information public.
As the “Occupy Wall Street” protests enter their ninth day, an increasing number of videos and photos have begun surfacing, showing near-indiscriminate use of tasers, mace and kenneling by the NYPD on demonstrators, who are protesting a financial system that apparently favours the wealthy and powerful over ordinary citizens.
Really not exaggerating in that headline. Two days ago, blogger Shoshana Hebshi, a self-described “half-Arab, half-Jewish housewife,” found herself cuffed and thrown off a Frontier Airlines flight and strip-searched – because she was seated next to two Indian guys she didn’t know, and another passenger had found that suspicious.
An annual global ranking survey of 2 000 tertiary institutions has been completed by major research company, QS. It takes into account reputation, faculty citations, student-faculty ratio and international population. And according to this ranking, the University of Cape Town is the 156th best university in the world. It is also the only African university on the list.
The National Disciplinary Committee has dismissed comrade Julius Malema’s application to have the charges that have been brought against him dropped. In what represents yet another blow to the embattled youth league leader, he’ll probably be staying in and drinking some hot chocolate this evening, contemplating what life holds in store for him next.
Google has begun to map parts of the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers, as well as small areas of northwestern Brazil, in an attempt to capture panoramic images of the remote region and its communities for the world to see. Google enlisted the help of locals and will use camera-equipped tricycles as well as boats to capture the imagery.