CPUT's Centre for International Teacher Education (CITE) recently hosted a Public-Private Schooling Symposium where academics debated their views on different schooling systems as well as the benefits and concerns of collaboration schooling.

CITE Director, Prof Yusuf Sayed, said the public-private schooling debate has thus far raised more heat than light and that he hoped the symposium will add light to the debate.

Sayed argued that the answer to the provision of quality education lies with the restructuring of public education.

Dr Christiaan van der Merwe, Chief Executive Officer of Curro Holding Ltd, said great leadership and management, ethos and partnerships as well as accountability and transparency are some of the characteristics of successful schools.

Van der Merwe said that over the last 20 years education has generally improved across all schools.

"Every school should allow a child to be what they want and what they can be," he added.

Dr David Harrison, head of the DG Murray Trust, said distribution of quality education in schools has not changed in the last 20 years.

Harrison added that system-wide improvement is not enough on its own as it widens disparities between successful and underperforming schools.

He called for the strengthening of the existing capacity of public schools and district leadership in underperforming schools.

"Place underperforming public schools under new management."

He also called for the introduction of low fee private schools.

*The following universities collaborated in the organization of the symposium: CPUT, University of Cape Town, University of the Western Cape, Rhodes University and Fort Hare University.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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HIV/ AIDS Unit Head, Melanie Swanson, encourages students to make use of the services offered by #Keready on campuses and student residences.

#Keready Mobile clinics were recently at Bellville Campus, and they provide youth-friendly HIV, STI and TB screenings at no cost to the students. The medical team includes doctors and nurses and are ready to support the students.

The #Keready team was joined by representatives from the Western Cape (WC) Department of Health, DG Murray Trust, German parliamentarians as well as KfW, GIZ (German Corporation for International Cooperation) and German Embassy representatives. The visit was a short one in which the Unit hosted the delegates for a presentation and a showcasing of their sponsored mobile units. The visitors were welcomed by Prof Judy Peter, Director: Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, who said the collaboration which was unfolding on the day was a result of deep collaborations between Global North and Global South. “And how important it is to address sustainable development goals around health and well-being because we take a holistic approach to education, and we have an invested interest in our students…”

Reflecting on the event, Swanson said it “was a huge success” and that the German visitors “thanked us for our warm hospitality and were pleased to see their flag in front of the Admin building”. “They were very welcoming in terms of hearing their team’s experiences and being able to visit the donated Wellness Mobile Units and came across very positive, knowing their funds were well-invested.”

She said the presence of the German government delegates, and of the WC Department of Health and being able to network with the service providers were the highlights of the day, adding that the vibrancy of the different state of the art Wellness Mobile Vehicles was a highlight.

“What also stood out during the presentations was the ability to see how #KeReady connect with youth through their youth friendly programmes and their presence in rural farm areas.

In a joint message on behalf of #Keready, Dr Lethukwenama Letsoalo, and Dr Tevarus Naiker expressed their gratitude to the CPUT team. “Yesterday’s visit by KfW, the German delegation and WCDH at CPUT was a great success. I would like to thank both of you [Swanson and Mathapelo Gabaake] for your exceptional efforts and going above and beyond to ensure that everything was in place for the visit. We are truly grateful for your dedication and commitment to excellence.”

They added that they were excited to continue working together and look forward to continued success in “our partnership” [with CPUT].

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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