GPSA Weekly Views

How does a Blue Bull loose his wife / girlfriend? He CHEETAH! Yes, we lost the Currie cup to the Free State (Cheetahs). In spite of some controversial rulings by the (local) referee it was (maybe) a good thing that "another" team won the Cup. First time since 1976 I understand. For the past four years it belonged to the Bulls and after a magnificent season it was a "given" that we'll beat any team in the final. Not to be. Good for the Cheetahs!

The season is upon us again. The season of "affirmative banking". As with the rest of us our "beloved" robbers are hitting the banks in order to "draw" some spending money for the festive season. The police seems to be a bit better in catching these guys in the act. The big problem is the old one of bribery and bungling the cases. Let's hope they've got themselves sorted a bit better this year round. I reckon that their success depends largely on the fed-up South African population. Township justice is one thing, but you don't need a swept up group of people targeting you! Give the cops a chance. There are enough of them trying to make a difference.

Two weeks to go before the Grand Prix Masters race at Kyalami. What is even more exciting is the fact that I've been afforded the opportunity to go for a drive (around Kyalami) in a 480kW F1 car as a passenger. This will be the second time the Altech F1x2 cars race at Kyalami. Will keep you posted.

Okay, enough of that now - interesting story in the Sunday Times (Oct 23, 2005) on S.A. teachers. Educator Workload in South Africa is a study by the Human Science Research Council commissioned by the Education Labour Relations Council. According to this report teachers only spend 16 of their 35 hours a week teaching. Some 3 909 teachers completed questionnaires covering 900 schools. They spend progressively less time on school activities as the week goes on. Urban area teachers spend more time teaching than in rural areas. Formerly white school institution teachers spend more time teaching than formerly African schools or schools established after 1994. The larger the class, the less time a teacher spends on school-related activities. And female teachers spend more time teaching while male teachers spend more time on non-core and non-admin matters.

Not surprising really considering the general state our education is in. Think back a couple of years, remember the retrenchments of hundreds of teachers? Remember the so-called consolidation of schools? And still happening, the government forcing Afrikaans schools to accommodate black pupils and change their prime language to English (Hoërskool Mikro the last example) whilst there are ample place in neighbouring black schools?

Teachers are overworked and underpaid (and some not even qualified). They don't need government to interfere. What they need is government to come through with the promise of free education for all. Where will the money come from? From the now fat-cats driving their fat-cat fancy cars and living in their fat-cat neighbourhoods throwing fat-cat parties for their fat-cat friends. Let the dogs loose I say.

No wonder more than half of our 350 000 teachers consider leaving the profession because of stress. In 2003 some 1 910 teachers left of which more than half took up teaching jobs overseas. And do they really expect teachers to teach in all eleven official languages?

Weekly View
	27 October 2005
How does a Blue Bull loose his wife / girlfriend? He CHEETAH! Yes, we lost the Currie cup to the Free State (Cheetahs). In spite of some controversial rulings by the (local) referee it was (maybe) a good thing that "another" team won the Cup. First time since 1976 I understand. For the past four years it belonged to the Bulls and after a magnificent season it was a "given" that we'll beat any team in the final. Not to be. Good for the Cheetahs! The season is upon us again. The season of "affirmative banking". As with the rest of us our "beloved" robbers are hitting the banks in order to "draw" some spending money for the festive season. The police seems to be a bit better in catching these guys in the act. The big problem is the old one of bribery and bungling the cases. Let's hope they've got themselves sorted a bit better this year round. I reckon that their success depends largely on the fed-up South African population. Township justice is one thing, but you don't need a swept up group of people targeting you! Give the cops a chance. There are enough of them trying to make a difference. Two weeks to go before the Grand Prix Masters race at Kyalami. What is even more exciting is the fact that I've been afforded the opportunity to go for a drive (around Kyalami) in a 480kW F1 car as a passenger. This will be the second time the Altech F1x2 cars race at Kyalami. Will keep you posted. Okay, enough of that now - interesting story in the Sunday Times (Oct 23, 2005) on S.A. teachers. Educator Workload in South Africa is a study by the Human Science Research Council commissioned by the Education Labour Relations Council. According to this report teachers only spend 16 of their 35 hours a week teaching. Some 3 909 teachers completed questionnaires covering 900 schools. They spend progressively less time on school activities as the week goes on. Urban area teachers spend more time teaching than in rural areas. Formerly white school institution teachers spend more time teaching than formerly African schools or schools established after 1994. The larger the class, the less time a teacher spends on school-related activities. And female teachers spend more time teaching while male teachers spend more time on non-core and non-admin matters. Not surprising really considering the general state our education is in. Think back a couple of years, remember the retrenchments of hundreds of teachers? Remember the so-called consolidation of schools? And still happening, the government forcing Afrikaans schools to accommodate black pupils and change their prime language to English (Hoërskool Mikro the last example) whilst there are ample place in neighbouring black schools? Teachers are overworked and underpaid (and some not even qualified). They don't need government to interfere. What they need is government to come through with the promise of free education for all. Where will the money come from? From the now fat-cats driving their fat-cat fancy cars and living in their fat-cat neighbourhoods throwing fat-cat parties for their fat-cat friends. Let the dogs loose I say. No wonder more than half of our 350 000 teachers consider leaving the profession because of stress. In 2003 some 1 910 teachers left of which more than half took up teaching jobs overseas. And do they really expect teachers to teach in all eleven official languages?	Past Views Current Joke Past jokes Gallery Links Current Exchange Rate Daily News Headlines Articles
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