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Jan
27

Battle against rhino poaching continues

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January 27, 2012

 

The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has disclosed that 232 suspects have been arrested in connection with rhino poaching during the past year.

The arrested suspects consisted of 194 rhino poachers, 24 receivers of rhino horns, 12 couriers along with two exporters. Absolutely no buyers ended up being arrested.

Deputy Director General on biodiversity and conservation inside the department, Fundisile Mketeni, informed MPs of the fact that crimes relating to rhino poaching and sales of rhino horns was in fact grossing approximately R160 billion annually.

He stated that from 2009 and 2011; 903 reported rhinos were poached and slaughtered . In addition, he forecasted that an estimated 300 rhinos were probably going to be poached this year.

He pointed out the fact that the North West and Limpopo provinces are guilty of the highest numbers of poached rhinos.

Mketeni was speaking during a briefing to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs which was attended by over a dozen concerned organisations and individuals.

The organisations highlighted a number of challenges concerning rhino poaching in addition to proposing feasible solutions.

Mketeni revealed that the majority of the poached rhino horns happen to be destined for Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China.

He revealed that South Africa was currently at various stages of signing bilateral agreements with these countries for purposes of combating the crime.

 

Mtekeni expressed his dissatisfaction with regards to the deficiency of coordination between his department together with its provincial counterparts in addition to other associated departments in dealing with the issue.

He called for his department to be given centralized powers which would permit them to decisively contend with the challenge.

Mtekeni mentioned that the department needs to have its own officers trained along the lines of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

“We are looking for our own intelligence and then use it the way we want,” he was quoted saying, implying that these would be in a position to directly pursue rhino poaching syndicates outside the country.

He said they planned to set up their own officials at ports of entry in addition to train customs officials to assist in the detection of suspects preparing to leave the country.

He called for the Department of Public Works to fix, electrify and insert an electrical detection system on the fence running along the border between the Kruger National Park and Mozambique where rhino poaching activities happen to be numerous.

Committee chairman Advocate Johnny de Lange told Mtekeni that his department could take a number of powers from provincial departments and employ them on a national level.

De Lange declared that measures must be taken to avoid the further killing of rhinos.

For comments and suggestion, contact The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs directly to air your views:

Office of the Minister
• Acting Chief of Staff (Head of Ministry): Mr Frans Vilakazi

Tel: 012 336 8729
Fax: 012 336 7817
Email: Vilakazif@dwa.gov.za

• Media Liaison Officer: Mr Mandla Mathebula

Cell: 083 282 6133
Email: mathebulam3@dwa.gov.za

Office of the Deputy Minister
• Chief of Staff: Ms Nomxolisi Matyana

Tel: 012 336 6507
Fax: 012 336 8311
Email: matyanan2@dwa.gov.za
Office of the DG
• Director-General: Mr Maxwell Sirenya

Tel: 012 336 6696
Fax: 012 336 8850
Email: Tloubatlai@dwa.gov.za
• Acting Director: Ms Constance Molope

Tel: 012 336 8249
Fax: 012 308 3403
Email: central@dwa.gov.za

Source: BuaNews

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Jan
26

South African schools ranked alongside the world’s best

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January 26, 2012

 

Three of South Africa’s leading schools have been successful in making it into the 2011 Global Education and Skills: An Oxbridge Guide publication.

The guide is a collaborative endeavor between old rivals, the student unions of Oxford and Cambridge universities in the UK.

Its objective is to provide a wide-ranging point of view of schooling throughout the world, from nursery all the way up to college level. It illustrates the standard and quality of schooling to choose from, not only the private exclusive institutions but in addition the exceptional government-funded schools.

About 55 000 copies are going to be handed out world wide, to embassies and decision-makers in both the public and private sector.

Queen’s College in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal and Benoni High School in Gauteng have been included as a result of their innovative strategies to the development of their pupils.

Queen’s and Hilton are boys-only colleges sharing well over 300 years of outstanding schooling. Benoni High School, on the other hand, is a mixed-gender school which first opened its doors in 1922.

From the three, only the iconic Hilton College, opened in 1872 and later on revamped to reflect its current Cape-Dutch architectural style, happens to be an independent school.

The pride of Queenstown

 


Queen’s College, among the oldest schools in the country, was established in 1858. The honour of being ranked among the 150 outstanding learning centres showcased is all the more impressive if one takes into account that Queen’s is a regular government school.

Hayden Buchholz, the college’s marketing director, states that the selection process began in 2010 the moment the college was initially approached by representatives from the two British universities.

“It was quite a lengthy process,” recalls Buchholz, adding that inclusion is actually by invitation only.

The accolade is going to do a good deal to draw in positive local and international interest to the school which has already been observed from the higher volume of applications for 2012, several coming from as far afield as Dubai.

“Schools are beginning to run themselves as businesses,” said Buchholz. “It is extremely competitive out there, and it is not simply essential to be good in terms of academia and sport, but additionally in cultural and social areas.”

Queen’s can be described as a completely representative school, reflecting the diversity of the area in which it is situated, with the majority of of its pupils hailing from the province. The school has a 70:30 black-white ratio.

The college is by the same token well-liked by Johannesburg parents who would like to send their boys to Queen’s to grow up in the wholesome, rural environment of the Eastern Cape, adds Buchholz.

In essence, the guide viewed the school’s diversified offerings, and just how effectively it equips its pupils entering into their adult years, says Buchholz.

A considerable number of Queen’s old boys have grown to be successful and respected adults within their respective fields, most notably former Proteas batsman Daryll Cullinan and Neville Koopowitz, CEO of major health insurance company Discovery.

Tradition and pride

 

In many respects Hilton College, based in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, displays the diversity of the modern day world. Here pupils combine from as far as Europe and the Middle East, in addition to the African continent.

While the well-kept grounds and immaculate buildings speak of decades of tradition and pride, simple fact is that it is the high quality of schooling that goes on inside these buildings which has built the foundation well over 130 years.

“Hilton is an all-boarding school,” says Paul Guthrie, director of marketing at the college. “There is a robust camaraderie and bond amongst the boys, and good manners and gentlemanly conduct continues to hold strong.”

Guthrie believes that the school stands apart due to its focus not merely on typical school based activities, but additionally on the continuing development of its pupils into well-balanced individuals. The school has a leadership system that demands each Grade 12 pupil to take on leadership roles and responsibilities.

“The idea is that Hilton boys understand early that they are an important part of a greater whole, the fact that they live within a multicultural society and additionally that they share a common humanity.”

Top achievers


Benoni High School, which was established in 1922, with its motto of Quam Optime (Latin, meaning “better than the best), has proven beyond doubt to be a leader in academic, sporting and cultural activities.

While academic achievement is unquestioned, and matric pupils successfully pass with consistently high marks, furthermore the school’s teachers have also been acknowledged by the Gauteng Department of Education as some of the country’s very best.

Ever since the early 1990s the school band has held national drumming and band champion titles without a break, and in 2006 it succeeded in winning the world title for Grade 4A at the Drum Corps world championships. Pupils in addition do well at public speaking, art and drama, in particular at eisteddfods.

With regards to sporting activities, the swimming and water polo teams are recognized for their success and competitiveness, much like the cricket, football and rugby teams.

Source: mediaclubsouthafrica.com

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Jan
25

36 New schools in Gauteng to alleviate overcrowding

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January 25, 2012

The Gauteng Department of Education is making good on its commitment to boost education initiatives, with 36 brand new schools opening in addition to 500 extra teachers reporting for work in the first semester of 2012.

A further 300 pre-fabricated classrooms will be placed in active schools where overcrowding is an issue.

Thirteen of the schools will be in a position to accept pupils the moment inland provinces commence their 2012 academic year, at the same time a further five will open later in the month.

The remaining schools are going to be opened throughout the remaining portion of the first term.

Even though the the vast majority of the new school buildings are pre-fabricated buildings, five of the new schools happen to be solid brick and mortar buildings.

 

Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy

This brings the total number of primary and secondary schools within the province to 2 595 – which includes independent, non-subsidised schools – along with approximately 72 000 teachers.

The buildup to the new school year commences six to eight months before, with teachers expected to place requests for their support materials in May and actual physical pupil admissions occurring from August to October the previous year.

“It’s all systems go for the beginning of the new academic year,” education MEC Barbara Creecy verified at a recent press briefing, adding the fact that the new facilities should go some way when it comes to reducing pressure in a number of overcrowded schools.

 

Need for additional learning space

 

From the nine provinces, Gauteng has observed the most significant increase in pupil figures in recent times.

As reported by Creecy, student volumes continues to be rising an average of 2% during the last five years, consequently the province needs to make space for approximately 36 000 additional children each and every year.

The province has over 2-million pupils, at the same time in excess of 14-million children go to school across the country.

“There is no other province that has experienced this degree of demand for learning space,” said Creecy in her mid-term budget speech the previous year.

 


In regions which include informal settlements, where it’s not necessarily feasible to construct new schools, the education department has enhanced its scholar transport scheme to cater for these already disadvantaged children.

On top of that a budget of R100-million (US$12.5-million) also has been assigned for pre-fabricated classrooms in schools where right now there is overcrowding.

“We will provide 300 pre-fabricated classrooms and 100 pre-fabricated ablution blocks within the financial year,” said Creecy.

Repairs and maintenance work at established schools is in addition ongoing, with work in progress at 42 sites.

Schools at the coast opened one week before, with the Western Cape Education Department welcoming pupils at 11 new schools in 2012. In 2011 the Gauteng education department established six new schools.

 

Achieving UN millennium goals

 

South Africa strives to eradicate all mud schools within the next three years as well as make improvements to basic safety and functionality of approximately 3 600 schools by 2014 as part of its side of the bargain to the UN Millennium Development Goals, said President Jabob Zuma during a Parliamentarian session following his State of the Nation address in 2011.

The Millennium Development Goal for education is to make certain that, by 2015, the vast majority of children throughout the world have the ability to gain access to and complete a full course of primary schooling. The government at the same time intends to boost enrolment rates in secondary schools to 95% by 2014.

As outlined by basic education minister Angie Motshekga, concerted campaigns on the government’s part has brought about increases in gross enrolment rates by 20% in primary education and approximately 15% in secondary education.

 


“In fact, South Africa has virtually attained universal access in primary education,” said Motshekga at a December 2011 meeting on building public-private partnerships in education.

Statistics South Africa’s 2010 general household survey determined that nationally, 72,8% of persons aged 7 to 24 were enrolled in educational institutions.

Steady advances have been made since 2002, however the volume of young people not studying continues to be unacceptable – most respondents pointed out that the reason for this was due to financial factors, a predicament that the government is dealing with. The legal right to basic education is entrenched in South Africa’s Constitution.

 

Assisting children to learn

 

In Gauteng alone, approximately 900 000 learners are enrolled in the 1 237 no-fee schools, said Creecy. Of these children, over 800 000 at the same time gain benefit from the government’s nutritional programme.

Country wide, Statistics South Africa recorded the fact that the percentage of pupils countrywide who paid no tuition fees increased from 0.7% in 2002 to 54.6% in 2010.

To stay abreast of growing demands, the Gauteng education department’s budget has risen by more than 13% from 2010/11 to 2011/12, with R25.9-billion ($3.2-billion) allocated for the current financial year.

“Almost 74% of this budget is going to be allocated to salaries for teachers, school administrative staff and office based personnel,” said Creecy.

 

 

Source: mediaclubsouthafrica.com

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Jan
24

Four approaches to ensure that your career is always relevant

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January 24, 2012

In the past, we have considered a professional as an individual who is extremely committed and practiced within a somewhat narrow, yet specialised form of work. These people make the decision to not be sidetracked with attempting to be a great number of things to too many people. Alternatively they get extremely effective at providing a finite category of service or product. Specializing has served the workplace effectively since Mesopotamia, and for the most part it still does. However, there is rising data revealing that a change in the 21st century work model is ushering in a new meaning of precisely what it means to be a professional.

The talent and skills necessary for an international marketplace characterized by rigorous competitiveness and swiftly evolving commoditization is typically in an escalating state of flux. For a professional in the years ahead, anticipating that merely one skill will continue to keep them marketable and employed for the long-term has grown to become improbable. The workplace of the future will likely be demanding talent that is constantly linked to learning and development, in ways that it is nimble enough to transfer aptitudes to alternative and hybrid jobs. Permitting yourself to be too restricted in scope, or even worse, to give into complacency and inertia are definitely the career killers of the future.

 

 

What each and every expert would like to do is to be as well prepared as is feasible for an unclear and unknown workplace in future years. However, considering the fact that it is impossible to be expected to be educated and skilled in everything, it will become essential to possess a readiness plan that builds from your existing skill base. Listed below are four approaches to ensure that your career development options are kept open and at the same time are continuing to move forward:

1. Highlight in a persuasive format the breadth and depth of your expertise and achievements. To achieve this, start out with a fundamental assumption, which happens to be that each and every employer will probably have really just one thing on their minds when contemplating you for employment, “What can you do for me?” The broader your array of capability, the better the likelihood of having the ability to answer their question. When you are equipped with a portfolio and resume that illustrates your adaptive ability, you are prepared for the changeable needs of employers. Demonstrate that you are as dynamic as the businesses you aspire to work for.

2. Learn and employ skills that happen to be transferable to a variety of conditions. Being skilled at something is, needless to say, excellent. Possessing skills which can be transferable and may also be applied in many different circumstances is far better. Just what exactly are these skills? Keep in mind, that as a professional you never quit keeping up with your field of expertise. By keeping yourself current, you will be on top of the turns and twists your profession is going through. This heads-up knowledge enables you to adapt and refocus your skills as required. Prepare yourself to not just say, “I can do this,” but “I can do this and that and if needed blend the two with…”.

 

 

3. Consent to becoming a lifelong learner. Zero news here, learning does not stop with graduation. Growth is continuous. Accept it. Capture and relish the exhilaration of learning more and mastering things that are new. Get out of your comfort zone from time to time, as well. The more secure your attitude of continual development, the better you’ll be able to leverage your increasing capabilities towards career enhancing opportunities. Once again, your never-ending research and networking will enlighten you in regards to what content to master.

4. Search for organisations who are concerned about your career in addition to you. Wise employers understand the correlation between engaged employees and productivity. And one of the most effective ways to keep your talent engaged would be to make sure they know they are valued and show it by providing job descriptions that stimulate growth and development. Deciding on places to work, in which management actively attempts to make necessary arrangements with employees that contribute to productivity for both parties is the goal for progressive professionals.

With an unclear work future, producing jobs that did not even exist a couple of years in the past, it is advisable to be proactive as opposed to reactive. The early bird still gets that worm.

Source: William W. Ryan

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Jan
23

How to establish the most suitable career choice

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January 23, 2012

So many people are unclear about what career choice to make. It is typically incredibly challenging to figure out the ideal career choice for you. Choosing one is definitely an extremely challenging and daunting task.

Prior to making any choices with regards to your career, it is advisable to evaluate yourself. Look at the things that you are interested in, such as your hobbies and in addition you really should take into consideration what skills you have. Self assessment is vital when you need to decide on the most suitable career. Figure out what you truly take pleasure in doing. For anyone who is making a choice as to what you would like to work as, it must be something you enjoy, if you don’t working life is definitely not going to be satisfying and you will probably grow to dislike and resent your career. Having said this, regrettably not everyone is capable of having their ideal job. If everyone who liked playing football became a football player, we would have a significant dilemma.

 

After you have identified interests that complement things that you happen to be capable of, you then have a set of possible things you could possibly perform and then you should investigate these careers. Make contact with individuals who are employed in jobs that you are currently enthusiastic about and ask questions about it, which include:

- Precisely what is the routine of the job like?
- Exactly what skills and qualifications do you require?
- Tips about how do you get into the job?

This will likely provide you a significantly better understanding of what a job could possibly entail and exactly how it might be like to undertake this job.

 


Now that you have a preliminary understanding of a certain job or work opportunities, it is advisable to figure out how realistic it really is as a career choice for you personally. You might want to take into consideration if the job is suited to the lifestyle you desire. Give some thought to:

- The hours you will need to work
- Precisely how much money you can expect to earn?
- Will you have to travel far?
- Are you content with a desk job, or do you want a more active job?

It is advisable to ensure that you consider various things prior to pursuing a career so that you understand precisely what is going to be expected. There will almost always be positive and negative components to any job and you will definitely need to weigh this up. The most important thing is to find something that will inspire you and keep you motivated; most crucial a career that you can obtain satisfaction from. Be realistic and seek out a profession that you can grow in as a person

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