Addressing Barriers to Learning & Development Archives - Page 3 of 3

CUSTOMIZATION OF THE MONITORING, EVALUATION AND RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

On 22-23 April a workshop was held in Swaziland, at which the Ministry of Education and Training, supported by MIET AFRICA and its consultant, Ms Eleanor Hazell, began the process of customizing the Regional CSTL MER framework to the Swaziland context.

The new MER focal person, Ms Nonhlanhla Shongwe has quickly grasped what needs to be done, and took a leadership role throughout the proceedings. With her leadership – and with the support from other people present, in particular Mr John Hlope (Acting Director: Guidance and Counselling), Mr Jabulani Shabalalaor (Director: EMIS) and Mrs Sthembile Mbingo (Diretor: SHAPE) – it should be possible to complete the customization within the allocated time. The team themselves are confident that they can do it, and remarked that “it is not that difficult after all”.

It will be vital for the team to consult with other stakeholders,

TEACHING FOR INCLUSION AND DEMOCRACY: WORKSHOP IN GABORONE

MIET AFRICA and Stockholm University are leading a North – South partner-driven cooperation between South Africa, Namibia and Botswana in the south, and Sweden in the north. The initiative is funded by the SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), and the countries are participating through representatives from their Ministries of Education, and representatives of one university and one NGO per country. The project responds to the international shift towards emphasis on creating inclusive systems of education, which has been promoted by several significant bodies and agreements, and is in-line with a human rights-based approach.

The initiative aims to strengthen understanding of what is meant by democracy and inclusion in educational settings, as well as attempting to address the question: What are the implications of an inclusive and democratic approach to teaching and learning on teacher education and development?

The initiative started in 2010 and through site visits to different educational institutions in the participating countries,

OUR NEW INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN ACTION PROJECT (UTHUKELA DISTRICT)

Learners in KZN are confronted with many barriers to learning that result in many children being excluded from quality education. The goal of our new project is to strengthen the KZNDoE’s Inclusive Education Strategy by piloting three levels of support provisioning in the three different types of schools: a mainstream school, a full service school and the Special School as Resource Centre (which provide low, moderate and high levels of support, respectively).

In particular, we will look at how the three types of school function in support of one another, but with a special focus on the Special School as Resource Centre.

We have already completed school level advocacy and training on the baseline tools at the three pilot schools, as well as advocacy with parents and the community.

Schools and communities are excited about participating in the project as it will contribute to improved access,

VIVA RHIVA! RHIVA GOES REGIONAL

RHIVA (Reducing HIV in Adolescents) was a groundbreaking, school-based, HIV-prevention initiative that was implemented in 14 schools in the rural district of Vulindlela, KwaZulu-Natal. Targeting at-risk 15-20 year old boys and girls, it tested whether a cash incentive would serve as a catalyst for engaging young learners in healthy lifestyle behaviours.

The RHIVA trial was completed in KwaZulu-Natal in December 2012. It will be tested in three SADC Member States–Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.

What we know:

Sexual abuse and violence against children and youth, especially girls, is unacceptably high in southern Africa (SAPS 2009, SAHRC 2007).
Intergenerational sex and gender-based violence are recognized as key drivers of the HIV epidemic, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the incidence of HIV infection is on the increase, particularly among young women (Leclerc-Madlala 2004, Shisana et al 2005, UNAIDS 2007, Pettifor et al 2005).
A 2008 study found that South African females aged 15 to 24 have an HIV infection rate four times that of males of the same age (Leclerc-Madlala 2008).

MIET AFRICA presents at OECD conference in Chile

Lynn van der Elst, Development Associate at MIET AFRICA, was recently invited to participate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s)Innovative Learning Environment’s (ILE) International Conference in Santiago, Chile from 7-9 January.

In response to the fact that many schools are still functioning as they did at the beginning of the century, the OECD’s ILE Project is an international initiative that responds to the question: “How can today’s schools be transformed so as to become environments of teaching and learning that make individuals life-long learners and prepare them for the 21st century?” The project focuses on innovative ways of organizing learning for young people and on evidence of what makes the environments in which this takes place effective. The project, which currently involves 26 countries, has been broadened to include non-OECD countries. MIET AFRICA has facilitated the participation of South Africa in this international project.

Lynn’s presentation at the conference included a discussion on the Dimensions of inclusive learning environments,

MIET AFRICA celebrates its implementation of a Human Rights-Based Approach in school-based projects

Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to equip people with the tools they need to live lives of security and dignity. Kofi Annan

From 2009 to 2012, MIET AFRICA, in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, implemented Phase IV of the LAHL project in 24 schools in the Nongoma Municipality.

With funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, LAHL IV aimed to strengthen the capacity of the education system and school communities to respond to and provide care and support to vulnerable children, improving their education outcomes. But what distinguished LAHL IV from its antecedents was that, for the first time, MIET AFRICA implemented the project within the framework of a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA).

To share its implementation experience and the lessons learnt from using the HRBA,

Finale for the Year of Inclusion

DBE and MIET AFRICA’s Inclusive Education Workshop

As a way of giving concrete expression to Minister Angie Motshekga’s declaration of 2013 as “the Year of Inclusive Education”, in early December the Department of Basic Education (DBE), assisted by MIET AFRICA, hosted a workshop on Inclusive Education. The workshop was made possible out of Embassy of Sweden’s funding for the North/South Cooperation on Teaching for Inclusion and Democracy project. (For background on the project, refer to our other article, Collaborating for inclusion and democracy). One of the main objectives of the workshop was for the country teams (i.e. from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) to present their research on democratic and inclusive approaches to learning, which was done to inform the development of pre- and in-service teacher education.

The workshop was held at the DBE’s Conference Centre in Pretoria, and was well attended by officials from each of the provinces’

Another RHIVA innovation: Youth Friendly Health Centres on the move

Eyethu Impilo (Our Lives) is the apt name proposed by learners for the Youth Friendly Health Centres (YFCH) that have been set up to service all RHIVA schools. These mobile clinics were introduced because learners felt there was no confidentiality in their local clinics and were therefore not keen to get help there.

The services offered in the mobile health centre are:

Sexual and reproductive health information: contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV related issues.
Career guidance, with access to the internet
Displays of books relevant to adolescents, including teen novels such as the popular titles Sugar Daddy and Broken Promises.

How the YFHC works

Each RHIVA school is visited twice a month for two successive days where possible.
Afternoon information sessions are conducted by primary health care professionals –

RHIVA advocacy: Take a chance and see what the consequence is!

“Aaaa…..li…li….li….saphindesadlasingasaqali!” These ululations are prominent at RHIVA advocacy events thus far, and express the profound impact RHIVA has had within the Vulindlela community. The RHIVA team recently hosted advocacy events across 14 RHIVA schools. This year’s advocacy work encompasses RHIVA learners, parents and community members.

A high point has been the presentation of certificates to parents who participated in the gardening training last year. Community members were very happy and emphasized that MIET AFRICA has been the only organization that caters for their needs as communities.

For the RHIVA learners, a giant board game on Staying Healthy has been the highlight of the advocacy event as they have had an opportunity to play in bigger groups and interact with their peers. In most of the schools we found it difficult to stop the learners from playing the game when the time was up! They were highly delighted to receive individual boardgames,

Learners praise RHIVA and HIV testing

A Grade 12 learner at Huba High who joined the Reducing HIV in Adolescents(RHIVA) programme two years ago, celebrates what she has gained:

“… to test for HIV/AIDS is a wonderful experience with a reward at the end… because I know my status and can keep living healthy by the knowledge I am getting from RHIVA …and the best part is…this information is for free, absolutely no costs involved…”.

The learner says she has even improved academically since RHIVA has taught her that education and hard work will enable her to pursue her dreams for the future. With both her parents deceased, the RHIVA cash incentives enable her to buy her own toiletries – a big help at home where her grandmother is already struggling to feed them.

“I’m aiming to make my grandmother and myself proud with the information that I’ve gained from this wonderful youth project…