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South Africa: Education

What’s the future of education in South Africa? With Nomalanga Mkhize, Adam Habib & Ismail Mahomed

We gather a panel of experts and an audience in Grahamstown, to tackle one of the hottest topics in South Africa right now – the future of education. Joining Bridget Kendall - the man in charge of Witwatersrand University, professor Adam Habib, education activist and historian Dr Nomalanga Mkhize and artistic director of the National Arts Festival Ismail Mahomed.

Photo: From left, Adam Habib, Nomalanga Mkhize, Ismail Mahomed. ´óÏó´«Ã½ copyright)

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Mon 28 Jul 2014 02:06GMT

Chapters

  • Education activist Nomalanga Mkhize

    A low-fee, low-cost private school model

    Duration: 16:05

  • University Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib

    Improving higher education

    Duration: 13:06

  • Artistic Director Ismail Mahomed

    The arts and education

    Duration: 03:46

Nomalanga Mkhize

Nomalanga Mkhize

Nomalanga is a lecturer in History at Rhodes University, and also an experienced education campaigner, setting up an organisation called Save Our Schools and Community, which took the President of South Africa and the national Department of Education to court over the way failing schools were dealt with in the Eastern Cape.  She now believes that children and their parents would be better served by abandoning the state system and attending low-fee, low-cost private schools instead.

Adam Habib

Adam Habib

Adam is a Professor of Political Science with 30 years of experience in academia and administration.  Last year he took over as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which is known as a centre of research excellence, and consistently ranks in the top few universities not just in South Africa but in Africa as a whole. He wants to improve the educational experience for the 18% of children that go to university, while not forgetting the other 82%.

Ismail Mahomed

Ismail Mahomed

Ismail is the Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival, responsible for commissioning and pulling together the complex and diverse programmes of events each year.  In his career he has been both an educator and an artist – working as a maths teacher in the 1980’s and then moving into play writing and running theatres.  He thinks that the arts enhance education, and provide a more holistic learning experience.

Broadcasts

  • Sat 26 Jul 2014 21:06GMT
  • Sun 27 Jul 2014 09:06GMT
  • Mon 28 Jul 2014 02:06GMT

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Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?

We’d love to hear your views on charm and charisma for a future Forum.

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