Resources

Has Quality Assurance become obsolete in the digital era?

As the adoption of technologies like the IoT and other digital tools becomes widespread, the field of QA looks to be more challenged than it was in this new fascinating yet frightening world. Read more on how digital transformation is creating challenges in quality assurance and testing operations and what could be done:

DHET 2019 Research Bulletin 8

The objective of the Research Bulletin is to promote and share research findings on PSET. The Research Bulletin contains the following kinds of information: abstracts, summaries, and excerpts of completed or current research and evaluations; summaries of event proceedings; summaries of research practice; and statistics on post-school learning. The theme if this year’s Research Bulletin was on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR); as linked to the 2019 DHET Research Colloquium on the 4IR and its implications for PSET.

Feedback on the COVID-19 Education Consultative Gathering

On 22 April 2020, a virtual meeting involving over 80 individuals gathered to hear first-hand from the Department of Basic Education the plans being put in place to support learners and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

New Philanthropy and the Disruption of Global Education New Philanthropy and the Disruption of Global Education

The fourth edition of NORRAG Special Issue (NSI), published in April 2020, is entitled “New Philanthropy and the Disruption of Global Education.” NSI 04 aims to analyse the disruptive nature of “new philanthropy” and its role in the changing landscape of global education and development. Dr Rooksana Rajab contributed to the NSI 04 publication consisting of 31 articles which aim to highlight global and national experiences, as well as diverse perspectives on the role and function of new philanthropy in education. It seeks to expand the debate and foster dialogue, bridge the gap between theory and practice, as well as stimulate new research, advocacy and policy innovation in international education development.

Freedom Day 2020: Build Education Back Better

Inequality remains pervasive in the South African education system. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only shown the fault lines, but is deepening them at an alarming rate, and in a manner that may take many more years to undo. In this contribution, based on findings fro our Researchers Bootcamp, we talk to the need to provide basic rights, as set out in the Freedom Charter, such as health, safety and nutrition, while we cast the net wider to consider aspects of data privacy, online learning and governance.

JET Bulletin May 2018: Standardised learner assessments in ‘affordable’ independent schools – perspectives from research and practice JET Bulletin May 2018: Standardised learner assessments in ‘affordable’ independent schools – perspectives from research and practice

JET Education Services (JET), in collaboration with four school operators and Old Mutual Alternative Investments’ Schools Fund, has been involved in the assessment of educational quality in affordable independent schools using standardised assessments. This work has led to a more developmental use of assessment, with some school operators using detailed analysis of the assessment data to inform their teaching practices.

UNESCO-UNEVOC virtual conference: Artificial Intelligence in education and training UNESCO-UNEVOC virtual conference: Artificial Intelligence in education and training

A considerable amount of attention has been placed on Artificial Intelligence, its impact on innovations in various sectors, and its implications for the transformation of the workforce and the labour market. Many of the professions that will most likely be affected by labour market transformations brought about by AI are linked with technical and vocational education and training. These changes mean that institutions must offer a changing set of skills – including digital and transversal skills – to students in order to ensure students’ continued employability. An education system which is responsive to labour market demands will incorporate AI both in its own systems and in the education and training provided to students. This report captures the outcomes of the virtual conference on the future of TVET teaching and learning that took place from 11 to 15 November 2019.

SONA 2020: Education Highlights

JET Education Services summarises some key points from President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address on 13 February 2020, Parliament South Africa.

Theme 10 Research Report: Lessons on How Countries Manage Schooling During and After Disasters Theme 10 Research Report: Lessons on How Countries Manage Schooling During and After Disasters

The study involves a review of literature on how education systems were managed during and after a disaster. Four cases were examined: natural disasters (tsunami and earthquake) in Indonesia and Haiti; civil conflicts in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Libya and the Vuwani district in Limpopo, South Africa; a health pandemic (Ebola) in West Africa; and the COVID-19 education response globally and in South Africa. All four cases offer valuable insights and lessons for the education sector in South Africa when it comes to strategy, policy, planning and programming of responses for education continuity, preparation to exit the lockdown and for curriculum recovery.

Research Report Theme 3: The role of culture in alleviating the spread of COVID-19 Research Report Theme 3: The role of culture in alleviating the spread of COVID-19

In the context of this research, culture is defined as the way of life, including the customs, beliefs, and traditions, of a particular group of people at a particular time. Culture also encompasses religion, food, art, fashion, language, patterns of work and leisure and social habits all learned through socialisation. Importantly, the education system in a country is representative of the prevailing culture in a specific context and entrenches a certain culture within society. Education systems are one of the crucial venues through which individuals engage society, and schools form avenues for cultural engagement as community institutions. Given the interconnected world that we live in, culture is a fluid concept that changes as our interactions progress.

Theme 5 Research Report: Unlocking the Lockdown mindset and its untapped possibilities Theme 5 Research Report: Unlocking the Lockdown mindset and its untapped possibilities

Education Researchers Respond to The COVID-19 Pandemic. This document reports the findings of (1) a desktop review on Grade R–12 and early childhood development (ECD) teaching and learning resources available for teachers, learners and parents; and (2) an online survey researching levels of access and engagement of teachers, learners and parents. This review forms part of a larger research project which aims to contribute meaningfully to finding solutions to the pressures being placed on education systems, by investigating the best mega-, meta- and microlevel education strategies that can be used during times of crisis.

Employability and Learning Pathways in the Green Economy Employability and Learning Pathways in the Green Economy

In separate initiatives to test new models for increasing employability and skills in the Green Economy, the J.P. Morgan Foundation, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, along with, the Nedbank Foundation, National Business Initiative (NBI), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Institute of Plumbing South Africa, undertook interventions to leverage employment opportunities for young people and labour market mobility for those who were already working. This paper presents lessons from three of those interventions that can contribute towards developing a framework for entry and mobility within the Green Economy. Two of these programmes targeted unemployed youth, and one targeted employees in the plumbing sector, who did not have a formal sector-specific qualification. All three programmes used a combination of knowledge training and practical learning, with two of them offering a workplace learning component. Of the three programmes, the one without the workplace learning component showed the least desirable outcomes, with only 5 out of 25 being employed, according to a tracer study 6 months after the programme ended. Skills programmes that have a workplace learning component optimise the candidates readiness, and also the match between the candidates capacity, and occupational roles. It creates the opportunity for the industry itself to identify what skills are in demand. This kind of responsive and demand-driven training can enhance employability and entry into the labour market.