Scenes from a school...

Mr Taylor, the principal, in the orange shirt and red tie. He's sometimes strict, but he needs to be. Je uttered his first immortal words to me when I arrived about 2 minutes late on Friday. "07:15 Mr van der Leek."



Michelle (who interviewed me) and Johan Prinsloo - ex Grey Guy, matriculated in 1987. He teaches Biology, and knows CJ from Virgin Active. He coaches hockey and often goes to gym. Will try to catch a lift with them when they go.



Friday was dedicated to Kwaito. A relief to some of the staff and kids I'm sure.






There are a number of Asian students at Brebner. Most are very quiet and shy. Cindy, 2nd from right, is from Taiwan. Very sweet.



Elbe, who stays at the hostel. She also coaches hockey.


Third World Schools
SA Schools are Technologically Backward
by Nick van der Leek

Like Neanderthals, we still write on walls with pieces of rock. Yes, it's true. There are still schools in this country where chalkboards are still being used. Only chalkboards. One might think that's okay, except, when better technology exists, we'd be wiser to make use of it.

I am teaching at a high school in Bloemfontein, but even in the university, there's a lack of state of the art of equipment. That means lessons are more boring than they need to be. Even an overhead projector makes classes a little brighter, a tad more stimulating.

If you have technology, why not use it? Why waste time with a pair of tin cans and string when you could use a cellphone? If you have a TV, why listen to the radio?

As an educator, the trick is to hold the attention of your students, communicate effectively, and importantly, quickly.

The problem with a black/greenboard is that you necessarily have to keep turning your back on students. The writing is not always clear. It's messy. Writing on a white metal board with a magic marker is much cleaner and quicker. Even better is throwing a prepped Powerpoint presentation onscreen. It's easier to wow students with computers than with chalk.

In South Korea, in public schools that I visited, each teacher had their own computer embedded into their desks, and could, from their desks, launch a display from the screen onto a silver screen behind them. We ought to aim for this sort of thing.

Schools ought to look for funds by getting sponsors to advertise on their fields, in their classrooms, or find some other solution. Complacency is not the answer. Governing bodies ought to look into this too.

The goal should be effective education. Effective teachers allow more and more students to perform according to their potential. It starts in the classroom, and we ought to make some investments there if we intend to ever graduate beyond the Third World.