© 2016 South Africa - The Good News
Allister Sparks in May at the graduation ceremony of his granddaughter, Vicky Sparks at Southbank International School in London. Picture: MICHAEL SPARKS
I so enjoyed this read. Allister Sparks’ book “The Sword and the Pen” is a must read for anyone interested in journalism and the pursuit of truth. In this world of fake news and moral decline, finding the truth, standing up for it, defending it and articulating it seems to be an ever-diminishing skill – particularly amongst politicians, and sadly, even amongst journalists. Steuart Pennington
“I come to you not as an educationist or a vocational specialist to tell you how to get on in you careers. I am a journalist, a news hound. Have been all my life. I joined my first newspaper 66 years ago — I guess that was before many of your parents were born. Makes me feel a bit like Methuselah.
So what has this old fogey got to say to you?
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Where are the world’s best places to be a student?
Johannesburg ranked in latest QS Best Student Cities ranking
Montreal takes number-one spot for first time #BestCities
London, 15th February 2017: Johannesburg has placed for the first time in the fifth edition of the QS Best Student Cities ranking. The table, released by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, compilers of the QS World University Rankings, sees Paris lose the number-one position for the first time since the ranking began in 2012. Montreal replaces it at the top of the ranking, which ranks the world’s top 100 cities.
Key findings include:
- Johannesburg ranks 84th of 100;
- Cities were ranked according to performance in six composite indicators: Desirability, Rankings, Student Mix, Employer Activity, Affordability, and, for the first time, Student View;
- Johannesburg is one of the world’s cheapest cities for students, reflecting its status as one of Africa’s most affordable major cities. It ranks eleventh for Affordability. Affordability measures the cost of living in a city, based on a range of factors like tuition fees and the cost of key consumer goods;
- However, Johannesburg is then brought down by its score for Employer Activity, which measures the likelihood that a global employer will seek to recruit the graduates of a particular city’s universities: it ranks 100th for this indicator;
- It ranks 88th for Student Mix, which measures the levels of diversity, tolerance, and inclusion in a city;
- QS report that Johannesburg places 89th for their quality-of-life metric, Desirability. A city’s rank here is based on, among other things, the levels of pollution, corruption, and safety there.
QS’s Student View indicator is based on the survey responses of 18,000 students worldwide. Students were asked to name the city in which they would most like to study, their experience studying in a particular city, and their intention to remain there post-graduation. Only 22% of surveyed graduates expressed willingness to stay in Johannesburg after their study period ended.
Across the rest of the world, highlights include:
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#Feesmustfall has resulted in ‘innovative’ education entrepreneurship – typical of ‘get-go’ South Africans.
Check this out!
Education entrepreneur, Hertzy Kabeya (pictured above) has engineered an educational – tech solution that focusses on ensuring that tertiary students pass and eventually graduate. This February, Kabeya’s company, The Student Hub, known for providing affordable study material, will launch ERAOnline.
ERAonline is an independent online study support platform that enables students to access tailored study support resources. “Our goal is to create the largest and most relevant Pan-African education platform that connects all stakeholders to serve learners and solve the systemic problem of the extremely high failure rate in the education industry,” says Kabeya.
In 2014 the Department of Higher Education and Training’s annual statistical report, which looked at the size and shape of post-school education and training in South Africa, reported that more than 85% of all undergraduate students enrolled at public universities fail their studies and drop out.
...[read more]
THIS WEEK'S FAST FACT
Fast Fact: SONA 2017
Visitors: During the State of the Nation Address, President Zuma stated that between January and November last year around 9 million tourists visited South Africa, a 13% increase on the previous year. While the total number of tourists is correct, the year on year increase in tourist numbers is closer to 2%. (http://bit.ly/2lNM3Zu)
Source:www.eighty20.co.za
