NCOP to decide next week on Professions Bill public hearings - NCOP to decide next week on Professions Bill public hearings - The National Council of Provinces' (NCOP's) Select Committee on Public Services will decide next week whether or not it would host further public hearings into the contentious Built Environment Professions Bill.

Nigeria: Rivers Approves Contracts for Schools Renovation - The Rivers State Executive Council has directed that contracts for the renovation of primary and secondary schools be awarded without delay. [AA Construction]

SA's Housing Department offers Matrics scholarships - By Proffesor Ndawonde
Pretoria - In an effort to create a pool of highly competent housing professionals, the Department of Housing is offering matriculants scholarships in the field.
The National Housing Scholarship Programme is aimed as meeting the demands of South Africa's complex housing environment, the capacity requirements and the need for more competent housing professionals.

The Education Ministry has admitted that there are serious problems of quality in the education provided by Mozambican schools, particularly in the initial years of primary education.

Quiteria Mabote, an adviser to Education Minister Aires Aly, told AIM that visits made by Ministry inspectors to the schools show that the same problems, particularly in teaching children to read and write, are found all over the country.

Photographs of an annual event at the Wits University School of Architecture and Planning. Each year first year Architecture students work in groups to span the fish pond at the entrance to the School with footbridges as part of the Construction Course.

The South African education system has achieved a number of positive results in the last 14 years, but is still in a process of transition and suffering from a lack of resources and infrastructure, writes Gabi Khumalo.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report, which was released on Monday, found that sustained strategic planning and resourcing and steady nerve policy makers were critical to ensure that the reform vision of government is realised.

"The post apartheid government inherited an education system beset by a host of problems, a fundamental issue of which was the structured inequality that was embedded in the system," noted the report, entitle a Review of the South African Education System.

"Added to these weaknesses are major infrastructural deficits, inadequate financing, lack of democratic procedures, imbalanced curricular policy, poor teacher education and very unsatisfactory provision of teaching of teaching materials."

Professor Mtonga - Doyen of Traditional Arts, Culture - Professor Mtonga - Doyen of Traditional Arts, Culture - WHEN award-winning playwright Cheela Chilala was being interviewed to take-up a full time appointment at the University of Zambia (UNZA) with a view to taking over the courses that Professor Mapopa Mtonga was running, he was asked whether he was capable of filling his shoes. [All Africa Zambia] [AA Zambia]

Above: Wits Architecture first year students working on a construction project (2008) See more photos of this event

SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Accredited Schools of Architecture in South Africa

School of Architecture & Planning : University of the Witwatersrand - Johannesburg

School of Architecture & Planning : University of Cape Town - Cape Town

School for the Built Environment : University of Pretoria - Pretoria

Tshwane University of Technology - Pretoria