Despite excellent maternal and child health policies in South Africa, implementation is weak and South Africa is only one of a few countries in the world where mortality in the under-5 year age group is increasing, says USAID on its website.
The challenges we face in South Africa are enormous: Most young South Africans living with HIV and Aids are female and young South Africans are beset with a high rate of adolescent pregnancy, as well as high prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI).
“Women’s Health is one of the priorities of the Western Cape department of Health and maternal health is part thereof,” says Faiza Steyn, Director: Communications at the Western Cape department of Health.
“The service and skills level at our Western Cape Midwife Obstetrics units and clinics compare fair to national and international standards and as much as possible practical advice is shared with all patients.”
The department believes that the various health care needs of pregnant woman should be addressed to ensure a healthy outcome for both mother and baby. “Among others we focus on diagnosing the pregnancy and providing good antenatal care, i.e. good medical and general history taking; risk screening and referral to appropriate level of care; performing relevant screening tests; assessing maternal and foetal condition at each visit and follow up visits as “per level of care where the patient will be managed.”
“We also address further contraceptive needs, discuss maternal and infant feeding, provide general health education about pregnancy and provide care during the labour process and postnatal period.”
Steyn explains that the department routinely performs an enquiry into all maternal and perinatal deaths as part of the national confidential enquiry into maternal deaths irrespective of the cause of the death. “This is part of a national process with the aim of reducing maternal and perinatal deaths.”
“At a facility level morbidity and mortality review meetings are held where maternal and perinatal deaths are audited, discussed and corrective actions taken. This is all part of a national confidential process and no details relating to cases can be shared, unfortunately.”
Steyn adds that although it is not mandatory for nursing staff at the units and clinics to complete continuous learning and training, all are encouraged to do so and in-service training is continually arranged on topics related to midwifery.
There is a special focus on HIV/Aids at these units and clinics and it is addressed in the initial screening process of patients. “Counselling and testing is done and patients are managed accordingly and appropriate health/lifestyle education is given,” says Steyn.
Another serious health reality in the Western Cape is the prevalence of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). “As part of the history taking and initial screening done on pregnant women, information is taken around alcohol use and then appropriately counselled.
“Various clinics in the high-risk areas have health education programmes around FAS and some districts have forged partnerships with relevant NGOs and researchers to implement intervention programmes focusing on prevention of FAS.”
Steyn says the Western Cape department of health continuously focuses energies and resources on new initiatives to set the province apart from the rest of the country.
“In this vein we are proud of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme and the policy on comprehensive management of survivors of rape and sexual assault,” she concludes.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Minister Grant: Increasing security needs in our province's schools
Statement by Minister Donald Grant, Minister of Education, Western Cape
Ensuring that our learners and educators are able to teach and learn in a safe and secure environment is a priority for this government.
But given the amount of crime and violence we have in this country everyday, we do face some major challenges in this regard.
These challenges include vandalism and theft at our schools, the rise in gangsterism in certain areas, the influx of drugs and violence into our communities.
Ultimately, we want to strengthen security measures at all our schools, therefore, as part of a long-term plan to secure all our schools in the province, the WCED are systematically strengthening security measures at 50 schools each financial year.
In 2006, 109 schools were identified by SAPS and the WCED’s Safe School directorate as being ‘at risk’ during that period. These schools have since received security packages and support from the WCED.
At the end of 2009 it was decided that these schools would form the base of our plan to secure all the schools in the province. An additional 50 schools were selected for the 2010/2011 financial year and received core security packages based on the probability of risks and the hazards identified at that specific school.
I must emphasize that not all of these schools are considered ‘high risk’. The risks and hazards at each of these schools vary with some schools classified as low- to- medium risk schools.
For example, not all the schools had problems with learner violence or gangsterism, some schools had incidents with burglary and vandalism, while others had not yet experienced any major crimes and were chosen as a precautionary measure because of their proximity to hotspot crime areas.
Schools are identified based on a number of factors, including the number of incidents reported to the safe schools call centre and the SAPS, priorities as listed by the district, and crime patterns in and around the area.
The WCED are currently in the process of finalizing the priority schools for the 2011/12 year.
50 schools will be identified in the following districts:
- Metropole East Education District 5
- Metropole Central Education District 9
- Metropole North Education District 7
- Metropole South Education District 9
- Overberg Education District 4
- Cape Winelands Education District 8
- Eden/ Central Karoo Education District 4
- West Coast Education District 4
Once these schools have been identified, the WCED will be making available enhanced security infrastructure at 209 of our schools.
Each of the 50 schools chosen will complete a safety audit and a priority list with their security needs.
The WCED will then make available various security infrastructure such as the installation of alarm systems, the upgrading of existing alarm systems linked to armed response, burglar proofing such as safety gates and razor wire, and hand-held metal detectors for schools.
Of course, we will continue with our zero-tolerance approach to crime, violence and vandalism in all of our schools, and will support, wherever possible, schools that are not on our current list.
We will continue to work with SAPS and encourage communities to take ownership of their schools. The strongest deterrent is community ownership and we will continue to build relationships with all three sectors so that are schools become the safe havens that they are meant to be.
For enquiries, contact Bronagh Casey: 072 724 1422 or brcasey@pgwc.gov.za.
Chalkline March Edition - OUT NOW!
The latest edition of Chalkline is out now! Packed with news you can use, loads of extras and our regulars. Get your hand on a copy at your local school or library.
Minister Grant condemns unlawful action
9 March, 2011 |
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| Minister Grant condemns unlawful action Statement by Minister Donald Grant, Minister of Education, Western Cape Minister Grant has today condemned in the strongest possible terms the unlawful action of approximately 100 learners and educators from the illegally constituted Simon Estes Music School. |
Friday, 10 December 2010
Science degree 'too scary'
Science degree 'too scary'
Pupils held back by lack of guidance
Dec 9, 2010 11:56 PM | By ANDILE NDLOVU
As hundreds of thousands of matriculants await their exam results, many will already have made the wrong choice about what to study next year.
Economists and education experts have pointed to the failure of the career counselling system as one of the reasons many post-graduates are unemployed despite their academic achievements.
According to the Higher Education Management Information System database, 837779 students enrolled at public higher education institutions last year.
The biggest proportion, 43.5%, enrolled for humanities courses such as education and social services.
The science, engineering and technology courses, which have been pin-pointed as key sectors, received 28.3% of enrollments, and 28.2% of applications were for business courses.
David Gear, director of the StStithian's Foundation's Thandulwazi Maths and Science Academy Saturday School, said: "The economy lacks skills in almost every field. A better-educated - especially more literate and numerate - population would go a long way towards improving the situation.
"Our school population lags far behind First World norms of literacy and numeracy. A fully computer literate police force would be much more efficient and effective."
Andre Venter, divisional manager of the strategic development department of the United Association of SA union said: "There seems to be a [disparity] between what pupils are taught in school and the real world".
He said students should be prepared for when they leave school, either to study or to work.
University of the Free State rector Jonathan Jansen said the current curriculum lacked "depth, relevance and ambition".
Of the 263559 enrolments at Unisa, only 28536 were for science, engineering or technology-related degrees, whereas 83568 people enrolled for humanities and social sciences courses.
Education and business and management courses received 108288 enrolments.
Of the 13292 University of Zululand enrollments, only 1689 were for science courses.
Unisa's Doreen Gough said the university had received more than 90000 applications for 2011, most of them for economics, management and social sciences courses.
Ashley Stander, of Rhodes University, said that of 6207 applications most were for business-related courses.
The University of Limpopo received 8747 applications. The bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery courses had the biggest numbers of enrollments.
The University of Venda said humanities, education, health sciences, management sciences and environmental sciences ranked highest among the 6830 applicants.
The University of Cape Town's Mologadi Makwela said 22885 undergraduate applications had been received but gave no breakdown of the courses.
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