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The anticipation is over and the stage is set. The much vaunted 15th Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) Summit kicks off at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The Summit is held under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism” and is expected to last until Thursday.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has cast the spotlight on investing in young scholars, as a number of academics in public universities are nearing retirement. 

Citing the 2023 Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Indicators Report, Nzimande noted that the proportion of staff over the age of 60 increased from 7.3% in 2011 to 10.4% in 2020.  

“This trend implies that public universities will lose about 10% of permanent staff with doctoral qualifications due to retirement within the next five years,” he said. 

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) says a total of 53 206 student appeals have been approved for the 2023 academic year, pending registration at a public university or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college. 

Briefing media on the 2023 academic year current state of affairs on Monday, NSFAS Board Chairperson, Ernest Khosa, said a total of 6 107 appeals have been rejected for either financial or academic ineligibility, and those students cannot submit any further appeals. 

Skills development providers will be aware that in January 2022 the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) confirmed that qualifications developed before 2009 (legacy qualifications, or unit-standard based qualifications) would end registration of 30 June 2023.

The Services Seta has issued a letter confirming that the accreditation status that skills development providers currently hold for legacy qualifications will remain valid in association with the qualification last date of enrolment (30 June 2024), and the last date of achievement (30 June 2027). 

John Botha: COO of Global Business Solutions The World Health Organisation estimates that around 300 million people across the globe suffer from depression. This has become the leading cause of disability worldwide. While there are effective treatments for depression, anxiety, emptiness, a lack of energy and hopelessness all of these symptoms can have a significant impact on an employee’s performance at work as well as adverse effects on interpersonal relationships among workplace team members.

Latest update: 21st August 2023 from www.labour.gov.za

Please see updated schedule of venues for roadshows on:

22nd, 23rd, 24th, 30th August, 2023, and 13th September, 2023.

Note: The Cape Town meeting moved to 13th September 2023.

Much has been said about the impact of Covid-19 and the current state of our economy on the livelihood of so many people. People unfortunately have died, jobs are being lost, companies are restructuring and closing, employees are being retrenched and many workers are unsure as to what the future holds in store. What is of concern to me is the way in which companies are going about firing or retrenchment employees based on operational reasons or whatever other reasons they give. In many instances there is no proper consultation taking place or there is consultation after the fact.

The first paragraph of the chapter on the thinking brain:

Homo sapiens is destined to think, and thus all information on earth is created by human brains. The fact that the brain is a knowledge creator is acknowledged everywhere in the world, except in schools where learners’ brains are turned into knowledge duplicators.

http://learningdesigns.co.za/books/

Many people think that being a good leader comes from an innate ability. Conversely, others think that anyone can be a leader as long as they have enough experience in the line of work their team is concerned with. Neither of these ideas are accurate.