KZN12 -Publication Profile

KZN-12: Cutting Edge Learning, a provincial educational publication, is a partnership initiative between the KZNDoE, Umbele Wolwazi Education Trust and KraftMedia Publishers. This A3, 16- page educational publication is distributed free-of-charge to all secondary schools in KZN via the Provincial NSLA structures. Currently 100 000 copies are published per edition, with eight editions being produced annually.

PREAMBLE
Many KwaZulu Natal schools are located within the historically disadvantaged communities, where the presence of basic schooling amenities such as textbooks, subject - educators and other resource material are not easily accessible or virtually non-existent in some instances. Adding to all this, HIV/AIDS has posed its own challenges and has introduced more strain in schools. A high percentage of teachers are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, and many learners have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS, thereby resulting in poor schooling performance and a general decline in the matric results. This harsh reality of the South African schooling culture has hence inspired the creation of an educational publication, KZN-12: Cutting Edge Learning, so designed in order to help push back the frontiers of deprivation by not only supplementing the existing learning resource material, but also guiding the educators and parents by serving as the only free educational resource material in many schools. As a form of print medium the publication naturally fosters a culture of reading, thereby further promoting literacy. The nature of the content determines the extent to which the publication will sustain its’ readership. Hence the target audience, ie: the learners; educators; school management, parents; etc, of KZN-12 are continuously encouraged to read as the content is not only consumer-friendly and understandable, but also meaningful; useful; informative; empowering and enlightening.

• KZN-12: Cutting Edge Learning was officially launched, by the former Minister of Education, in March 2004 and is, hence a partnership initiative with the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education.
• The content of KZN12 is monitored by the Provincial FET Directorate.
• KZN-12 is distributed, provincially, via the Provincial Examinations, Quality Assurance & Assessment Services (Via the NSLA [National Strategy for Learner Attainment Programme] structure) as it forms a strategic mechanism to improve the grade 12 results. This is a formal arrangement and a partnership.
• As the publication is provided free of charge to the schools, it is funded in the main by the sale of advertising space and sponsorships.
• Currently the print run is 100 000 (in newsprint). The aim of the Umbele Wolwazi Education Trust is to increase the number of copies published and to ultimately provide every one of the approximately 140 000 grade 12 learners their very own copy per edition.
• The publication has already received many accolades at various levels and from various stakeholders in education, ranging from the National Ministry of Education to the stakeholders at school site level, i.e. principals, educators, learners, SGBs, etc.
• PAKZN (Parent Association of KZN) is a formal partner to this initiative and, together with the KZNDoE, ensures that the publication reaches every secondary school in the province. Content is provided by officials and educators within the KZNDoE, tertiary institutions, NGOs, etc. The content composition comprises of core Grade 12 academic material, as well as life skills information.
• The publication has been re-structured to include pull-out supplements of Physical Science, Mathematics and School Sport & Recreation.
• The following subjects are represented in the publication: Mathematics; Physical Science; Life Sciences; Accounting; Business Studies; Geography; Tourism; Information Technology and English 2nd Language.
• The publication was subjected to a Due Diligence Audit by the Siyakhula Trust, sanctioned by Standard Bank South Africa in January 2007. This had been done as the UWET had applied to Standard Bank for a sponsorship. The KZN-12 project was applauded as a resounding success.

• This publication serves all socio-economic levels as it is forwarded to ALL members of the educational community.
• This publication is of greatest value to the historically disadvantaged communities as there is still no total redress i.t.o. access to information and education.
• By its very nature, this publication is a leveling tool i.t.o. access to information and provision of educational resource material.
• The holistic approach to education is of great consequence to especially the sub-audiences as society in general is made aware of their issues, and of their very existence. This publication places great value on both academic and life skills education.

• Literacy: As a form of print medium the publication will naturally foster a culture of reading. However the nature of the content determines the extent to which a publication will sustain it’s readership. Hence the target audience, i.e.: the learners; educators; school management, parents; etc, of KZN-12 will be encouraged to read as the content is meaningful; useful; informative; empowering and enlightening. Due to the nature of the content, shelf-life of the publication is extended, thereby further promoting literacy. In addition to this the content is consumer-friendly and understandable.
• Disadvantaged Schooling: Many KZN schools are located within the historically disadvantaged communities, where the presence of basic schooling amenities such as textbooks; subject educators and other resource material are not easily accessible or virtually non-existent in some instances. KZN-12 supplements the existing learning material; and aids/guides the educators and parents by serving as the only free resource in many schools.
• HIV/AIDS: Fifteen years after establishing itself as a democracy, South Africa has transformed itself into a society in which it is possible to imagine living a free and dignified life. However, the country has inherited many challenges from its past. Economic inequality and marginalisation remain rife. Efforts by government to provide services and improve people’s quality of life are dogged by the overwhelming extent of the challenges. At the same time, growing numbers of people are dying from AIDS. South Africa in late 2005 has an HIV prevalence rate of 11% . More than 1 000 people are infected each day. Every day 800-900 people die of AIDS. An estimated 311 000 people died of AIDS in 2004 alone. Government estimates that 500 000 people have AIDS and need treatment. The effect of this on people’s lives, including on the economy and social life, are devastating. HIV and AIDS is one of post-apartheid South Africa’s biggest socio-economic and political challenges. It is critical that AIDS not be treated as another one of South Africa’s problems, but one which has the potential to undermine all other transformation gains made since 1994. It demands urgent attention.
• News and information about this pandemic has still not filtered through to the deep lying rural areas. As KZN-12 is provided free-of-charge to the schools, it is the only print medium that will in 2010 disseminate crucial information about the disease to the learners and the wider schooling community. Content pertaining to this social problem takes the form of basic generic information about the disease as well as promoting learning through discovery, to improve health and longevity amongst farming communities in HIV / AIDS – affected areas in KZN.
• Substance Abuse: Substance abuse is another growing concern in our communities and KZN-12 attempts to raise awareness about this social problem by regularly publishing articles w.r.t. the do’s, don’ts, dangers and harmful effects of substance abuse. From next year onwards a list of HELPLINE Numbers are published regularly to alert the readers of the support systems already in place in order to assist them w.r.t. problems associated with any kind of abuse.
• Career Awareness: Due to their location within the historically disadvantaged communities, most Grade 12 learners do not have access to career-related information. Guidelines will be provided regularly in the future w.r.t. careers and career-related issues. This segment serves to enlighten the learner and parent about the variety of career choices available and the requirements thereof. In this way the learner will be encouraged to focus on furthering his/her studies and attaining the best results possible. In addition, techniques on study methods and learning skills will also be provided in order to assist the learner and parent on important study aspects such as Time Management; Stress Management; Goal Setting; Peer Learning; Coping with Exams; etc.
• School & Good Governance: In our contemporary schooling system parents play a vital role in the running of schools. Most parents are not appropriately informed about their status w.r.t. school governance and KZN-12 attempts to inform and empower the parent body of the interactive relationship that can and should exist between the school and themselves. An awareness will be created w.r.t. school governance which will bridge the ‘gap’ between the learner and the parent as the parent’s interest in the child’s schooling is stimulated. The learner will thus be encouraged to work consistently and diligently, hence fostering good relations between all educational stakeholders.
• Consumer Education: As a new democracy South Africa’s economy is growing at an increased rate. More individuals are becoming economy -conscience. KZN-12 will in the future serve to educate it’s readers about consumer rights in aspects such as what it ultimately means to be a consumer and on how to become economy conscience. Although most of South Africa’s population live in abject poverty, there is still a need for both the adults and the youth to realize that they do have consumer rights, such as the right to satisfaction of basic needs; the right to safety; the right to be informed; the right to choose; the right to be heard; the right to redress, etc.

• KZN-12 services the entire province of KwaZulu-Natal.
• It services all members of the educational stakeholder community, viz learners, educators, principals, parent community, as a result of the content composition.

• The youth, more specifically the Grades 11 & 12, are the target readership of the publication as the content comprises of Grade 12 academic subjects as well as Life-Skills information.
• The academic subjects serve to supplement the work at school, in many schools serve as the only freely available resource material to the learners.
• The Life-Skills information serve to empower and enlighten the learners, in particular, about aspects that have a direct impact on their schooling, eg: AIDS/HIV; Career Guidance; Substance Abuse; Guidance & Counselling and Health aspects.
• The youth will be able to relate to the content as the language used is learner-friendly and understandable. A culture of reading is fostered in this way.
• The nature of the content ensures the long shelf-life of the editions as learners will be able to cut out and file sections from within the publication.
• The inclusion of pull-out supplements, ring-tones and competitions make the editions more user–friendly and interactive.
• Learners are able to correspond with subject co-ordinators w.r.t. to subject queries and problem areas.

• The educators are able to use the subject content as guidelines as many educators are not adequately trained in order to teach specific subjects.
• Different aspects of the subjects can be used as actual lessons as in many schools there is a lack of text-books and other teaching resources.
• The educators will also be able to relate to the content as the language used is learner-friendly and understandable.
• Educators are able to correspond with subject co-ordinators w.r.t to subject queries and problems.
• The nature of the content also ensures the long shelf-life of the editions as educators will be able to cut out and file sections from within the publication.

• Whilst the entire publication, by virtue of the nature of it’s content, will be of value to the principals/SMTs, the segments on Skills on School Management as well as School Governance will be mostly beneficial to principals/SMTs.
• As the majority of the school principals/SMTs in KZN are English 2nd Language speakers, the presentation of School Governance in English and in IsiZulu, serves to make the articles more user-friendly.
• Principals/SMTs are empowered in their capacities to adopt progressive methods of management and governance, thereby moving towards improving the general running of their schools, with the ultimate objective to improve the ethos; discipline and most importantly the schools matric results.
• As the publication is distributed free-of-charge to all secondary schools in KZN, it serves to break the divide between the schools from the urban and the disadvantaged areas. Schools that are locked away in deep rural areas automatically feel part of a greater grouping as the content is inspiring; enlightening and useful.

• Parents are able to access the editions via their children.
• Parents will be encouraged to take an interest in their children’s work at school, and support them by acquainting themselves with the content of the publication.
• They will encourage their children to work harder at school.
• They will become empowered about various schooling aspects, such as School Governance; HIV/AIDS; substance Abuse; Career & Study information; Guidance & Counselling; Health issues; etc.
• As the publication is free-of-charge, a culture of reading will be nurtured. The presence of articles presented in IsiZulu will promote a sense of ownership for the publication amongst majority of the English 2nd Language parents.
• AIDS affected Individuals:
• The community is educated on this pandemic.
• The plight of the sufferers is brought to the fore, and they become the beneficiaries of a more educated society interacting with them. They are not as shunned as they would normally be.

4.1. KZN-12 Website (www.kzn12.co.za)
The KZN-12 website provides the following benefits, amongst others:

• provides an alternate mechanism of access to the information contained in the publication;
• provides another mechanism of marketing of the publication;
• provides an alternate source of feedback to the content of the publication.

4.2. Radio Programmes
The following radio stations (SABC) from time to time provide support to the publication:

• Ukhozi FM: provincially,
• Lotus FM: nationally, and
• Good News Community Radio (GNCR).
• Hindvani

The publication enjoys the support of the following government departments:

• KZN Department of Education (subsidization of printing and provision of a distribution network)
• KZN Department of Economic Development
• KZN Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism
• KZN Department of Sport & Recreation
• KZN Department of Community Safety & Liaison

The publication is also supported by the following corporate/NGO’s in the main, as well as ad hoc organizations:

• ENGEN: sponsor to Maths & Physical Science;
• MOSES KOTANE INSTITUTE: part print sponsor.

The Umbele Wolwazi Education Trust is a registered public trust that facilitates the provision of educational and skills-based activities in order to empower our society to maximize the benefits of the democracy that we have achieved a short while ago. In order to achieve our objectives, the trust engages in programmes that complement the objectives and goals as set out in the constitution of the Trust Deed. The Trust has acquired NPO (Non Profit Organisation) and PBO (Public Benefit Organisation) status. KZN-12:Cutting Edge Learning, the provincial educational publication, has been adopted as a programme by the UWET. The operational management of the publication is still the responsibility of KraftMedia Publishers, the conceptualisers of this publication.