Farewell Ravi Govender

Ravi Govender 1966 - 2014

Tragically taken from us in a fatal car crash on the 23rd January 2014, Ravi will always remain in our minds as a unique individual. You will be sorely missed dear brother.  

Ravi and UDW – Campus life

Ravi studied at UDW Fine Arts department during the turbulent times of the mid 1980’s. He supported the drives that students were engaged in to highlight the injustices of apartheid. While he was deeply concerned about the political situation at the time, He was aware of the sacrifices that his family was making to put him through university. He therefore, had a very strong sense of commitment to his work as a student. Even though he was focussed on his work, he always had time to help his fellow students and the lecturer’s in whatever way he could. His dedication was an example to many on campus. At a young age he quickly became a mentor to many students. He believed that students should be exposed to more than just the lecture room. As such, he was instrumental in establishing a student organisation – SOFA (Society of Fine Arts). Using this organisation as a vehicle he helped to organise numerous field trips and the most memorable annual trips to the Drakensberg. Ravi endeared himself to everyone that he came into contact with. His calm, thoughtful and considerate demeanour during his student years made it a pleasure to be around him.

After completing his Degree in Fine Arts, he enrolled for the Higher Diploma in Education which he completed in 1988. He started his teaching career in 1989. Ravi has been a life-long student. He never stopped learning and was always questioning and searching for answers. He completed his Masters in Fine Arts and was looking forward to making time to complete his Phd.

Ravi the Painter

Ravi had a natural ability to paint. After mastering subject matter in realism during his student years, he quickly became very prolific in abstract paintings. His focus was on abstract spiritualism. His work as he described it was always a spiritual journey. Using colour and symbols he explored highly spiritual themes. He always noted that his paintings were not complete and was open to exploration and interpretation from the viewer. He was always painting and continued to this day. He created many art works that were sold to finance community projects like temple building projects. His paintings can be found in many collections, including the Durban Art Gallery’s permanent collection. He has held exhibitions in Germany, India, Reunion and South Africa. Currently he was working on a painting that he was going to donate to a school.

South Africa's future lies in FET Colleges

South Africa had to move away from a university-based post school education and training system for its skills needs to be effectively met, Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande said on Thursday.

Read more and watch the video here...

The quality of Education in South Africa 1995 to 2011

By Nicholas Spaull

Report Commissioned by Centre for Development and Enterprise
October 2013

The aim of this report is to provide an empirical overview of the quality of education in South Africa since the transition to democracy and, in doing so, comment on the state of the country’s education
system. It will become increasingly clear that the weight of evidence supports the conclusion that
there is an on-going crisis in South African education, and that the current system is failing the
majority of South Africa’s youth. By using a variety of independently conducted assessments of pupil
achievement the report shows that – with the exception of a wealthy minority – most South African
pupils cannot read, write and compute at grade-appropriate levels, with large proportions being
functionally illiterate and innumerate.

As far as educational outcomes, South Africa has the worst education system of all middle-income
countries that participate in cross-national assessments of educational achievement. What is more, we
perform worse than many low-income African countries. The annually-reported statistics from the
National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam in Grade 12 are particularly misleading since they do not take into account those pupils who never make it to Grade 12. Of 100 pupils that start school, only 50 will make it to Grade 12, 40 will pass, and only 12 will qualify for university. Those 18-24-year-olds who do not acquire some form of post-secondary education are at a distinct economic disadvantage and not only struggle to find full-time employment, but also have one of the highest probabilities of being unemployed for sustained periods of time, if not permanently...

Read the full report here...