Brothers

This is a sad movie about a guy who goes off to war and ends up doing something that changes him forever.

His brother and him are total opposites that find each other in a time of struggle.

This movie is very sad, yet probably such a real situation, for those that get caught in the midst of terrorism and war. Definitely not for the faint hearted.

The Hurt Locker

Motherless!

Hurt Locker is one insane movie. It starts off with some action and it has some really heart wrenching scenes too.

This movie get’s you thinking and makes you wonder how many people are used in terror attacks against their wills.

If you are not into gore or if you are sensitive in anyway, then don’t watch this. If you’re a war movie type of person and can handle movies like 5 Fingers then this is for you.

A long day in Gauteng

I got an early start to the day and dropped Pieter at the airport. I then decided to park and head into the airport in search of some good coffee, from Woolworths.

After calming my craving, I hit the road off to centurion, for a short meeting with Marius from Balance Your Debt.

I then began my way towards the head office of the Banking Association of South Africa(BASA), where we were to have a meeting with some of the major banks and credit providers in the country. We had quite a productive session and made quite a few decisions, relating to standardisation within the Debt Review sector.

After the meeting with BASA, we decided to have a short Credit Technology Association(CTA) meeting.

Then for the long drive home in some serious traffic. You never truly understand, what is meant by peak traffic until you sit in it yourself.

I honestly believe that Gauteng people have been gifted with a surprisingly large amount of patience, if they didn’t have it, I am sure there would be far more reports of road rage. The traffic seriously moves at snails pace and a distance that would take you ten minutes to cover during the middle of the day, easily takes up to an hour to cover in peak traffic.

I hope that the Gautrain has the positive impact that it was intended to have as this could not only reduce traffic and frustration, but also reduce the amount of unnecessary fuel consumption during peak hours.

Schuks Tshabalala

I am not always a fan of funny, but old Leon really does know how to be politically incorrect and make the most of it.

If he caught me out, I’d probably be insanely angry, but nonetheless this is funny.

I do however feel that it would take a South African to really “get it”.

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a chance and laugh at a little bit of South African humor.

Education System

As much as I hate to say it, education is critical to success. The problem I have however is not with education but with the education system.

As a country we are suffering from less and less people qualifying with University degrees, as costs are increasing and entry criteria is hindering access to even distance learning institutions.

I feel that we need to review our education system as a whole and rewrite it from scratch.

Pre Primary

In the begging stages of schooling we need to focus on the development of efficient reading and mathematical skills. Classes should be smaller and more intimate. Younger learners need closer attention and more assistance. The curriculum should be based on language skills and mathematics only, other subject matter such as history and geography should be introduced to learners, via reading exercises, comprehension tests and group discussions

Primary

As the learner progresses, we need to gradually increase the number of learners in a class and focus more on additional content matter. Introduce computer and typing skills and electronic based learning as well as assessment.

Secondary

By the time a learner enters Secondary School, the learner should have developed good reading, interpersonal and learning skills. This combined with good computer and research skills will allow classes to be even bigger and the learner will be able to take more responsibility for what they are learning.

From this stage a learner should be preparing to either enter into a Academic University programme or into a Technical programme.

Tertiary

Access to Tertiary Education needs to be opened up. Universities, should be accepting learners even if they did not do the best during their Secondary Schooling.

The Tertiary Education system is currently only catering for people who are already doing well and it is very difficult for someone who did not to well at a schooling level to get into.

Even distance learning institutions restrict access to courses based on school results, even when they are not providing any form of support or interaction with the learner that could possibly justify this rejection.

The learners would still need to pay for their subjects even if they don’t pass, so what do the Universities have to lose.

Government should set up incentive schemes to encourage learners to progress and subsidise those who achieve good results. State owned institutions also need to offer far more competitive and accessible rates as they are being subsidised by tax payers money any way.