South Africa is not simply facing a teacher shortage. It is witnessing the erosion of the entire system of care that should surround a school, and teachers are being crushed beneath the weight of everything falling through the gaps. We are losing teachers, the social workers who support them and the non-governmental organisations to which they refer vulnerable children. These are not three separate crises. They are one crisis — and it is unfolding now. Much of the recent public…

A university should never cross borders simply to admire how another institution operates. The true power of benchmarking lies in what happens when we return home – armed not with photographs and impressions, but with sharper questions, fresh perspectives and the courage to challenge the way we have always done things. North-West University’s recent benchmarking visit to the University of Arizona in Tucson was exactly that kind of journey. It was more than a visit to another university; it was…

This involves exchanges of lecturers and students, joint research and educational programmes Iran and South Africa have agreed to expand cooperation between universities and scientific organisations. This was reported by IRNA, a partner of TV BRICS. A meeting between Iran’s Deputy Minister for Science, Research and Technology, Masoud Shams Bakhsh, and South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, took place in Bhubaneswar, India, during the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting. Dube-Ncube outlined the opportunities offered by South African universities…

Why are knowledge and human capital becoming a key source of economic growth? How are BRICS countries shaping competing models of the knowledge economy? Read in the TV BRICS article India’s record: a gateway to a new reality On 28 April 2026, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry published data showing that the country’s total exports of goods and services reached US$860.09 billion in 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.22 per cent. Against this backdrop, the government set a…

Hundreds of learners in the West Rand continue to attend classes in ageing asbestos structures that pose serious health risks, despite years of promises by the Gauteng Provincial Government to eradicate dangerous school infrastructure. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has raised alarm over conditions at Randfontein Secondary School and Toekomsrus Primary School in Toekomsrus, accusing the provincial government of failing to protect learners and educators from exposure to hazardous asbestos materials. In a statement released on Monday, DA Shadow MEC for…

One of Ethiopia’s oldest universities joins TV BRICS International Media Network The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has joined the group of TV BRICS partners in the fields of science and higher education. One of the country’s oldest higher education institutions, University of Gondar, became the first Ethiopian university to launch cooperation with the International Media Network. The agreement on joint activities was signed by the university’s President, Asrat Atsedeweyn, and TV BRICS CEO Janna Tolstikova. The partnership will focus…

What other BRICS countries are actively integrating VR and AR into their education systems, and what challenges do they face? Read more in the TV BRICS article Virtual reality in Chinese schools One of the reasons behind China’s technological progress in virtual reality is that children are literally growing up in an environment filled with VR and AR tools. At school, young citizens of the People’s Republic of China already use cutting-edge technologies to visualise 3D animations in anatomy textbooks.…

How, by whom and for what purpose are these rankings created? Can they be fully trusted? Why can the same university occupy different positions in different rankings? Read more in the TV BRICS article Applicants and students, researchers and education specialists, university managers and those involved in developing higher education institutions closely follow university rankings every year. Why do university rankings exist? University rankings are a kind of “league table”. On the one hand, they help applicants and students make…

Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) have long been regarded as neutral spaces of preservation and display. Yet historically, they have functioned as instruments of power, deciding whose stories are told, whose histories and herstories are preserved, and whose voices are amplified. In SA, this legacy is inseparable from colonial and apartheid frameworks that systematically excluded Black artists from institutional visibility. It is within this context that “The Pathway to Education Lies Between Thorns,” a travelling exhibition of works by…

In his Hiddingh-Currie award-winning autobiography, “His story is history,” published by Unisa Press, Dr Tlou Setumu asked a daring question: When does life begin? In the same text, Setumu offers different answers from different people. Some say life begins at 40, others say at birth, there are those who are saying in a womb, while others say when a person starts to stand on their own. Indeed, people perceive the beginning of life differently. This is also the same with…