South Africa is a linguistically diverse and educationally complex country. Most student teachers in Bachelor of Education programmes who are preparing to teach in primary schools do not speak English as a mother tongue. The medium of instruction for B.Ed programmes is English. Foundation Phase teachers will be expected to teach learners English (as a) First Additional language (EFAL). Intermediate Phase teachers will be expected to use English across the curriculum as English is the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) from grade 4 upwards. As such, it is important that newly qualified teachers entering primary schools can engage with English texts, have a competent understanding of English and communicate fluently in English. As one way of making a positive intervention in future teacher competency, this paper argues for the use of language and literacies assessment in Initial Teacher Education (ITE)at universities. The Primary Teacher Education project (PrimTEd) has developed a set of Language and Literacy standards for teachers, as well as assessments for primary school student teachers’ knowledge of English. These assessments are designed to occur at two points: entry level (first year) and exit level (fourth year) of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree. Methodologically this paper considers the complex background conditions in language education which led to the PrimTEd project’s work and then sets out how the PrimTEd project’s assessment strategy may offer a hopeful intervention in these circumstances.

Since 2016 the Primary Teacher Education (PrimTEd) project has assessed first and fourth year student teachers' English language and literacies knowledge and skills with a view to optimising what is offered in teacher education courses. In 2021, after a critical review of these English language assessments, a process of test redesigning that also provides professional development opportunities for language teacher educators, was initiated. In this paper, we report on this process of modifying an existing test and discuss a new design that is still a work in progress, in order to make it more responsive to the English language needs of the student teachers. We argue that the emerging test has the potential to contribute to improved English language teacher education at universities and to improved teaching and learning of languages and literacies in South African primary schools.

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This paper considers education responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, with specific reference to South Africa, examining how inequality has been exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. It outlines how education policy choices are shaped and how the (mis)use of evidence highlights the lack of meaningful and robust involvement by key education stakeholders and social science specialists, particularly from the critical tradition. COVID-19 has intensified and sharpened social, political and economic fragilities and inequities globally, forcing governments to (re)think responses to social problems and disruptions. This paper underscores three dimensions of inequity in education as a result of the pandemic: equitable teaching and learning during the lockdown and school closures; inequities that may result from the (re)opening of schools in the ‘new normal’; and the lack of attention to psychosocial support and professional development. The paper argues that while this pandemic may be new, it has exacerbated existing inequities in education provision, intensified by the COVID-19 disaster management and education policy. The paper argues for a progressive approach to education transformation in response to this pandemic and future crises and disruptions.