Hundreds of teachers from across the province will this weekend gather to share ideas on practical solutions to the challenges teachers and learners face in their classrooms.

The conference starts on Friday 26 (from 13h30) and ends on Saturday 27 May 2006 (14h00), and takes place at the Cape Teaching Institute (CTI) in Kuilsriver.

Western Cape Education MEC Cameron Dugmore will open the proceedings with an address based on the theme of his Budget Speech: "Each one teach one - together we can build a learning home for all".

This is the first conference of its kind at the CTI, which is a unique in-service training campus of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) - previously a teacher training college.

Delegates will be accommodated on site and put in long hours outside of their teaching time to give papers, run workshops and learn from others as well. A feature of the conference will be that sessions will be offered in all the three languages of the province.

The plenary sessions will include an address by Ncebakazi Faith Saliwa, Head of the Language Unit at the Provincial Legislature, author, editor and Xhosa-language activist. She is expected to challenge the delegates with questions about their own readiness to work with the new curriculum.

Dr Kathleen Heugh of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and notable scholar will table a frank and hard-hitting paper about what research tells us about learner achievement in the schooling system: she will challenge the delegates on what their role would need to be to achieve a learning turnaround in their schools.

Brian Schreuder, Deputy Director-General for Education Planning of the WCED and head of the provincial Literacy and Numeracy Strategy will wrap up the proceedings on Saturday with a preview into the strategy, which will be launched in July.

The fifteen parallel sessions offer a varied selection of topics with a strong emphasis on reading and practical classroom techniques and displays by publishers will showcase the solutions that they have to offer. The conference is modeled on the very successful series of conferences held by the WCED on Assessment and Assessment Solutions.

Says MEC Dugmore: "Research is clear that language problems affect far more than just learner attainment in the language classroom: the impact hits all subjects. My message is that it takes a whole community to turn a school around."