News and Updates

At the recent Presidency Budget Vote 2019/2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the importance of giving the youth a hand-up, and called on the country to support the youth through education, training, or employment opportunities. This is in light of the fact that, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), more than 55% of youth aged between 15 and 24 years of age are unemployed, making them the most vulnerable group of the country, with a staggering 51% not having the finances to pay for their tuition according to the Higher…

The popular TV series Mad Men tells the fictional stories of the cutthroat advertising industry in the 1960s. According to critics, women were the stars of the show as they were able to transform and adapt, while the male characters could not. This is a quality that is also required today in order to progress. Ansonette Potgieter, independent sales consultant exclusively contracting to Novus Print, a division of Novus Holdings, just like the female characters in Mad Men, had to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to prove…

World Literacy Day, observed on 08 September annually, aims to raise awareness globally on the issues surrounding literacy. Across the world an astounding 774 million adults (15 years and older) still cannot read or write, according to the United Nations. Looking at the situation in South Africa; it is well regarded that the country is facing a literacy crisis, with much of the crisis happening at school level. Statistics released by the University of Pretoria show that eight out of 10 Grade 4 pupils still cannot read at an appropriate…

A leading school in Sydney, Australia, recently decided to swap digital textbooks for the hard copy version, citing better learner comprehension and reduced distraction as reasons for doing so. Australia’s Reddam House primary and junior high school classes have used e-textbooks on iPads, but the consistent feedback from the students was that they preferred pages to screens, resulting in the swap. The school will be phasing out iPads in favour of laptop learning to supplement with textbooks. “Where the school went wrong was to abolish the book in favour of…

In 2018 several popular printed magazine titles closed their doors, with others adjusting their frequencies, which to many appeared to be a tell-tale sign that the magazine industry is in trouble. While this is an oversimplification, it does serve as a reminder to publishers and magazine titles to take a closer look at what can be done better in order to respond to the changing landscape. This the view of Peter Metcalfe, Group Executive: Sales & Marketing Novus Holdings, who believes that the magazine industry is not wholly under threat,…

Plastic bags are touted as one of the biggest causes of environmental pollution, with many nations banning the bag in an effort to solve the problem. Globally, single-use plastic bags are banned in over 32 countries, 18 of which are in Africa, with New York City in the USA becoming one of the most recent cities to do this in April 2019.  Back home, leading retailers are in the process of either phasing out the bag, banning it altogether, or looking at alternatives, such as biodegradable bags, as a direct…