Education system beefed up

Due to a curriculum and administrative overload experienced by teachers, the Department of Education has offered short-term relief by reducing
the number of projects for learners until the new curriculum changes are implemented in 2011. Last week Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga issued a statement elaborating on outcomes of the curriculum review process. She said the comprehensive turnaround plan branded ‘Action Plan 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025’, a 15 year schooling sector plan would be unveiled soon. The committee, tasked with the review of the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in 2009, confirmed that teachers were experiencing work overloads. Short-term relief measures such as reducing pupils’ projects, discontinuing portfolio assessments files and Common Tasks for Assessment (CTAs) for Grade 9 pupils were implemented to reduce the high volumes. The existing Outcomes Based Education system, introduced in 1998, would not be completely scrapped, but modified and repackaged to improve the performance of school pupils.

Fundamental changes
The new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement will see fundamental changes as the number of learning areas (subjects) in the Intermediate Phase will be reduced from eight to six. That means that in Grades 4 to 6, technology will be combined with science; arts and culture will be combined with life orientation; and economic and management sciences will be taught from Grade 7. Pupils will also have the option of learning in their mother tongue for the first three years of schooling (Grade 1- 3). This means teaching in English will occur alongside the mother tongue instruction. President of the National Professional Teacher’s Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), Esrah Ramasehla, commended Department of Education officials for embarking on a coherent long-term plan for improving education in South Africa. ‘Over the last few years, our organisation expressed concern about the flaws in the current National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and therefore welcomed the implementation review process that sought out the views of practicing teachers. Meanwhile, a local primary school principal confirmed that no official notification has yet been issued to schools regarding the new changes.