I’m privileged to have known Kobus van Wyk, former director of the Khanya Special Project, for a number of years. The Khanya Project has been by far the most successful project of it’s kind in South Africa, overshadowing anything other education departments have attempted. The project, which is coming to an end in March 2012, was tasked with installing ICT infrastructure, from computer labs to interactive whiteboards, in every school in the Western Cape Province. The statement on the Khanya web site reads: “By the start of the 2012 academic year, every educator in every school of the Western Cape will be empowered to use appropriate and available technology to deliver curriculum to each and every learner in the province.”

Kobus van Wyk

With the wealth of information and experience Kobus has gained about ICT in schools while heading up the Khanya project, I though it would be a good idea to ask him to share his thoughts and opinions with Teacher’s Monthly readers. Following is an interview with Kobus.

What were the major difficulties you encountered while managing the Khanya Project?

Kobus: Managing the Khanya project was not all that difficult. I had the privilege of working with a team of dedicated project managers and facilitators on whom I could depend to make things happen. Similarly, I established solid partnerships with service providers who gave me incredible and invaluable support. The major difficulty I experienced was the general lack of understanding among many teachers and school principals – but mainly among education department officials – of the important role ICT can play in education.

What were some of your most joyful moments?

Kobus: The joy to see little ones engaging with technology can’t be described in words! Many of them do not even have a single book at home, and to see them work with technology, which gives them access to a wealth of material, made me feel that the whole effort was worthwhile. Just contemplating the fact that, without the Khanya intervention, many of these children would never have had the opportunity to access technology is a humbling experience.

In hindsight, what would you have done differently?

Kobus: I made many mistakes along the way and would certainly have avoided them if I knew better. For example, we spent too much time trying to help teachers who were not interested in using technology at all. There is an obsession about equality in education: giving each one equal attention and resources. I believe that our efforts would have been far more productive if we focused on those teachers who displayed a desire to come to grips with technology. In hindsight, I would also have spent much more time with education department officials, helping them to see the value of technology in education.

What are the major successes of the Project?

Kobus: ICT in education on the African continent has a long history of failures, particularly where attempts were made to implement technology on a large scale. In my view, the major success of Khanya was that it proved, beyond a shadow of doubt, that technology can be implemented on a large scale in Africa. I believe that Khanya has laid a solid foundation of technology in schools – every school in the province has at least one form of technology, providing access to all learners. Over 27 000 teachers received some form of technology training. This places the Western Cape in a most advantageous position. Now that the Western Cape Education Department officials have taken over the responsibility to support technology in schools my hope is that they will not allow this platform to erode, but that they will continue to build on it.

What does a principal need to do to ensure the successful deployment of ICT at the school?

Kobus: Principals play a key role. They must lead by example, showing their staff that they are serious about the use of technology. Principals also need to ensure that all teachers are adequately trained to use technology optimally.

Hypothetically, you are appointed at a school that has no ICT infrastructure. The SGB informs you that the school has budgeted R250,000 for this year and another R250,000 for next year for the implementation of ICT. How would you utilise this funding?

Kobus: The first thing I would do is to determine what the educational needs of the school are, and then decide which manifestation of technology would meet those needs. Based on these facts, I would develop a project plan, which would inform me how to spend the available funding. In all likelihood, most of the first year’s allocation would go towards establish a solid infrastructure, as well as teacher training.

ICT for computer literacy or for curriculum delivery?

Kobus: I can answer this one without hesitation: for curriculum delivery. The focus must always be on curriculum. Computer literacy is essential, but it is of secondary importance. Learners are so quick to pick up computer skills – if the spotlight of the technology in the school is on learning, the learners will most likely pick up the computer skills by themselves.

A primary school has a well-equipped computer lab. As the principal what would you do to ensure that it is best utilised?

Kobus: Draw up a schedule and insist that teachers adhere to it.  When a teacher is reluctant to use technology, determine the reason for it.  If teachers feel inadequate in any way, ensure that they receive the necessary support and training. A principal should also visit the computer lab on a regular basis, showing personal interest in what is happening there.

How important is training in ensuring the effective use of ICT at a school?

Kobus: Teacher training is a critical success factor for the effective use of ICT at a school. Most of our teachers never had the opportunity to use technology as a teaching and learning tool. It is unreasonable to expect them simply to dive in and be effective. It has been said that the three most important things in ensuring effective use of ICT at a school are: teacher training, teacher training and teacher training.

What is your opinion of CAT as a subject at high schools?

Kobus: CAT is an important subject. Even though learners pick up computer skills while using computers for learning, the subject CAT focuses on the formal use of ICT in the work place. I can hardly imagine a job today where digital literacy skills are not required – CAT equips learners with those skills.

How essential is it for a teacher to have a laptop?

Kobus: It is essential for teachers to have personal access to technology, preferably at home. A laptop is the most convenient form of technology, since it can be taken with them wherever they go; for example, a teacher can prepare a lesson at home and then take the laptop to school to present the lesson. I think that many teachers would prefer an iPad … if I were a teacher that would have been my choice.

Rental or purchase of hardware? If you were a principal what would your preference be?

Kobus: This is a complex matter. Rental of ICT equipment is always the best option – this ensures that your equipment stays up to date and that the technology vendors assume responsibility for maintenance. But this option requires that the school has an ICT operational budget. Unfortunately, the state does not provide schools with regular financial resources to enter into a rental agreement. The result is that the only option for schools is to purchase hardware; this is often made possible through sponsorships. That is one of the problems I faced in Khanya – I had a capital budget, but not an operational budget. The only way open was therefore the purchase of hardware, which has severe sustainability implications.

Given unlimited funding and resources, describe your ‘ideal’ ICT deployment at a school.

Kobus: Many people are of the opinion that computer labs are outdated and that one should now rather focus on technology in the classroom. I agree with this statement only partially. I believe that the real value of technology is experienced when it is used in the classroom. However, I also believe that a computer room has a valid place in a school since it allows learners hands-on access. So, my ideal scenario would be: a well-resourced computer lab; an interactive whiteboard in every classroom, and a laptop for each child. With cell phones becoming powerful mobile ICT devices, I believe that soon the one-laptop-per-child concept – also referred to as one-to-one computing – could soon become a reality through the use of these mobile devices.  In fact, affordable mobile technology and low cost internet access would probably change ICT in schools dramatically over the next few years.

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You can follow Kobus on his blog, e4Africa or on Twitter @kobusvanwyk.

With Khanya coming to an end, it remains to be seen whether the plans the Western Cape Education Department have for the current ICT infrastructure will be successful. However, in all likelihood Khanya will remain as the most successful and ambitious projects ever attempted by a provincial education department.

When it comes to international results, Finland’s schools score consistently at the top. However, pupils study the fewest number of class hours in the developed world. The BBC travels to Helsinki to find out the secret of the Finns’ education success.

There is always much debate about the education system in South Africa. There are many positive and negative arguments, for and against our education policies, the Department of Education, schools, teachers, principals and learners in general.

There is certainly no doubt that there is a massive difference between the level of education at our former ‘model C’ schools and of our disadvantaged schools. I call them disadvantaged schools because that’s what they are – disadvantaged.

What really constitutes an advantaged and a disadvantaged school though? Is an advantaged school one where you walk into every classroom and see an interactive whiteboard and a laptop in front of every learner? Is an advantaged school one that is built out of bricks and has airconditioning, electricity and running water?

Personally I think that there is more to being an advantaged or disadvantaged school than just what the school ‘owns’ or ‘has’.

People were created with a natural instinct to do great things even without great resources at their disposal. There are countless success stories of disadvantaged schools making education happen without having all the fancy gadgets (or even the basic necessities!) that their counterparts have in the leafy suburbs.

But why then is there still such a high percentage of learner failures, particularly from the disadvantaged schools?

I was watching an episode of Special Assignment a while back, and something that a black teacher said really struck a cord with me. I don’t remember her name or what school she was from, but the gist of her argument is that the poor quality of education happening at disadvantaged schools is a legacy of the old and racist ‘Bantu’ education system in which for every R10 spent on a white learner, only R1 would be spent on a black learner.

Quite shocking, but if you think about it, it makes sense. People are quick to blame teachers for incompetence and laziness, but many of the teachers at disadvantaged schools are themselves a product of Bantu education. Of course, this doesn’t make teachers from advantaged schools any better, but the past is the past, and there is nothing we can do to change it. However, there is a lot we can do to fix it.

In a September 2010 article on Teacher’s Monthly, Dr Malcolm Venter writes:

The recent public servants’ strike was perceived to have been mainly about money – about increased salaries and better conditions of service. However, that is not the real issue. Underlying it all there was a deeper, more sinister, issue.

The State’s argument that it could not afford more was ludicrous and insensitive in the light of its wasteful spending on fancy cars, homes and hotel stays, its corruption, the unaccounted-for millions, etc. So much so that it became evident that the strike was about the perceptions of the populace that the high-ups in government were only concerned with feeding at the through, of the tendency towards ‘a predatory elite’ (as Vavi of COSATU put it so accurately).

Lester Venter, in his book When Mandela Goes (1977), writes:

South Africa has now experienced a political revolution, and is confronting the early stages of a social revolution. The first prepared the way for the second.

He points to the ’development gap’ between the two worlds that make up South Africa—the first world and the second. He then goes on to say:

The change has still to come. And come it will. Moreover, change will not come primarily through the actions and policies of government. It will come from underlying forces to which governmental action will usually be a confused response.

Expectations have been aroused. Those in whom they have been aroused will not tolerate the frustration of unfulfilment for ever. Even if a present, older, generation is—to some degree—resigned to the immutability  of life and acceptant of a pitiable fate, the sons and daughters of the next generation are not. Expectations are self-fulfilling, at least partially. A process of change is already in motion. Change in South Africa didn’t end when the results of the 1995 election were announced, as many people seem to think. In truth, that’s when change began.

I don’t think that giving a disadvantaged school an airconditioner, a computer, a brick hall, or a jungle gym suddenly makes that school any more advantaged. I think that the Department of Education needs to focus on strong training and retraining of existing teachers, and make the teaching profession something that people really admire and look up to. I believe that is crucial for the improvement of education.

Watching Top Billing’s recent episode on Mandela Day, it is obvious that Nelson Mandela considered education to be one of the strongest weapons in fighting for freedom. Not just politcal freedom, but also the greater freedoms that education gives. The ability to be successful, to help others, to understand the world and make a real difference. These things come from learning.

Lets face it, one can say that talking like this amounts to racism or whatever, but the point is that nothing will change until South Africans face facts and start talking. For all his obvious rudeness, media blunders and now possible corruption charges, at least Julius Malema has made people start seriously thinking about the differences between the rich elite and the derelict poor.

Over the past few months there has been a fair amount of media coverage on Finland’s education success. Bert Maes wrote an article regarding this:

Explaining the excellence of the schools in Finland is extremely complex. They have beautiful school buildings, well-trained teachers, state-of-the-art technology any fancy textbooks, but that doesn’t explain everything. I will not present an exhaustive or exclusive explanation for Finland’s success, but 10 CHARACTERISTICS MAY BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND:

1. When Finnish kids turn 7 years old they go into compulsory primary school during nine years. All kids start at the same level, no matter what socio-economic background they have. They learn the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes of lifelong learning, which is consistently paying off with better academic achievement in later grades. These primary schools are places where playing and learning are combined with alternative pedagogic approaches, rather than mere instructional institutions.
2. All teachers are prepared in academic universities. Teachers are highly respected and appreciated in Finland, partly because all teachers need a master’s degree to qualify for a permanent job. And the selection is tough: only 10% of the 5000 applicants each year are accepted to the faculties of education in Finnish universities. Finland improved its public education system not by privatizing its schools or constantly testing its students, but by strengthening the education profession and investing in teacher preparation and support. Their high level knowledge and skills makes that Finnish teachers:
   - can have considerable independence in the classroom to choose their preferred appropriate pedagogical methods;
   - are very willing to continuously update their professional skills via post-graduate studies;
   - are more willing to work on themselves, are open to new ideas and developed broader perspectives;
   - are eager to be involved into the school development processes in their own schools as well as in national and international projects.
3. Since the 1960s political authorities always have seen education as the key to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive world. All governments, from left to right have respected over the past 4 decades, that economic growth is the primary goal, with education as the critical driver (according to some researchers, education explains 25% of Finland’s growth): “Investment in people is the best investment”.  To be competitive, the governments concluded, Finland has to substantially boost investments in education and research to foster innovation and cutting-edge development.
4. Because the central government ensured sustainable funding to ensure FREE education for all, i.e. took care of ALL costs of tuition, warm school meals, learning materials, text books, transportation, new equipment, new facilities, student counseling, etc,  the teachers are able to focus on teaching and learning, and bringing new ideas and practices in schools.
5. There are no mandatory tests or exams; except for the nationwide National Matriculation Examination, in mother tongue, foreign language, mathematics and social/natural sciences, at the end of the upper-secondary school (from 17-19-year-old). Teachers make their own assessment tests, not quoting numeric grades, but using descriptive feedback, no longer comparing students with one another. This helped teachers and students focusing on learning in a fear-free environment, in which creativity and risk-taking are encouraged. Teachers have more real freedom in time planning when they do not need have to focus on annual tests or exams.
6. Trusting the schools and teachers is a common feature in Finnish schools. Schools receive full autonomy in developing the daily delivery of education services. The ministry of education always believed that teachers, together with principals, parents and their communities know how to provide the best possible education for their children and youth. Except for guidelines for learning goals and assessment criteria, The National Board of Education (taking care of curriculum development, evaluation of education and professional support for teachers) doesn’t dictate lesson plans or standardized tests. School can plan their own curricula to reflect local concerns.
7. For Manufacturing Education: In higher education, Finland offers university level studies or the polytechnics insitutions.  The polytechnic system was the focal point of education policies in Finland during the 1990s and the top priority for regional development. There is a wide consensus on increasing technology, environmental sciences and entrepreneurship education – all of which seem to contribute positively to economic development and growth. As a result regional support networks are developed to help schools and teachers to adopt new technology in education and incorporate technology into classrooms.
8. Building upon the expertise of local players, whose experience, opinions and abilities allowed them to indicate the best ways forward. The teacher unions and the educators themselves have always had the opportunity to be heard, to help crafting a blueprint of the reforms.
   - The key to get their commitment and support was tapping into and welcoming their expertise as professionals in laying the groundwork of reform. Expert committees of teachers, union representatives, university researchers, textbook authors and government officials designed the new frameworks, hashing out their differences and using each other’s valuable and varied expertise.
   - Another key was reassuring teachers would not lose employment security and salaries. Before the reforms even commenced the teacher trade organization achieved this in negotiating higher teacher compensation for the extra more demanding work.
   - Also experiments and pilot programs in developing curriculum reforms have helped ease concerns and win the teachers’ professional commitment. All experimental projects, coming from bottom-up as well, were monitored by university researchers, bringing a consistent culture of innovation in the Finnish education system.
   - Education reform could only have proceeded if it gave the teachers a way to maintain their pedagogical freedom, creativity and sense of professional responsibility, by allowing them to choose textbooks and learning materials, and to determine the best way to cover the curriculum.
   - he execution of new curricula, learning materials and new instructional methods was always carefully planned, province by province. Provincial Offices approved the plans from every municipality. The switch to a new reform was also guided by in-service training by a network of national level instructors.
9. Political consensus and the capacity of policy makers to pursue reform: governments, trade unions and employers’ organizations form a tripartite in Finland, closely coordinating, communicating and heading to a common goal. In many countries the opposing-parties usually polarize debates and public opinion. Since the beginning of the 1970s until 1987 the ministry of education had two ministers from the main parties, requiring close political cooperation, resulting in workable solutions as both parties could endorse them. This proved to be the key factor behind the continuity of Finnish education policy. The parties detached from their populist political objectives and strategic maneuvers and began focusing on the subject-matter, on cooperating and acting together. Via the close partnership between the labor organizations and the governments, between the employees and the employers, in both planning and implementation stages, the teacher union changed from external political pressure group into a stakeholder in government decision-making, i.e. into one encompassing labor organization, that looks at the interest of the COMPLETE SOCIETY, just like the government. This key element in good quality of governance and public institutions turned out to be the driving force of education performance and economic competitiveness in Finland.
10. Regional development and networking: Today the most important component of providing good education is the management and leadership skills of local political authorities, experts and school principals (carefully selected for their understanding of education development, their experience in teacher-education and their solid proven management skills). The key in the educational reforms was ‘how to find ways to help schools and teachers come together and share what they have learned about productive teaching techniques and effective schools’. The result was the creation of multi-level, professional learning communities of schools sharing locally tested practices and enriching ideas, and matching the needs for local economic development.

I do not necessarily agree to all of the above, but it makes an interesting comparison on the freedom the Finnish education departments give to teachers coupled with the importance they place on very high standards of initial teacher training as well as ONGOING teacher training.

So to answer the initial question, “Are South African teachers lazy?”: No. But many are poorly trained and poorly supported by the Department of Education. The Department of Education should be there to support teachers. Teachers should be there to educate and support learners. Right now I get the feeling that the Department of Education places more value on the learner than the educator. Without the educator, there is no learner.

When will the South African Department of Education realise that good education starts with the teacher?

Click here to watch a video on Finnish education by the BBC.

Passionate Cape Town maths and science teacher, Paul Carter, has teamed up with Cambridge University Press and South Africa’s leading online training company to create an eLearning project that he hopes will help improve the struggling matric maths pass rate. Carter feels this is the next step in his quest to make maths more accessible to those who think they can’t do it.

Of the 263,034 pupils who wrote the mathematics paper in 2010, 14% fewer than in 2009, only 47.4% of matric candidates passed the final exam, with a shockingly low 30.9% achieving the marks required for a university entrance.

When the class of 2010 received their results earlier this year, the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, said, “We are certainly not happy with the current number of passes in mathematics.” She went on to explain that the department is committed to continue investing resources and time to ensure that the quality of maths and its pass rate improve this year. Carter decided to step up and do something about the discouraging pass rates.

Speaking from his Cape Town home, Carter explained, “There is a real need in South Africa for improved maths education and I felt compelled to close the gap.” Many university faculties, especially the most popular engineering, science and commerce ones, place a heavy weighting on maths results. South Africa needs engineers, businesspeople and other skilled mathematical workers to break the cycle of poverty and improve the country’s overall welfare.

Carter has been teaching maths and science since 1997, including at two of Cape Town’s most prestigious schools, Bishops and Rondebosch Boys’ High, and has authored 15 books, including all five of the Study & Master Mathematics Study Guides. He has also written features for publications like Hip2B2.

He explained that the Cambridge University Press Grade 12 Maths course is available to all matrics throughout South Africa who have internet access and covers everything learners need to prepare for their final matric maths exam. Spanning 12 weeks and covering the entire grade 12 maths curriculum, learners are provided with a platform where revision and rich feedback is possible when teachers are on leave and even during school holidays, when the all-too-important revision process is neglected.

Learners will be able to interact online with other matrics from around the country, share ideas and advice, and confront their maths demons in the safety and anonymity of an online forum. Parents will also be able to keep track of their children’s progress with detailed weekly feedback and will eliminate commuting time to extra maths classes.

The course starts on 1 August 2011. Contact Lyndsay on 021 447 7565 or lyndsay@getsmarter.co.za, or visit www.getsmarter.co.za for more information.

South Africa’s education system has come under scrutiny over the years with some analysts questioning whether its early childhood education programmes meets the educational needs of all children and whether the school system is capable of producing students who can cope with tertiary studies.

But with the Department of Basic Education finalising a comprehensive turnaround plan for teaching in schools called: Action Plan 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025, there is a ray of hope that South Africa’s education system will be transformed and receive the holistic approach it required writes Gabi Khumalo.

Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, and several other ministers, recently pledged to ensure South Africa’s children get only the best education at school – one of government’s top priorities.

Along with the Ministries of Home Affairs; Communications; Health; Public Service and Administration; Science and Technology and Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities; Motshekga co-signed a Delivery Agreement for Outcome 1. Its objective is to improve the quality of basic education. It’s the first of the 12 Outcomes approved by Cabinet earlier this year to improve performance and service delivery.

The agreement is based on four outputs including improving the quality of teaching and learning; undertaking regular assessments to track progress; improving early childhood development and ensuring a credible, outcomes focused planning and accountability system. The four outputs are followed by eight sub-outputs, which relate to the 27 goals of the Action Plan to 2014.

The sub-outputs include improving teacher capacity and practice; increasing access to high quality learning materials; establishing a world class system of standardised national assessments; extracting key lessons from ongoing participation in international assessments; universal access to Grade R; improving the quality of early childhood development; strengthening school management and promoting functional schools as well as strengthening the capacity of district offices.

Motshekga said the delivery agreement was a negotiated charter reflecting the commitment of the key partners involved in the direct delivery process, adding that it was a milestone in improving the schooling system of the country.

“Our children and young people need to be better prepared by their schools to read, write, think critically and solve numerical problems. These skills are the foundations on which further studies, job satisfaction, productivity and meaningful citizenship are based,” she said.

Outlining each output, the department’s Director-General, Bobby Soobrayan said improving the quality of teaching and learning is informed by the pressing need to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

He said the national Systematic Evaluation programme and the Grade 12 examinations have demonstrated that learner performance is well below what one would expect given the resources available to the schooling system.

The 2009 Teacher Development Summit acknowledged the gravity of the problem and served as an important catalyst for taking teacher in-service training in South Africa to new levels.

Currently, policies are being finalised that will see the department developing new training packages through distance education and e-Education, and the development of relevant training programmes by universities and private training providers.

“National standardised workbooks of a high quality are to be introduced in all public schools for all learners in Grades R to 9. These workbooks represent a cost effective means of ensuring that minimum standards with respect to depth of learning and scope of subject content are communicated to teachers and learners and are upheld,” Soobrayan explained.

In addition, clearer guidelines on which currently available textbooks are suitable in particular contexts will be released soon by the national department in an attempt to improve the provincial and school selection processes.

Following the introduction of universal and standardised testing in Grades 1 and 6 in 2008, Grade 9 learners will also participate in the Annual National Assessments as from 2011.

The assessments will become a cornerstone of quality improvements in South Africa’s schools, providing important information to teachers, parents, district officials and the country as a whole.

“Targets based on performance in assessments have already been set at the national and provincial levels. Moreover, targets based on performance within international testing programme have been determined.”

Soobrayan noted that although Grade R will be universal by 2014, the task of improving the quality of Grade R and Early Childhood Development (ECD) generally is a task that will extend beyond 2014.

In the coming years, there will be a stronger focus on consolidating the quality of Grade 1 and ECD, following the enrolment successes of the last few years.

The department is currently distributing resource packs to all schools with Grade R, which contain teaching and learning materials specifically for Grade 1 use.

On the outcome: Ensure a credible, outcomes- focused planning and accountability system, Soobrayan said it emphasises the need to make schooling more accountable.

He stressed the importance of knowing where under performance occurs and the underlying reasons so that the department can intervene on time.

“The logic is that neither poor performance nor outstanding performance should go unnoticed. Effective teaching and learning requires a school that is functional, a school where people’s rights and responsibilities are clear, the leadership of the school principal is respected and the school is valued by the community,” he said, stressing the need to focus on school management and strengthening of school functionality.

Time management is among the required improvements and a new national monitoring system is expected to equip district offices with new tools that will be used when visiting schools to assess programme completion in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

The district assessments will lead to both provincial and national reports tracking progress against key indicators.

The department also acknowledged the problem of over sized classes and admitted that the issue has not received enough attention in the past.

“Over sized classes have been found to be a result of teaching posts not being filled; insufficient classrooms, but also to a large degree poor management of the time of teachers.

“Incentives for teachers to work in rural areas, a policy which has existed since 2007, will be used to greater degree than before, moreover, the system whereby teaching posts are distributed to schools has been redesigned to deal more directly with the reduction of over sized classes.”

Further Education Training Director in Gauteng, Don Haripersad, commended the department for coming up with a clear plan.

“They must do things different and productively like building professional competitiveness, provinces to ensure that the School Governing Bodies are functional, look at successful institutions as well as developing schools’ cultural songs,” said Haripersad.

University of Pretoria academic, Dr Muavia Gallie, described the agreement as ambitious.

Gallie advised the department to look at having a system where they will be able to check how many teachers they have in the system.

“We need intellectual systems that will keep everything together, we should be able to know how many teachers are present in the system today and have a potential to have a system where you’ll be able to access every education information.”

- BuaNews

It was previously announced by the Minister of Basic Education that the new curriculum (the CAPSs) would be introduced in 2012. We have now learned that all that is definite at this stage is that the CAPSs for the Foundation Phase will be implemented then.  The Minister is due to make an announcement in the near future about the other phases.

At a teachers’ Conference held on 23 October, the SG for Education in the KZN, who serves on the Ministerial Project Committee, the committee revising the curriculum, gave assurances that all comments submitted by teachers and others would be taken seriously.  He did, however, indicate that they often receive conflicting comments, which causes some people to complain that the department did not listen to them.  Time will tell …

Johannesburg – The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has confirmed it is rejecting the government’s wage offer, a union official said on Sunday.

However, the union would not embark on industrial strike action and had formally ended the current strikes, Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said.

“The union refuses to sign the document,” she said.

“Sadtu will continue to give full reports on the process to its members on the way forward.”

The government had offered a 7.5-percent wage increase and an R800 housing allowance and had included proposals on medical scheme payments and the minimum service level agreement.

This followed a three-week public sector strike.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that re-elected Sadtu president Thobile Ntola said: “We still feel strongly that what government is putting on the table is immoral.”

“Quality public service cannot be delivered by computers, but by workers, human beings, and for them to be passionate and focused to deliver quality service, they must be paid very well,” he told delegates at the end of the union’s national congress in Johannesburg.

“What we are declaring from this congress is war with the government.”

The Democratic Alliance on Sunday said Sadtu had turned into a “reckless monster”.

This was due to the statement Ntola made on television on Sunday saying the union would make the country “ungovernable”, the DA said.

“The escalation of anarchistic rhetoric comes on the heels of yesterday’s (Saturday) statement that Sadtu has declared ‘war on government’,” the party said in a statement.

The DA said it was urging Sadtu members to put the interests of pupils first by terminating their union membership thereby ending the “financial lifeline that keeps this anti-education organisation, which is hostile to the interests of learners, alive”.

Sapa

Here is the latest information from the Government Gazette regarding the curriculum revision. Click to download the file:

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE – Curriculum Revision (PDF format)

Post your comments and thoughts below …

Statement by Minister Angie Motshekga on the national teachers’ strike

The national teachers’ strike has been a major blow to public education, and has had a particularly devastating effect on the education of poor, rural and black children. I am pleased that the industrial action is now probably behind us and that we can begin the process of stabilizing our schools.

The Council of Education Ministers and I have considered a range of options, including the extension of the school day, classes on weekends and how best to use the September school holidays, to make up for the lost schooling time. All these options would have serious implications for what is already a challenging situation. All considerations and their potential impact are therefore being carefully evaluated and implications considered for action, if need be, and the Department will make an announcement on this matter shortly.

Our main focus at this time is that schools remain focused on learning and teaching while our particular focus is on our Grade 12s. There is no time to waste. I have asked all MECs to consider the suspension of all extra-mural activities until the end of the year. All available time must be spent on learning and teaching.

The strike has put the system under severe pressure. I have considered all activities  that will impact learning and teaching and have come to the conclusion that we need to postpone the Annual National Assessments planned for 3 and 4 November for Grade 3, 6 and 9. These assessments will now be conducted in February 2011. I am convinced that this will provide the system with the time and space to ensure that all learners are adequately prepared for these assessments.

My department will distribute exemplars of ANA literacy and numeracy tests to enhance the focus on literacy and numeracy. I also urge all schools to make literacy and numeracy their primary focus and that any enrichment or additional programmes that schools introduce should be premised on the need to improve literacy and numeracy. These are critical foundational skills that learners need in order to be able to learn.

We should also be prepared that the recovery of learning and teaching for our learners will need to continue into 2011. Our Grade 11s will be entering Grade 12 and our younger learners need to strengthen their foundational skills of literacy and numeracy.

Our Grade 12s are deserving of our special support during this time. We need to build their confidence and restore their hope. These young men and women are on the cusp of entering new lives, either the world of work or further and higher education and training. They need all the support they can get. I am calling on all South Africans to rally behind the Class of 2010, like we came out in support of Bafana Bafana during the World Cup.  Provinces will continue to offer special tuition as well as mass revision programmes. We will continue to work in partnership with the SABC. Learners are also urged to make use of the learning support materials on our website (www.education.gov.za) as well as the Thutong education portal (www.thutong.gov.za).

I am confident that the provinces’ recovery plans will strengthen learning and effective preparation for the end of the year examinations.  It is important that our Grade 12 learners avail themselves of these opportunities and see this as a chance to achieve their full potential. I also call on parents and communities to encourage Grade 12s to participate in these additional programmes. We have agreed with MECs that each province will communicate regularly with learners and parents to update them on the support programmes being offered.

We will engage all stakeholders, especially the teacher unions on the details of a comprehensive recovery programme to mitigate the challenges we face following the strike. Nothing prevents a school community from deciding, in the interests of learners, to continue with support and enrichment programmes during the holiday period.

In addition to what provinces have put in place, my Department will directly assist in those districts where schools have consistently underperformed.  We will ensure that our direct interventions will be accompanied with good learning and revision materials and our learners will be placed under the expert guidance of subject specialists.

I am making a special appeal to parents, schools, teachers, NGOs and the private sector to prioritise support to our young people during this time. As we countdown to the start of the examinations on 25 October 2010 we want all South Africans to pull together to support the Class of 2010. As of today, we have 45 days left. Learners must make the most of this time and also take responsibility for their own revision. We have shown during the World Cup that we as South Africans can do anything we put our minds to. Now is the time to support our children. Let’s support the class of 2010!

Issued by the Ministry of Basic Education

Enquiries:
Ms Hope Mokgatlhe
Ministerial Spokesperson
071 680 6849

Granville Whittle
072 148 9575

A press release from the weekly newsletter of the leader of the Democratic Alliance, Helen Zille

To improve education, SADTU must match its words with its deeds.

Any discussion on education in South Africa inevitably begins with a litany of its failings.  These collectively constitute an “education crisis”.

Like most truths that are repeated often enough, this litany has turned into political cliché and lost the power to shock.

That is why the new angle, in a speech by Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga this week, got people listening again.

She denied there was a crisis in education as a whole:  “It is the education of an African child that is in crisis. The education of children in other communities still remains quite good.”

This statement has evoked much tweeting and blogging.   My own response is this:  If the education of the “African child” is in crisis, it is a crisis for everyone.   “African” children constitute the overwhelming majority of our young people who will shape our country’s future and our place in the world.

Although I would take issue with the Minister’s terminology (I believe white, coloured and Indian children are also African children), her statement is correct.

Any objective analysis of education statistics, demonstrates that if the “African Child” to whom she refers, is attending a school run by the former Department of Education and Training (otherwise known as ex-DET schools), they are falling way behind.    The “African child” who attends a former “model C” school achieves grades that are comparable with pupils in any other category.   And in a recent study of matric pupils studying higher grade mathematics, there was virtually no difference between the “African child” in former “model C” schools and other children in those schools.  But there was a 40% point difference between African children in former DET schools and those in former Model C schools.    This shows what we have always known.  There is nothing inherently lacking in the “African child”.  But there is a very distinct problem with former DET schools.

An analysis of matric results tells the same story.   In the Western Cape, the matric pass rate in former DET schools in 2009 was 49%. The overall average pass rate in the Province was 75%.  This stark divergence does not emerge slowly over 12 years of schooling.  It is already there from the start.  At the end of grade 3, most children in ex DET schools do not meet the most basic foundation-phase literacy and numeracy targets.  And the switch to mother tongue in the foundation phase has not improved matters.

In the Western Cape Education Department, we are currently undertaking in-depth research on the barriers to learning in these schools, including the role played by language.  There have been too many simplistic diagnoses and misdirected “solutions” that have made no difference to the capacity of schools to perform their basic functions:  teaching children how to read, write, calculate and to think.

There are many contributing factors.  We have to understand how these factors interact in a way that results in the consistent failure of these schools to improve their performance, despite the massive redistribution of resources to them over the past 15 years.  In fact the resources allocated to teachers in these schools has increased 30% during this period without any tangible improvements, and in some cases actual decline.  Increased resources have not translated into better outcomes.  We have to find out why.

There can be no doubt that an important factor is the quality of teaching.

There have been several major studies on this in the past which consistently demonstrate that in failing schools, teachers often do not have the subject content knowledge required of them.  One of the shocking statistics in the McKinsey Report concluded that only 33% of teachers teaching grades 4 – 7 in 1000 schools across four provinces were able to pass numeracy tests at the level that was expected of their pupils.

Increasing the number of weak teachers does nothing to improve the quality of education at these schools.  After all, the additional 30% in teacher allocation in these schools has made no difference.  Addressing the problem of quality will take a long time.  We have to recruit excellent students into the teaching profession, train them well, encourage them to stay in South Africa and teach in the public school system.  We have to find a way of making sure that every teacher appointed to a post is “fit for the purpose” of teaching the required subject.  And we have to find ways of terminating the services of those who are not, and who do not improve despite additional training and support.

It is also a fact that most teachers in our failing schools are members of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU).  At other schools teachers tend, by and large, to belong to other unions such as the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) or the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU).

One of the most important recent developments in education was the announcement two weeks ago that these three unions had agreed to sign an Accord with the national Department of Basic Education committing themselves to improving the quality of public schooling.  This social contract, if it is translated into practice, could be a watershed in the long, uphill struggle to improve education.

We strongly support this social contract, and will do all we can to help meet the quid-pro-quo required from the state, by providing the required facilities, learning resources, and support.  We take the unions, and particularly SADTU, at their word when they say they are committed to improving the quality of public education.

That is why it came as such a shock to learn that, since this announcement, SADTU has made a move to establish itself as the only recognized union in the teaching sector.  In effect, SADTU is seeking to remove the access of the two other unions (SAOU and NAPTOSA) to the collective bargaining process.  This will effectively kill off SADTU’s competitors.

SADTU’s sleight of hand has come in a letter addressed to the Education Labour Relations Council, in which SADTU promotes the concept of “one union for one industry”.  It proposes to achieve this for the teaching profession by increasing the membership threshold for a union to gain access to the bargaining Council from the present 50,000 members to 100,000 members.  This would exclude every union except SADTU.  And SADTU knows that no teacher will want to belong to a union that cannot negotiate on their behalf.

It is difficult to understand that SADTU members can seriously commit themselves to improving the quality of education one day, and submit this proposal to the Education Labour Relations Council the next.  Given that it has done so, SADTU should not be too surprised if people begin to question the genuineness of its commitment to improving the quality of education.

After all, according to the independent Tokiso Review, 42% of all work days lost due to strike action across the economy between 1995-2009 were attributable to SADTU.  That is the most shocking statistic in the new South Africa because it demonstrates how much SADTU is prepared to sacrifice the future of what Minister Motshekga calls the “African child” in order to advance their own interests.  In this context it is hardly surprising that education for these children is facing such a grave crisis.

Surely SADTU can see what damage their proposal would do to the public education sector? SADTU must recognize that, as a consequence of their actions over the past 15 years, and the results of the children they teach, they have lost the public’s confidence when it comes to providing quality education.  Indeed, they have lost the confidence of their own members.  That is why SADTU members generally do whatever they can to send their own children to schools with the fewest possible number of SADTU teachers.

SADTU must take responsibility for turning this perception around.  We are prepared to help them.  But this will require taking joint responsibility for improving the quality of education in dysfunctional schools, not destroying those that work.   Instead of continuing its attack on quality education, and the teachers who provide it, let us take joint responsibility for extending the quality that exists into every school in the country.   We are ready to work together with SADTU.  We look forward to their reciprocation.

What do YOU think? Type your comments below.