THE PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN
OUR NUMBER ONE GOAL
THE PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN
The plan explains what the objectives and activities of the Department of Basic Edu- cation (DoBE) are for the three years of the 2010/11 to 2012/13 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. For this strategic plan to be understood properly, it should be read together with the plan Schooling 2025: An Action Plan for the Improvement of Basic Education. School- ing 2025 explains what will occur in the basic education sector as a whole, whilst the current plan outlines what will occur within the Department of Basic Education in order to realise the goals of the sector as a whole. Though the sector goals are de- scribed comprehensively in Schooling 2025, they are summarised in the next section, given their importance for the work of the Department.
It is the responsibility of the national de- partment to work closely with provincial departments in order to ensure that pro- vincial budgets and strategies support na- tional policies, and in the development of new policies. Key mechanisms for fulfilling
this latter responsibility include the Heads of Department Committee (HEDCOM) and its various sub-committees.
THE PRIORITIES FOR THE SECTOR
The key goals and priorities for basic edu- cation can be summarised as follows:
n The number of Grade 12 learners who pass the national examinations and qual- ify to enter a Bachelors programme at a university will increase to 175 000 by 2014, compared to the current figure of around 105 000. Moreover, by 2014 the number of Grade 12 learners passing mathematics and physical science will be 225 000 and 165 000 respectively.
n The percentage of learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9 in public schools who obtain the minimum acceptable mark in nation- al assessments for language and math- ematics (or numeracy) will be at least 60% by 2014. Currently the figure varies between 27% and 38%, depending on the subject and grade.
The following are priorities that will sup- port the two learner performance priorities mentioned above:
n All children will participate in Grade R by 2014.
n All
learners and teachers engaged in teaching and learning for the requisite number of hours per day will receive special emphasis.
n Workbooks ensure that critical exercis- es and tasks are performed by learners and teachers, will be distributed to all schools.
n Standardised national assessments of the quality of learning will take place in all public schools.
The above goals and priorities for the sec- tor guide is not just for the Department of Basic Education, but for a number of other organisations, including three key statutory bodies with close links to the Department, namely UMALUSI, the South African Coun- cil for Educators (SACE) and the South Af- rican Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
OUR NUMBER ONE GOAL: IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LEARNING
Many local and international assessments have demonstrated that far too many learn- ers do not perform at the level they should be performing. Much of the underperfor- mance debate has centred around the Grade 12 results, yet the evidence points very clearly to quality of learning problems existing in all levels of the system.
The Department of Basic Education has a crucial monitoring, policymaking and leadership responsibility when it comes to improving the quality of learning. Effec- tive national systems are needed to iden- tify where in the country the most serious problems lie, good research is needed if we are to identify accurately what interven- tions would be most effective in improving teaching and learning, and strong leadership in the sector is required if quality standards and best practices are to be pursued across all the nine provinces.
KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES BY POLICY AREA
The eight key strategic objectives focus on monitoring and policy initiatives in the De- partment. It is recognised that there may be programmes inherited from the past that should be discontinued, or should be fundamentally redesigned for improving implementation and results.
The advantage of identifying a set of key strategic objectives is that this assists both the
personnel within the Department,
and others with whom the Department must deal, to pay special attention to ar- eas where risks are relatively high, and the skills and expertise of a range of people are needed.
To remove certain administrative and re- porting burdens and amend the existing curriculum for Grades R to 12, in order to create more time and opportunity for teaching and learning.
The eight key strategic objectives can be summarised as follows:
1. Improved curriculum implementation
2. An integrated strategy on the assessment of learners
3. A new integrated plan for teacher development
4. Workbooks for Grades R to 9 learners
5. Enhanced education manage- ment development capacity within the system
6. The ‘Schooling 2025’ action plan
7. Better reporting on the state of basic education
8. Promotion of the e-Education strategy through web-based access to education information.
The Department will strengthen its perfor- mance with respect to curriculum research and development. It will build on the work of committees established to streamline the curriculum, plan for the implementa- tion of the reduction of learning areas and greater access to good learning and teach- ing support materials. It will also plan for improved curriculum monitoring, research and development to support curriculum implementation.
The Internet, and in particular the Thutong Education Portal, will be used to a greater degree than before, to communicate curri- cula and materials for teaching and learning. The Department recognises that Internet access is expanding and aims to increase this medium for teachers and even for learners.
THE CURRICULUM
Work has already started on improving the curriculum. Several areas have been found in which the existing curriculum, as well as curriculum delivery approaches in schools, could be simplified in the interests of better teaching and learning. Immedi- ate, short-term relief was effected through the discontinuation of learner portfolios, the number of required projects and Con- tinuous Tasks of Assessment (CTAs). The emphasis is on deciding what ought to be taught in each subject or learning area in each grade on a term by term basis.
KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1: STREAMLINING OF THE CURRICULUM
In addition, the Department will actively develop and encourage others to devel- op print and digital materials to promote teaching and learning. These innovations will occur within the framework of the Department’s 2003 e-Education policy. Research on curriculum delivery in schools has revealed that too many schools do not complete the learning programme for the year. A contributing factor is that educa- tional leadership within schools is often weak.
In 2011, a strengthened and credible sys- tem will be introduced to monitor curricu- lum coverage and programme completion, and ensure accountability of schools and teachers. However, already during 2010 a media campaign to promote programme completion, and to prepare the schooling system for the new monitoring approach, occured. The new system will encompass two elements. On the one hand, a national policy will be developed on how districts should monitor programme completion and intervene where there are problems. On the other, the national Department will design mechanisms to track improvements and the effectiveness of districts.
www.ed.org.za
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
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