South Africa’s first group of matriculants to have just completed the inaugural national senior certificate exams under the revised outcomes-based education (OBE) curriculum don’t realise how different they are from previous generations. They are the ones who have been taught to speak their minds. Ironically they have become some of the fiercest critics of OBE.
They had a tough year. At the outset, they were repeatedly told by some teachers and the media that they were an experiment, the first to be exposed to a modern but problematic curriculum. Some teachers needed more guidance and training on subject matter as this was the first time they were teaching new content at a matric level and insecurity set in. Higher grade and standard grade levels were dropped; and it became compulsory to choose either maths or mathematical literacy.
Education Minister Naledi Pandor stressed that the exams would be tough. And in the midst of the exams in November, there were calls by some groups to dump OBE. Added to this, many parents felt they could not help their children as this curriculum traversed uncharted waters.
However, the true test will be when school leavers enter the lecture halls of tertiary institutions or the workplace next year. How well will they cope then?
Josh Pein (18)
School: King David High, Johannesburg.
Subjects: English, Afrikaans, mathematics, history, physical science, IT and life orientaion.
Future plans: Mechanical engineering, University of Cape Town.
“I showed my cousins a few of the concepts taught in maths including synthetic division and calculus and they said they only learned this in first-year varsity,” says Josh. “I’m not ill-equipped. Our teachers assisted us the whole way. This year was tough but consistency is the key to success.”
Josh, who wrote his exam under the Independent Examinations Board, is thrilled with the new science curriculum, which entailed “dealing with concepts in everyday life. We studied recycling of polymers [plastics] and fertilisers and their effects on plant life; as well as global warming. It was really relevant to the ever-changing world and the next generation. I think science was one of the best subjects to study, as well as history which opened up perspectives on everyday life. We were not parroting information — we had to think laterally.”
While he worked on several exemplar question papers and wrote preliminary and mini-preliminary mock exams, he found the actual exams less difficult and they were “thin” in terms of depth but he is “relieved”. Dispelling rumours that some of the exam papers were too similar to the examplar papers, he says “they were completely different”.
Diancha Pillay (17)
School: Carter High School, Pietermarizburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
Subjects: English, Afrikaans, life sciences, physical science, maths, accounting and life orientation.
Future plans: Accounting, University of KwaZuluÂNatal.
Diancha says that by the time she got to matric there was a sharp, overt change in the curriculum, and the teachers had to change their teaching approaches. The subject biology became life sciences and new topics such as “evolution” were introduced. The focus was now on knowledge application instead of just knowing facts. Furthermore, accounting did not entail learners being required to merely produce an income statement and balance sheet. “Now they asked us how to tackle fraud in a company and what we would do if the business is close to being liquidated. It was up to us to come up with solutions.”
Diancha says teachers attended many meetings around the curriculum and the exams and “sometimes it looked like they did not know what to expect in the exams, so they over-taught. The Education Department should have implemented the new system slowly. Things were rushed. The teachers needed more guidance.”
But she thinks she will manage at university. “We learned differently but we can apply our knowledge. The exams were not carbon copies of the exemplars. Everyone says university is very different from school, but it’s all about self-control. Varsity will level the playing fields.”
Desmond Pitso (17)
School: Gotalang Senior Secondary, Bekkersdal, Gauteng’s West Rand.
Subjects: Mathematics, physical science, life sciences, geography, English, Tswana and life orientation.
Future plans: Metallurgical or mining engineering provided he gets a loan or a bursary.
“The portfolios we did throughout the year were more useful than the exams. It taught us to apply our knowledge, to find information and to come up with our own thoughts. In geography we looked at water management, energy and sanitation in our own community and we could teach our communities about that,” Desmond says.
But he observes that it was difficult to complete projects on time.
“We were 356 matriculants. Our school’s library has not been renovated. The school has only 15 computers and at the community library only five. There are always long queues,” he said.
He also felt that his teachers were not confident in teaching the new curriculum and were still using “Bantu-education strategies” by not allowing a range of alternative viewpoints.
His experience of the final examination was that it did not reach the level he expected. “In physical science we did not calculate speed in grade 12, we calculated velocity. In our final examination we were asked to calculate speed. It was grade 10 stuff,” he said.
Filomena Castro (17)
School: Witbank High, Mpumalanga.
Subjects: English, Afrikaans, life orientation, mathematical literacy, life sciences, physical science and geography.
Future plans: Environmental sciences, University of Johannesburg.
“I know we were test-driving a new curriculum,” says Filomena.
What struck her was how “unsure” the teachers were in teaching it. This affected her particularly in the subject of mathematical literacy.
“Our maths teacher did not have maths literacy training. Some of us went to other schools for extra classes. We then helped the other learners,” said Filomena, who went for lessons at another school herself.
Due to the battles they experienced, they fell behind in the subject then had to play catch-up.
Although she grasps the subject’s value in terms of its everyday applicability — for instance, understanding various banking transactions and the accompanying documents — it was a rough ride.
Castro said she did not know that universities required core maths as entry requirement for certain subjects. Fortunately this will not affect her.
She thinks the final exam wasn’t that difficult — for those who had studied. But she is not sure to what extent it has prepared her for life after school and her university studies.
Iketleng Mmako (17)
School: Athlone Girls’ School, Johanneburg.
Subjects: English, Afrikaans, life orientation, life sciences, physical science, mathematics and computer applications technology (which was previously known as computer studies or computer literacy).
Future plans: BSc Geology, Wits.
“The positive part of OBE is that it taught us to think for ourselves, but it had its defects,” she says.
Iketleng says she benefited because she was willing to go the extra mile and make the most of it. Those who were just willing to go with the flow, lost out.
This is why she believes that OBE has failed the majority, in particular her peers in township schools — because the curriculum did not enter schools with the necessary resources and trained teachers. Learners simply had to put up with it.
At her own school Iketleng felt that the new curriculum affected her schooling, in particular in the subject area of physical science.
She says when she entered grade 12, the level was much more demanding than what she had been prepared for in grade 10 and 11.
Despite these difficulties she believes she is prepared for university, but says: “It may be different for learners from township schools.”