Minister of Education Kader Asmal called a meeting of education officials and experts last weekend, fuelling speculation that Curriculum 2005 may be scrapped.
JULIA GREY reports
A MEETING convened by Minister of Education Kader Asmal last weekend is fuelling speculation about the future of Curriculum 2005. A range of stakeholders, including education MECs and curriculum experts from around the country, met in Pretoria last Saturday to begin the process of ”reviewing” the implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE).
Many different voices are taking the opportunity to express their lack of confidence in OBE, and interpret the ”review” as an admission from the government that the system is failing.
The dismal matric results are held up as evidence that the fundamentals of the education system are not in place – let alone trying to make such an ambitious system as OBE work.
The Democratic Party’s Tony Leon, for example, is quoted as saying, ”The horror of it all is how much money has been wasted. The government will have to do some accounting when they decide either to scrap, fundamentally reform or review Curriculum 2005.”
However, a representative from the education ministry, Bheki Khumalo, retorts that ”It is too early for people to be writing a death warrant for OBE.” Khumalo stresses that the review amounts to an assessment of ”how the system is coping with change. We are reviewing the scope and pace of implementation … in order to establish how best to consolidate and improve curriculum reform in grades 1, 2, 3 and 7, thus improving the state of readiness for future grades.”
Khumalo also emphasises that the government is ”firmly committed” to the principles underpinning OBE. In particular, the teacher-centred, rote learning approach of the apartheid system is irreversibly a thing of the past. The development of learners capable of critical and creative thought, steeped in skills such as problem solving, is the kind of education system suited to the ethos of a democratic society, says Khumalo.
Specific areas that will come under the microscope will be issues such as funding, the professional development of teachers, and gauging whether the professional support programmes are giving the levels of support the system needs.
The Human Science Research Council are supporting the government’s initiative with a study of how hundreds of schools are managing the transition to OBE.
Asmal is expected to announce who has been appointed to the review committee later this week.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, January 26, 2000.
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