Schools will not be obliged to offer new, updated subjects when the National Curriculum Statement is introduced for grade 10 from next year, the Department of Education said on Monday.
Had they not presented the subjects before, schools will only be allowed to offer new subjects if they have the resources and teachers required, Deputy Director General of Education Penny Vinjevold told reporters in Pretoria.
The new curriculum, to be introduced progressively for grades 10 12 over the next three years, has updated and sometimes renamed versions of subjects currently on offer.
There will be 29 subjects in all, but schools will not be expected to offer them all.
The subjects have been condensed from a previous more than 100, with one entirely new one — tourism — now on offer. Schools will be expected to offer between 14 and 16 subjects.
Vinjevold said the new curriculum is hoped to increase school leavers’ chances of finding jobs.
”It is exciting, modern and relevant,” she said.
Teachers are undergoing training to present the new curriculum and will be geared for the start of the new year, Vinjevold said.
New textbooks ”have been ready for quite some time” and can be delivered to schools from November.
Direction General of Education Duncan Hindle said the new curriculum will require of pupils the knowledge and skills to participate actively in and contribute to a democratic South African society and economy.
”The National Curriculum Statement requires extensive reading and extended writing in all subjects,” he said.
”It requires that learners think carefully about what they learn; that they have strong conceptual knowledge and are able to apply this in a variety of situations; that they are critical and curious learners; [and] that they are aware of the social, moral, economic and ethical issues which face South Africans and citizens around the world.” — Sapa