The new President of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation (NAPTOSA) has called for a re-evaluation of the outcomes-based education (OBE) system.
This year marks the first time matriculants will be writing exams based on OBE, and in recent months there have been increased calls for the system to be reviewed.
Naptosa president Ezrah Ramasehla is the latest to add his voice to the growing choir of criticism of OBE, and feels the decision to adopt the model in ‘a country in which most teachers do not have the requisite experience and the skills to effectively implement an OBE curriculum, needs to be carefully re-evaluated.’
Ramasehla says claims were made that the new curriculum would catapult the country’s education into the 21st century, but have not been realised as studies show that South Africa’s learners are generally lagging behind their international counterparts.
He adds that the diverse qualifications of teachers and the capacity levels of their schools were not properly taken into account before the system was introduced.
Ramasehla cites the hasty implementation of the new curriculum, the complex and sophisticated design and language used, teacher training and education, teacher/pupil ratios, lack of resources and the lack of ongoing support for and development of teachers as the major drawbacks of OBE.
Naptosa feels that teacher training should be at the core of any changes in the education system, as most educators were previously trained under a ‘largely ineffective one-size-fits-all’ approach.
“The time has now come for the national education department to review the impact that OBE has had on our education system.”
In doing this we must, however, address all the causes that have led to the education crisis. If the curriculum is replaced and none of the other problems are addressed, the circumstances will remain as they are,” said Ramasehla.