Question No. 43
Mr MJR de Villiers (Democratic Alliance, Western Cape) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether any programmes are in place to assist and equip teachers with the relevant knowledge and skills to be able to understand and teach the curriculum used in the schools; if not, why not; if so, (a) who is responsible (i) to implement and (ii) for the monitoring and evaluation of these programmes and (b) what are the further relevant details?
Reply:
(a) Yes. Teachers participate in a range of formal and non-formal programmes to support them to implement the national curriculum. Information gathered in 2009 to inform the development of a teacher education plan indicated that approximately 130 000 teachers per year receive support through funded programmes.
This supported a 2008 study that showed that approximately 80 percent of teachers have received support towards better implementation of the curriculum. Provincial departments of education are responsible for planning and implementing programmes in alignment with national planning and coordinating processes, but within the context of concurrent governance.
(b) In 2009, a significant Teacher Development Summit was held, involving all stakeholders on education and teacher education and development. The summit identified key shortcomings in the field of teacher education and one of them was the focus of teacher education programmes to support curriculum implementation.
These were found to be often rushed and lacking in depth to be considered effective. The summits, as well as the findings of the 2008 and nine data gathering processes have been used to improve current programmes to make them more qualitative and also, where necessary, of a longer duration.
These are taking place in the various provinces and will continue in line with the recommendations of the national curriculum statement implementation review conducted by the ministry in 2009.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
1 June 2010
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za/)
