11 October 2007
District offices of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will deploy
circuit teams and other specialists to help develop the capacity of schools to
provide quality education.
This is one of the measures that the WCED is taking to address the findings
of the department's latest whole school evaluation (WSE) in selected Western
Cape schools.
Linda Rose, Director of Quality Assurance (QA) at the WCED, explained the
department's approach to WSE at a meeting of the Standing Committee on
Education in the Provincial Legislature today (11 October 2007).
WSE forms part of a national system of school evaluation and looks at nine
focus areas. The aim is to encourage continuous self-evaluation by schools and
ongoing school improvement.
The QA directorate will identify trends every six months from evaluations
conducted every six months. The trend reports will highlight issues needing
attention by both schools and education support structures.
The directorate evaluated 27 schools between February and July 2007 and
produced detailed reports for the nine focus areas. The study found that Focus
Area Four needed the greatest attention.
Focus area four includes educator planning, subject knowledge, teaching
strategies, use of resources, classroom management, assessment, homework
management, lesson evaluation and development opportunities organised by the
school.
The findings included the need for further training and support on the
National Curriculum Statement, subject knowledge and assessment.
WCED will address the issues raised using a number of measures, including
support by circuit teams and specialised individuals based in district offices,
and ensuring that every school has a school improvement plan.
Other WCED directorates will attend to specific issues, for example, school
safety. The WCED will play increased attention to ongoing monitoring and
evaluation to hold all role players accountable, among other QA activities.
The WCED's Chief Directorate: Planning has organised a series of seminars to
develop a common understanding of the issues affecting quality education.
Participants include teachers, principals, academics and officials.
For enquiries, contact:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: 021 467 2523
Cell: 082 550 3938
Fax: 021 425 5689
E-mail: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education, Western Cape Provincial Government
11 October 2007
