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EDWIN NAIDU
THE 2023 and the 8th Basic Education Lekgotla, which laid out the priorities and challenges for the year ahead, was given the presidential seal of approval and attended by teacher unions, school governing bodies, academics and experts involved in the sector.
The three-day Lekgotla took place on 26 -28 January 2023 in Sandton, Johannesburg, under the theme “Equipping learners with knowledge and skills for a changing world post Covid-19 pandemic”.
The Lekgotla was addressed by President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, joined by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr Makgabo Reginah Mhaule, MECs for Education, leaders of teacher unions and school Governing Bodies, representatives of learner organisations, academics and experts in the education sector and representatives of non-governmental organisations. While addressing unemployment was high on President Ramaphosa’s agenda, the effects of the pandemic, which led to a shutdown of the economy and disruption of schooling, was not lost on Motshekga.
The Minister said the devastating impact of Covid-19 has brought about new thinking around the world regarding the ability of education systems to respond with agility to the unpredictability of pandemics.
“South Africa protected learning to some extent compared to other countries but also experienced severe learning losses. We protected learning through the implementation of a framework for the recovery of learning, and the system began the process of rebuilding,” she said.
She added that key levers of the recovery framework were the emphasis on foundational and core skills that resulted in the curriculum trimming to ensure a focus on deeper learning.
In 2022, the following decisions and recommendations emerged from the Lekgotla:
• A decision not to revert to the original, content-heavy ATPs and assessment plans in the CAPS post-
Recovery, but to use the revised and reduced ATPs and assessment plans
• A shift towards more systematically and deliberately incorporating 21st Century competencies into
the curriculum, assessment, teacher development, and the pedagogical core. Given this mandate,
Motshekga said the work began in earnest in 2022 to design an
approach to strengthening teaching, learning, and assessment. As a result, the initial focus of this
work is Curriculum Strengthening, with the following goals:
• To enhance the relevance of the knowledge, skills, character, and values taught in the current
curriculum so that learners are prepared for a changing world
• To contribute towards greater alignment across the sector, with the ultimate goal of improving
learning outcomes and preparing learners for life beyond school.
This work has included consulting with local and international stakeholders to design a draft competency framework to guide the infusion of competencies into the In 2023, broader consultations will occur to refine and finalise the
draft competency framework.
A detailed curriculum-strengthening blueprint and implementation roadmap will guide the sector-wide activities supporting curriculum strengthening.
“It is also intended to enhance alignment across the sector regarding pedagogical practices, assessment, LTSM, and learning environments that will support the development of desired knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values among South African learners,” she said.
According to Motshekga, to respond holistically and sustainably to these multifaceted challenges, the sector proposes deliberate action in five broad areas:
• Curriculum: Refers to strengthening the existing curriculum statement (CAPS)
• Assessment: Refers to updating and enhancing current assessment practices
• Teaching: Refers to effective classroom teaching, learning, and pedagogical practices
• Learning Environment: Enhancing the space (physical and non-physical/virtual in which learning
takes place
• Learning and Teaching Support Material (LTSM): This refers to strengthening the primary
compulsory learning resources per subject.
To this end, multiple avenues may be considered as part of Curriculum Strengthening: Subject modernisation entailing a review of the current subject offering and introducing new subjects to operationalise the Three Stream Model and ensure the relevance of the curriculum.
In addition, she said there would be content modernisation: entailing a review of content within existing subjects and updating it in line with the demands of the changing world. It could also entail streamlining content to focus on core
concepts and important content in each discipline.
Another proposal related to infusing competencies and cross-cutting priorities into CAPS by deliberately and systematically incorporating social, emotional and cognitive competencies into teaching and learning through updates to the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
It also entails incorporating relevant across subjects, e.g., environmental literacy.
“Our only objective is to ensure that learners leave school with a holistic breadth of knowledge, skills, character, attitudes, and values to succeed in a changing world,” Motshekga said.
President Ramaphosa said the Basic Education Sector Lekgotla is one of the most important events on the calendar. “It is here that officials, educators, teacher unions, policymakers, the private sector and civil society chart the course for basic education for the next twelve months and beyond.”
He added that Basic education was the foundation of a nation’s development, progress and prosperity.
“Despite the impact of lockdowns, school closures, learning disruption, curriculum trimming, rotational timetables and numerous hurdles, our learners excelled.”
This year’s results, particularly in the performance of learners from poorer schools, show the broadening impact of education spending and the social wage.
“We congratulate all the learners.” President Ramaphosa said: “The biggest heroes are our educators”.
“Because of their dedication to their profession, our learners got the support they needed to sit these exams and to do well. I speak here about the extra hours spent tutoring, the personal time taken to help redraft and amend timetables and curricula, the time spent being part of matric camps and many other initiatives.
“Many of our educators have their own families and children in school, and yet they provide an extended family to their learners. The improved matric results must encourage us as stakeholders in basic education to redouble our efforts to address the severe problem of learner dropout.”
The three-day Lekgotla was a platform for discussions for various stakeholders to address issues in the curriculum and technology, among others, while mapping out the way forward for success in 2023.
INSIDE EDUCATION