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THE opposition Democratic Alliance has proposed a number of changes for school timetables in a bid to make up for lost teaching time during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the CRAMS- TIMMS survey, learners have lost between 50-75% of learning time over the last two years. This has wide-ranging implications for learners and it is important that the feasibility of various methods are considered to ensure that they catch up on the curriculum, the political party said.
Some of the proposals made by the DA to catch up this lost time include:
Trim the curriculum and focus on the basic skills;Address the teacher vacancy rate as a matter of urgency;Provide extra lessons through absorbing graduates and calling back retired teachers, with the consideration of remuneration;Work with the Departments of Higher Education and Treasury to consider increasing the number of bursaries for teaching with a focus on STEM subjects;Extending the school day by an hour.
“The DA is looking into a variety of solutions for pupils to catch up on learning and teaching-time lost, of which the extension of the schooling time is a possible option,” it said.
“This, of course cannot go without the adequate funding to support it or without the consultation of a variety stakeholders; including learners, teachers and parents. As well as investigating how beneficial and practical this option is, other aspects such as the provision of incentives to teachers, considering learner transport and school nutrition must be considered.”
Updated rules
Schools in the country recently returned to full-time teaching following the government’s decision to end rotational timetables.
Under the regulations, all primary, secondary and special schools from both public and independent schools returned to full-time attendance from 7 February.
Other significant changes that were introduced from this date include:
All contact sport and non-contact sport may resume, including training, intra-school and interschool games.Individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 and their contacts are no longer required to isolate. Only people who have symptoms or are advised by a health care worker should isolate for not more than seven days after which the learner, teacher, school support staff or official should return to school/office.Schools should introduce face mask breaks for learners (5 – 15 minutes for every two hours during the school day) where they can safely remove their masks in an outdoor area.All learners aged 12 – 17 years and older are also encouraged to vaccinate at their nearest vaccination sites.
–BusinessTech