The overall objective of the Basic Education Sector Lekgotla was on crafting, through five Commissions on various topics, a sector recovery plan for teaching and learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including learner drop out.
Day 1 was a reflection on the mid-term progress on the basic education priorities for the 6th Administration by Dr Thabo Mabogoane, Deputy Director-General: Outcomes Facilitator for the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency. “Amongst our goals for the next five years is to strengthen the foundations of literacy and numeracy by focusing on the migration of Early Childhood Development (ECD) from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education,” he said.
The impact of COVID-19 on learning losses, drop-out rates, enrolment and attendance was explained in a presentation by Dr Martin Gustafsson, Analyst and Researcher in the Office of the Director-General, DBE, and Deputy Director, Ms Nompumelelo Mohohlwane in the Research, Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate. On learner dropout, Ms Merle Mansfield, Programme Director for the Zero-Dropout Campaign explained that, “a main reason for the South African dropout crisis is the disengagement by the learner brought about by poor teaching and learning; poor learning outcomes; violence; bullying; hunger; and family and community factors”.
Dr Rufus Poliah, Chief Director for National Assessment and Public Examinations, presented the Proposed Framework for the Learning Recovery Programme (LRP) for the South African Schooling System, focussing on curriculum recovery. “The recovery period will extend over the next three years (2022 – 2024) and will be followed by the implementation of a strengthened curriculum in 2025. COVID-19 necessitated trimming the curriculum; a change in assessment protocol on summative rather than formative assessment; psychosocial support; a need to focus on creative and problem-solving skills; and the strengthening of teacher skills and professionalism. COVID highlighted the existing economic and social inequalities and called for a rapid response. Recovery must be built in an enabling environment to recover these learning losses,” Dr Poliah explained.
A panel discussion on Early Childhood Development (ECD) rounded off the first day discussions, focusing on a South African perspective; the importance of ECD for future life outcomes; and systems development for ECD, with a presentation by Dr Justin Valentin, Minister of Education, Seychelles, on best practice.
The focus on Day 2 was on promoting Entrepreneurship and 21st Century Skills and Social Mobilisation for Inclusive Education. “Inclusive Education and the implementation of the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) requires a multi-disciplinary approach,” confirmed Dr Moses Simelane, DBE Chief Director for Curriculum Implementation and Monitoring at the DBE after valuable input was received from academics at the universities of the Western Cape and Nottingham. On the topic of skills and competencies for a changing world, E-Cubed and fellow-presenters agreed that Project-Based Learning (PBL) will enhance an entrepreneurial mindset for competency-based education and employability. They also stressed the importance for both learners and teachers to develop and enhance their skills to provide guidance as classroom champions. The Three Stream Model and Focus Schools for specialised technical education was therefore also a contentious topic for in-depth discussion.
The robust discussions continued during the Commission sessions. The five Commissions focused on: Development and implementation of a modernised curriculum for 21st Century skills; Teacher preparation, professionalism and wellbeing; Information and Communication Technology (ICT); E-education management, distance learning and online schooling; Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL); and Foundations for Learning.
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Day 1 of Basic Education Lekgotla | Day 2 of Basic Education Lekgotla | Commissions