Johannesburg – Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has laid down the challenge for the sector to rethink the current delivery of the curriculum.
Motshekga said while Covid-19 has brought a lot of challenges, it has ushered in opportunities as well.
“There must be systemic but urgent introduction of information communication technology in our schools. This is unavoidable. Through purposeful and selective partnerships, we will drive the reconfiguration and repositioning of basic education that will prepare our kids for a changing world,” she said.
“From this lekgotla, all our committees should have all hands on deck. The international experiences shared here should not be another talk shop.”
Motshekga was speaking at the 2021 basic education lekgotla.
Provincial education departments, teacher unions, school governing bodies, pupil organisations and NGOs were among the academics and international guest speakers who were sharing their insights and expertise.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the lekgotla that he was worried about the poor performance of pupils in the science, technology, engineering and maths fields.
“Equipping learners with the knowledge and skills for a changing world necessitates a relook at these critical subject areas and the curriculum in general. If we are to seize the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), our education system must be reoriented towards its development in our country,” said Ramaphosa.
“Even as the pandemic delayed the process last year, the Department of Basic Education is making headway in the The draft coding and robotics curriculum has been submitted national rollout of coding and robotics. The draft coding and robotics curriculum has been submitted to Umalusi for evaluation and quality assurance, and a draft curriculum will soon be gazetted.”
The government said during the course of this year, 200 schools will be piloting the draft curriculum from grades R to 3 and 1 000 schools will be piloting the grade 7 curriculum.
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