A new school qualification is going to replace our current matric system, with a choice of only 35 subjects available for the Grade 10 to 12 curriculum.
Curriculum changes proposed include making mathematics or maths literacy compulsory.
Education Minister Kader Asmal said on Tuesday that the revised national curriculum statement for Grades 10 to 12 - the so-called further education and training (FET) band - would be gazetted by October 21.
The cut-off date for comment would be the end of January 2003.
The minister said the provisional implementation date was 2004, but this depended on whether sufficient training had taken place and study materials were available.
"This is a resource-hungry programme. Resources need to be allocated," he said.
Asmal said the current FET curriculum was largely aimed at pupils intending to study further at technikons and universities.
Only 10 percent currently took that route.
"The revision of the FET is the last stage of breaking with the apartheid past," he said.
Chairperson of a ministerial committee appointed to develop the curriculum, Dr Cassius Lubisi, said the 35 subjects included the 11 official languages and 24 general and vocational subjects.
It would be compulsory for pupils to take two official languages - one of which must be the medium of instruction - as well as either mathematics or mathematical literacy.
Mathematical literacy was described as "survival maths".
Another compulsory subject would be life orientation, which would cover matters like self-esteem, career guidance, sexuality education, HIV and Aids and citizenship. This subject would carry six credits; the others would carry 20.
Pupils could then choose two subjects from one of six learning fields, as well as a seventh from any field.
"We require the qualification to be purposeful. We try to discourage the 'cafeteria approach' of choosing subjects," said Lubisi.
"With the old matric you could put anything in a basket and call it a qualification."
The future of some other subjects - like foreign languages - should be further discussed, Lubisi said he had told the Council of Education Ministers (CEM), which comprises Asmal and the provincial education MECs.
The discontinuation of certain subjects could make some teachers redundant. However, Lubisi said: "It calls for negotiations over re-training, redeployment and disengagement."
Education director-general Thami Mseleku said a small number of teachers would need to be retrained or redirected to other subjects.
Themba Ndlovu, chief director for the FET sector, said it was proposed that the current system, whereby 25 percent of the final mark was determined by continuous assessment throughout the year and the other 75 percent was determined by examination, would be retained.
For certain subjects, like performing arts, the split would be half and half.
An FET certificate would also replace the current senior certificate issued to those who qualified, while the differentiation between higher and standard grade would fall away. The rating would still be linked to percentages achieved in different subjects.
The education ministry said in a statement yesterday that more subjects could be added and others would be introduced at technical schools and colleges. - Sapa