The Department of Basic Education says it has trained 507 advisers from all provinces to address the under-performance of grade 12 learners in Maths and Physical science over the past years.
Representatives from the DBE made presentations to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on Tuesday.
To address this problem, the DBE established the Teacher Capacity Building and Support in Maths, Science and Technology programme. The content in the training programme focus was guided by the National Senior Certificate Diagnostic Report.
“The training programme was designed to address the under-performance of the 12 districts that were targeted. The department worked closely with Cuban specialists to develop the Science and Maths material,” the portfolio committee heard.
Training for subject advisers, which covered grades 8 and 9 Maths, Science and Technology, was conducted online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The DBE said 507 advisers from all nine provinces were trained, of that number, 212 were trained in Maths, 164 in Natural Science and 131 in Technology.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said she was concerned over the possible implication the budget cut may have on the sector, most specifically on the second roll-out of the Second Chance NSC matric rewrite.
Meanwhile, the two-day Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) workshop with Gauteng School Management Teams and School Governing Bodies is under way.
The workshop is targeting the Johannesburg District.
According to the DBE, the aim of the CSE was to ensure that the department assists learners to build an understanding of concepts, content, values and attitudes related to sexuality, sexual behaviour change, as well as leading safe and healthy lives with the purpose of protecting learners.
Although the CSE curriculum has been in existence since 2000, these workshops were imperative to ensure learners are protected.
Research indicates that 35.4% of girls and boys experience sexual violence before the age of 17.
DBE’s director for health promotions, Muzi Ndlovu, said: “This has necessitated the great need of the department to provide appropriate child abuse prevention education that builds resilience, confidence and assertion among young people who often do not know they are being violated by sexual predators.”