Johannesburg - The Basic Education Department has assured schools piloting the “threestream model” that curriculum support on teaching technical subjects such as welding, plumbing, bricklaying, plastering and hairdressing is available for them at districts.
But the biggest union in the primary education sector, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), has raised doubts that districts had subject advisers with the requisite expertise.
A circular that director-general Mathanzima Mweli sent to schools, provincial education departments and unions stressed that ordinary schools piloting the vocationally-oriented curriculum had support.
A number of select schools across the country started offering the technical subjects in Grade 8 this year. The pilot will be extended to Grade 9 in 2022.
The “three-stream model” was intended to ensure that learners were not only channelled to academic learning but also to technical vocational and technical occupational.
It will culminate in pupils receiving the General Education Certificate (GEC) after completing Grade 9.
Plans for the GEC caused a public uproar in 2019, as people believed it was to be an exit certificate. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the GEC was not a school-leaving certificate, but one that “will enable learners to elect various pathways” after Grade 9.
Mweli issued a circular intended to bring “clarity regarding support to school during the implementation of the occupational subjects”.
“Teachers teaching the subjects in the General Education and Training (GET) Band (Academic) will be supported by district GET subject advisers as the curriculum is located within the intermediate and senior phase,” said the circular.
“Teachers teaching occupational and vocational subjects will be supported by technical and services advisers and managed as part of the responsibilities of the Directorates: GET and Further Education and Training (FET) at provincial and district level.”
Speaking to The Star, Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke disputed that districts had subject advisers specialising in technical subjects.
“If they say there are subject advisers at a district level, most of those subject advisers have not gone through the training and the teaching of these particular areas,” said Maluleke.
“These areas are new. What happens if you have a subject adviser that was appointed on the basis that they mastered English?
“You need somebody who has knowledge about hairdressing, electrical and so forth. We don’t have that currently in the district level as subject advisers.
“The new subjects are going to require a lot of training and a lot of support from those who are knowledgeable,” Maluleke added.
He said Sadtu had suggested to the Department of Basic Education that it should tap into expertise available at technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.
“It might work better if they link and work with TVET colleges. Those colleges have expertise and experience in some of these areas.
“In training, these colleges will become very handy and share their experience with teachers. We did make that submission. But I don’t think it’s in the policy direction,” said Maluleke.
The government would also need to appoint new teachers for the technical subjects, he said.
“Those new teachers that are supposed to be appointed to teach these new areas will have to be highly qualified”
The Star