Reforming SA’s school curriculum for 21st century is long overdue

Edwin Naidu

Cape Town - Robotics and coding will form part of the curriculum at public schools in South Africa to ensure that children can take part in the economy and meet the needs of global markets.

The challenge now for Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is to bring teachers up to speed to impart skills for the 21st century.

Reforming the school curriculum is an essential and long-overdue aspect of ensuring that South Africa keeps up with the changing demands of the local and global labour market.

Many question the relevance of certain subjects, but it is essential to ensure that children have choices and that what they are taught is relevant and gives them an edge in the world after school.

Seven young people out of every 10 are unemployed, some with National Senior Certificate (NSC) and some with university-level qualifications. It looks worse considering the matric exams and how many learners get a bachelor’s or national diploma.

Teachers cannot be pleased with what they’ve heard in a recent virtual meeting of the portfolio committee on basic education that lamented the low percentage of learners who make it through the system to university.

The pass rate of learners is a miserly 33%, meaning there are not enough students able to use the NSC qualification to access further education and training. The low rate of pupils making it through the system is incumbent on teachers and pupils, who need to pull up their socks.

It’s easy to lay the blame at Motshekga’s door, but one has to look at the root of the problems.

While they may go deeper, the reality is that coding and robotics and other essential skills for the 21st century are not a panacea to the problems. South Africa needs a mindset change. Teachers must teach.

Learners must learn. That desire has to form before the country can pin its hopes on technology making a difference where humans have failed.

During the portfolio committee meeting, Umalusi (the council for quality assurance in general and further education and training) spoke on its international benchmarking and the NSC study subject analysis.

The purpose of the study was to understand the standing of the NSC regarding similar qualifications from five other jurisdictions 12 years after similar research was conducted in 2010. South Africa has its history and context. This means that what may flourish in another educational context may not thrive in South Africa.

English, geography, life sciences (biology), maths and physical sciences were the five subjects selected.

What was clear was that all analysed qualifications seek to enable students to progress to either higher/further education or the world of work, something not working in South Africa. This is why the review of the curriculum, long overdue, is essential in ensuring that the foundation for future learners may be strengthened.

A question raised during the discussion was why many people from Kenya and Zimbabwe easily enter and participate in the South African economy. Still, South Africans have a high unemployment rate.

It makes one wonder about our work ethic. Given that Motshekga has shown the way forward on subjects for the 21st century, a more significant study must address the system’s failure in producing students willing and able to work with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Motshekga would be remiss not to look at the Umalusi recommendations as it is responsible for setting and monitoring standards for general and further education and training.

Introducing new subjects is good, but we must ensure teachers can deliver on them. More importantly, what steps can be taken to ensure the school system stops spewing children with its 33% pass rate?

* Naidu is a journalist and communications expert. He is also head of Higher Education Media Services, a social enterprise start-up committed to stimulating dialogue and raising awareness around education and the socio-economic, environmental and political factors it influences in SA. This article first appeared in The African.

Cape Times