1. The national Department of Education has revised the following policy documents to strengthen and support the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement (Grade 10 - 12):
  • Subject Assessment Guidelines

  • Government Gazette - Protocol on Recording and Reporting

2. In addition, Higher Education South Africa has published a guide to support learners, parents and teachers in identifying the correct subject choices and career pathways:
  • Into Higher Education: A Guide for Schools

3. These documents will be distributed to all schools. In the event of a school not receiving a copy of the above documents, the relevant EMDC must be approached, as a limited number of additional copies will be distributed to cater for possible shortfalls.
4. The Department of Education has printed the revised Subject Assessment Guidelines (SAGs) for each of the 29 subjects of the NCS (Grades 10-12). These SAGs have been translated into Afrikaans and will be distributed in accordance with the school's language of instruction.
5. Please note that the revised Subject Assessment Guidelines (January 2007) can also be accessed on the Thutong Educational portal at http://www.thutong.org.za or at http://curriculum.wcape.school.za.
6. Kindly note that it is critical that teachers use the latest versions of the above documents. Use of outdated documents can lead to learners being incorrectly prepared for progression, the National Senior Certificate or entrance into Higher Education, as substantial changes have been made in certain subjects. The 2006 editions of the SAG documents must therefore be replaced with the 2007 versions.
7. Curriculum advisers have been informed of these changes and will provide guidance to schools should there be any queries.
8. Schools will also be receiving a subject resource pack developed in collaboration with the local Higher Education institutions to provide teachers access to new subject content knowledge. The purpose of these subject resource packs, written at NQF Level 5, is to support teachers' knowledge and conceptual understanding of the new curriculum content to be instructed in Grades 10 to 12 (NQF Levels 3 to 4).
9. Principals are requested to ensure that the relevant staff members receive copies of the documents referred to in this correspondence.


SIGNED: J.P. RAULT-SMITH
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2007:02:06


The documents, referred to in this Minute were sent to schools.