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5 October, 2011 |
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Western Cape teachers flock to holiday training programmes Statement by Minister Donald Grant, Minister of Education, Western Cape Donald Grant, Western Cape Education Minister, will mark World Teachers' Day today (Wednesday, 5 October 2011) by visiting teachers attending holiday training sessions organised by the Western Cape Education Department. More than 8 000 teachers are attending sessions at about 50 venues across the province as they prepare to implement the national Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in the Foundation Phase and Grade 10 next year. "We have every reason to acknowledge and celebrate our teachers on this day," said Grant. "Teachers have turned out in massive numbers to these training sessions. The turnout so far is more than 90%. This provides yet another example of the professionalism and commitment of our teachers." Minister Grant and Penny Vinjevold, Head of Education in the Western Cape, have visited training venues in the Southern Cape and the greater Cape Town area during this week. "The CAPS strengthens and streamlines the delivery of the national curriculum," Ms Vinjevold said. "CAPS has the potential to improve literacy and numeracy performance, with its special focus on reading and writing," said Vinjevold. "CAPS complements our literacy and numeracy strategy perfectly. We are supporting CAPS and the strategy further by investing massively in textbooks, workbooks and reading books as part of our plan to ensure text-rich classrooms." Schools will phase CAPS in over three years, starting with Grades R to 3 and Grade 10 in January 2012. In 2013, schools will implement CAPS in Grades 4 to 9 and Grade 11, followed by Grade 12 in 2014. Training for all Grades 1 to 3 Foundation Phase teachers began on Monday, 3 October, and ends today (Wednesday, 5 October 2011). Nearly 2 700 principals and deputy principals of schools with Foundation Phase grades will attend a one-day orientation workshop on CAPS on Thursday, 6 October 2011. Meanwhile, curriculum advisors have organised orientation programmes for school management teams and Grade 10 teachers in each education district. The orientation sessions commenced during the third term and training sessions for various subjects are scheduled for this week. More than 100 Grade 10 teachers are attending sessions this week for smaller enrolment subjects, including Tourism, Dance Studies, Design, Visual Arts, Sesotho and Setswana and Mechanical/Electrical Technology. Grade 10 teachers will attend further sessions in November. About 120 teachers from across the province are attending a conference on the new History CAPS content for Grades 10 to 12 at Herschel Girls School in Claremont. The "Back to the Future" conference, from 3 to 5 October, is hosted by Shikaya, a non-profit organisation, together with the WCED. The conference includes lectures, documentary screenings, and discussions from individuals such as Ahmed Kathrada, Adekeye Adebajo, Chris Bishop, professors and historians from universities across South Africa and expert teachers. In addition to the CAPS training, the department has organised a two-day Mathematics Solutions Conference at the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute (CTLI) in Kuils River. About 300 Grade 4 to Grade 9 teachers are attending the conference. For enquiries, contact Paddy Attwell: Paddy.Attwell@pgwc.gov.za. Visit our website: http://wced.pgwc.gov.za | |
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