Curriculum hard at work to help schools perform at their best | Western Cape Education Department
Curriculum hard at work to help schools perform at their best

Curriculum hard at work to help schools perform at their best

30 January 2020

More than 500 education specialists attended the first provincial Curriculum Strengthening Forum (CSF) meetings last week which focused on the role of curriculum in ensuring school functionality.

Subject Advisors from across the province and Head Office officials discussed a range of strategic, policy and implementation issues. The emphasis is to finalise subject strategies to enhance learner performance across the system.  There are two strands, GET (General Education and Training) and FET (Further Education and Training).

It was a historic moment as it is the first time that Basic Education and Higher Education Institutions collaborated to host such an event at a university. Stellenbosch University has a strong partnership with GET in the WOW Spelfees which enhanced the platform to reach more schools and improve education.

The guest speaker, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, focused on functional schools and how we can make education fashionable.

In parallel, Head Office officials met with the Curriculum Managers and Coordinators of districts. The focus of the meeting was on a range of priorities to ensure that districts are empowered to provide an effective support.

A thorough reflection on the system performance was presented by head office officials and greater emphasis was placed on support for the entire FET Band (Grades 10 to 12).
The common message from these presenters clearly showed the need for greater accountability across all levels of the schooling system.

The CSFs concluded with a strong sense of commitment to continue the pursuit of improvement of quality education for every child, in every classroom, in every school despite budget cuts, inherited inequalities, and continuing deep challenges in the system.