Making learning relevant | Western Cape Education Department
Making learning relevant

Making learning relevant

Delegates at an education conference hosted by the Western Cape Education Department heard first-hand accounts from learners, teachers and administrators about the situation at schools in the province.

During one of the plenary sessions, Lindiwe Trout-Naidoo, a learner at South Peninsula High School, said there should be a clear link between the purpose and usefulness of education. “Education of the future needs to inform us more of why we are learning things and to what extent we are learning it for, and also to have relevance in our communities because our lives are nothing without the communities and the people we are connected to.”

Charles Marthinussen, a retired principal from Atlantis, recounted how his school embarked on a journey to make Computer Applications Technology a compulsory subject for all learners in an effort to keep learners updated with the requirements of the 21st century. “It is the responsibility of every generation to take on the task of development.”

Wendy Horn, Principal of Protea Heights Academy and a Top 50 finalist in the Global Teacher Prize Awards, said learners should be taught holistic problem solving, curriculum innovation must be driven by relevance and visionary management and staff must be open to learn, unlearn, relearn agilely.