NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION 239
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 25/10/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 34/2011)
Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether, with reference to the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statements (CAPS)
to be introduced in 2012, her department is (a) developing the necessary (i) textbooks
and (ii) teacher training and (b) on schedule in terms of introducing the material on the
set deadlines; if not, why not, in each case; if so, (aa)(aaa) which textbooks are being
developed and (bbb) by which publisher and (bb)(aaa) at which institutions will the
training be offered and (bbb) what (aaaa) courses will be offered and (bbbb) will be the
duration of each specified course?
NO3930E
Reply:
(a)
(i)
Textbooks
Yes – the Department of Basic Education has produced a catalogue of textbooks
for Grades1-3 and Grade 10. The approved titles on the catalogue are aligned to
the CAPS
(ii)
Teacher Training
To ensure that all teachers are fully prepared for the implementation of the
CAPS, the Minister took a decision to phase in the implementation. The National
Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 will be phased in as follows:
(a)
Grades R – 3 and Grade 10 from January 2012;
(b)
Grades 4 –6 and Grade 11 in January 2013; and
(c)
Grades 7 –9 and Grade 12 in January 2014.
The preparation of teachers has begun and is the responsibility of the provinces.
All provinces are preparing the teachers for the implementation of the Foundation
Phase and Grade 10.
Provincial departments of education have used the June and September school
holidays as well as weekends to prepare the teachers for implementation next
year.
The DBE has developed the training manuals for the orientation training of all
provincial and district officials and teachers. The orientation was conducted from
March to May 2011 with 2553 FET and 336 Foundation Phase subject advisors
being trained. Provinces will use the same manuals for the orientation of their
teachers to CAPS.
(b)
Textbooks
The catalogues were made available to provinces and schools have begun the
process of ordering the textbooks for use in 2012
(aa) (aaa)
Titles for most subjects are on the national catalogue of textbooks.
For two subjects in Grade 10 and three languages in Grades1-3 where books
could not be sourced for the catalogue, the department is producing support
materials internally to ensure that there is support for all subjects that will be
implemented in 2012.
(bbb) By which publisher ?
All publishers were invited to submit textbooks for evaluation. The approved lists
of textbooks for Grades 1-3 and Grade 10 are from 33 and 25 publishers
respectively.
(ii) (aa)
Provincial Education Departments are responsible for the training of teachers on
CAPS.
(bbb)(aaaa)
N/A
(bbbb)
N/A