A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON

In my message in last year’s annual report I opened with the words ‘We cannot deny that an efficient education system is crucial for South Africa at this time.’ In November 2009, the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga, pronounced the death sentence on Outcomes Based Education (OBE). This was largely driven by considerable criticism of OBE, over a long period of time, with teachers complaining of being overloaded with administrative work and not being fully trained in this educational system.

Outcomes Based Education was introduced into South Africa in 1998 and, through an inefficient implementation process, the benefits of OBE as an overlay to the National Curriculum Statement have not been realised. We have seen a regression in the quality of education in South Africa and this is reflected in the diminishing quality of matric passes achieved by our learners over this period.

The new curriculum will be known as Curriculum 2025 and will be implemented as a five-year plan. It promises to be a better structured, more streamlined and simplified document than the National Curriculum Statement. Much more emphasis will be placed on basic reading, writing and numeric skills; we applaud this shift, as the loss of the ‘three R’s’ as a foundation to effective education has been lamented over the last twelve years.

However, irrespective of how good the education system is, it still needs to be taught and in the end it comes down to the educators. At the Historic Schools Restoration Project we have been acutely aware that we have a role to play in creating ‘Excellence in Education’. We have built on the earlier work undertaken by various professional bodies that assessed the state of education within the pilot schools and are in the process of developing an educator training programme, which will seek to revitalise the love and passion for teaching in our educators. It seems appropriate that as we come alongside the educators, we also interact with both national and provincial education departments to encourage a lifelong learning approach for educators.

John F. Kennedy probably said it best:

“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.”

The greater strength of South Africa lies in quality education, and we all need to be part of the drive to ensure that educational excellence is within the reach of all South Africans.

Justice Thembile Skweyiya
Chair: HSRP Board