More teaching, less admin
2009-10-02 19:06
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Johannesburg - Teachers will be given a reprieve from administrative and portfolio tasks as soon as January, the Minister of Basic Education said on Friday.
"They [Admin tasks] are going to be removed so teachers have more time teaching," Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga told reporters in Johannesburg.
Motshekga had just concluded a meeting with the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). The meeting resolved to reduce administrative tasks and end pupil portfolio keeping and creation of instructional materials by teachers.
Curriculum plan of 2005
Monitoring of pupil portfolios and creation of instructional materials were products of the department's curriculum plan of 2005.
Motshekga said this had created a burden of paperwork for teachers and reduced the time available for classroom instruction.
"Teachers have long been saying that the administrative workload of teachers is unreasonable and that this encroaches significantly into teaching time," said National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA president Ezrah Ramasehla.
Monitoring of student performance would continue but with a reduced amount of teacher paperwork.
Ramasehla said his organisation welcomed the changes because they had been done in consultation with teachers.
Matric exam result date
The CEM also resolved to reduce the number of courses for intermediate students from eight to six, increase the teaching of English as an additional language and push back the matric examination results date from December 28 to January 7.
The changing of the release date was made to provide more time for provincial departments to complete the administration needed for compiling the results.
Motshekga said that interim results would still be provided to universities so there would be less impact on their admissions process.
Earlier teaching of English as an additional language was necessary because of the difficulty of teaching it to older students.
"We need to place it in earlier, rather than later," said Motshekga.
Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Enver Surty, who was also present at the press briefing, was at pains to explain that the earlier teaching of English would not affect mother tongue education.
- SAPA