The problems lie not so much with the underlying philosophy of OBE, but in the level of disciplinary and pedagogical understanding that the RNCS requires, and its implementation and assessment. The crux of the matter is that there is a mismatch between the demands of RNCS and the capacity of the teaching corps as a whole. This has led to a proliferation of policy documents from national, provincial and even district departments trying to make it more understandable for the average, poorly trained South African teacher with limited subject knowledge – a legacy of apartheid and the uneven quality of teacher education today. The OBE terminology was also found to be too sophisticated and unfamiliar for most teachers.
To compound matters, the RNCS was implemented without enough targeted teacher training that was subject-specific or enough resources for teachers and learners in most schools. In addition, it over-emphasises assessment and associated administration, and so overloads teachers with tasks that are not related to their teaching.
What changes can we expect?
For years now, ‘the OBE curriculum’ has been accused by many as being the main cause of all the problems in the South African education system. Although this is far too simplistic an argument that fails to come to grips with the fundamental reasons for the education crisis, OBE became the scapegoat, producing mounting public pressure to get rid of it.
With all its political baggage, the government has decided that the term ‘OBE’ will be scrapped in the revision of the RNCS. The ANC, however, has clarified that “…outcomes-based education as a broad framework for education and training in South Africa remains our approach and… the core values of outcomes-based education, such as encouraging critical engagement with knowledge instead of rote learning” (SAPA, 07/07/2010).
The key change is that the curriculum will no longer be framed in terms of learning outcomes and assessment standards, so as to strengthen content specification. To make it more accessible to teachers, the curriculum will be repackaged: every subject in each grade will have a single, comprehensive, concise Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) that will provide details on what teachers ought to teach and assess. In this way, outcomes will be absorbed into more accessible aims, and content will be specified in subject topics and the assessments to be covered per term. The terminology will thus be familiar – aims, topics and subjects – and the burdensome assessment load has already been reduced.
Recognising the previous implementation problems, an expert Ministerial Committee is working on the development of textbooks and learning and teaching support materials, including learner workbooks. Teachers will receive targeted subject-specific training, especially in Numeracy/Mathematics and Literacy/English. The public will be consulted on all the policy changes, which will be clearly and regularly communicated to schools.
To bring about the essential improvement in pupil achievement, the Minister has also announced a comprehensive programme: Action Plan 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025. This is all very positive news, and the Minister and DBE are to be congratulated for the decisive steps they have taken to produce a repackaged, more accessible and structured curriculum and good implementation strategies. A danger, however, is that quality and effectiveness may be sacrificed in the
haste to deliver all the products of their labours.
So is this a new curriculum and is OBE dead?
To use a typical South African expression: “Ja, nee”. No, it is not a radically new curriculum, because in its new form there is both change and continuity. As Mike Myburgh, CEO of NAPTOSA, has informed its members: “…Please note that this is not a new curriculum. It is an improved, more user-friendly version of the existing curriculum.”
OBE may be dead politically, but as a learner-centred paradigm that makes learner outcomes a vital consideration and underpins our whole education and training system, it is still alive. The CAPS will put more emphasis on teaching the basic knowledge and skills, but we will never go back to the authoritarian, teacher dominated content-based curriculum that I endured when I was at school.
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