• NEWSFLASH: PUTTING A CAP ON THE CAPS

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    NEWSFLASH: PUTTING A CAPS ON THE CAPS

        Malcolm Venter

         Editor: Teaching English Today

    It has been noted that there are some provincial departments of education which are going beyond their brief and authority in adding to the CAPS and in making things mandatory which are not.  This is contrary to the spirit of the CAPS and the instruction of the Minister of Basic Education to allow for flexibility.

    One of the reasons for drafting a new curriculum was that provinces had added ‘layers’ over the years, making additional demands, and insisting on certain procedures and practices which were optional.  Two examples in particular have come to light:

    • Insisting that schools follow the sequencing set out in the weekly planners.  The CAPS clearly states that this is only a suggestion.  Where schools are floundering, it may be advisable for them to use this as their teaching programme; but to demand that all schools do so is to insult the professional integrity of the teacher.
    • Insisting that schools use standardised tests rather than their own.  These are designed to help struggling schools and teachers, not those who can cope on their own.

    So teachers in those provinces must not allow the officials to put a cap on the CAPS!

    Categories: Volume 3