Compulsory pre-school on the cards
Children may have to spend 14 years at school instead of 12, if the ANC has its way
THE ANC intend making it compulsory for South African school pupils to spend 14 years at school instead of the current 12 year period, President Jacob Zuma said over the weekend. These extra two years will be focused on Early Childhood Development(ECD) and will be incorporated at the beginning of a child’s school career creating a Grade RR year and a Grade R year, the latter is already being phased in.
The announcement has been met with both support and disapproval. While some educators and teachers unions realise the benefits of ECD, others feel the current compulsory 12 year period should be fixed first and should be functioning productively before new compulsory years are added.
The future
The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal states they support the move aimed at improving the ECD programme, they also back the sentiments of teacher unions. ‘We need to fix what we already have before we start adding to the system’ DA MPP Tom Stokes told the Observer. ‘Research shows the few years of a child’s life are extremely important in their development and there is clear empirical evidence that ECD has a massive effect on the social, emotional and intellectual development of young children. Those that attend good education centres receive a strong head start in their schooling careers.’
However, there are concerns. The number of unqualified teachers in classrooms in South Africa is at a frightening level. The benefits of ECD and the implementation of two more compulsory years at the pre-school stage will not be felt if unqualified and ill-equipped teachers are there as child-minders rather than teachers.
The present
‘I have seen children at primary school and high school level who still battle to read and write. We are failing our learners because we can’t get right what we have. Adding two more years, finding qualified teachers, building classrooms and equipping them is a huge cost that I don’t see as beneficial as it looks on paper’ a local teacher explained.
‘In our province there are two systems in play. Well resourced pre-primary schools with excellent, well qualified teachers and clear developmental programmes, and on the other hand fairly rudimentary new ECD centres, some attached to existing primary schools but others that are simple rooms in distant rural hamlets manned by under-trained child-minders.
‘The latter is not an ideal system but it is a start and it is here that we need to focus our attention and fix what we have before extending the system at the same low level as currently exists,’ said Stokes.
The programme is to be introduced within the next five years. Other improvements, on the cards, include the implementation of the African language policy in schools, the introduction of tablets and building 1 000 more schools and 12 new training colleges.
