Resumption of classes
The ministry of education, arts and culture has touched on the rationalisation of the school curriculum and the issue of parents struggling to find placement for learners at schools.
Mariselle Stofberg
WINDHOEK
The ministry of information and communication technology recently facilitated a discussion on school readiness, which touched on pressing issues amongst parents and the community at large.
Edda Bohn, the deputy executive director of formal education at the education ministry, spoke about the issue of parents still trying to find placement for their children at schools.
“The admission process is governed by a circular we sent out last year and every region has their own admission committee. We have been made aware that there are still numerous learners who have not yet secured their places at schools, especially those enrolling in grade eight this year,” Bohn said.
“The regional offices have taken the initiative to place these learners at schools who have places available and have allocated a certain number of learners per school where they have explored possibilities of expanding.”
Grades one, eight and 10 have experienced the biggest number of learners who have not been able to secure placement, but Bohn has emphasised that the ministry is doing what it can to cater to all learners.
Not promoted
The ministry has put measures and guidelines in place to ensure continued learning, but some parents have experienced instances where their children have not been allowed to proceed to the next grade.
Bohn mentioned that the ministry created opportunities for learners via both online and printed materials to continue to develop their skills. With the reopening of schools, the emphasis has been placed on ensuring that learners are able to complete the basic competencies required for each grade.
“When there is record of achievement within the parameters of what was possible, we would have promoted the learner, but if the learners were not able to attain the basic competencies during last year, especially since the reopening of schools in September, we advised that these learners not advance to the next grade,” she said.
Bohn added that this would only be done when it is in the best interest of the learners and their well-being.
Rationalising of school curriculum
Another topic touched on was the rationalising of the school curriculum.
“We undertook the process of rationalising the school curriculum to see how we can mitigate the shortening of the academic year while taking the lost time into account and still reaching the learning targets,” Bohn added.
After consulting with regions through subject experts, education officers and the National Institute for Educational Development and going in-depth with the consultation process of the curriculum, the ministry has investigated the spiral nature of the curriculum.
This has been done to shorten the curriculum to allow schools the opportunity to start off the year with a baseline diagnostic evaluation of each learner to determine their skill level and standard. Meanwhile, a five-week recovery framework will be used to strengthen learners' literacy skills.
Spiral curriculum
“Through the spiral curriculum, we start with the most concrete topics and work towards abstract topics. There have been topics that have been repeated extensively, and we have tried to see where the repetition is excessive. Topics are dealt with at each grade and where possible, the continuous repletion is minimised. This enabled us to reduce content to 70% to ensure all content is covered, despite time lost due to the pandemic. This only applies to junior secondary phase, until grade nine,” Bohn added.
“We want to ensure that the education system remains resilient and bounces back from the effects of the pandemic,” she said.
WINDHOEK
The ministry of information and communication technology recently facilitated a discussion on school readiness, which touched on pressing issues amongst parents and the community at large.
Edda Bohn, the deputy executive director of formal education at the education ministry, spoke about the issue of parents still trying to find placement for their children at schools.
“The admission process is governed by a circular we sent out last year and every region has their own admission committee. We have been made aware that there are still numerous learners who have not yet secured their places at schools, especially those enrolling in grade eight this year,” Bohn said.
“The regional offices have taken the initiative to place these learners at schools who have places available and have allocated a certain number of learners per school where they have explored possibilities of expanding.”
Grades one, eight and 10 have experienced the biggest number of learners who have not been able to secure placement, but Bohn has emphasised that the ministry is doing what it can to cater to all learners.
Not promoted
The ministry has put measures and guidelines in place to ensure continued learning, but some parents have experienced instances where their children have not been allowed to proceed to the next grade.
Bohn mentioned that the ministry created opportunities for learners via both online and printed materials to continue to develop their skills. With the reopening of schools, the emphasis has been placed on ensuring that learners are able to complete the basic competencies required for each grade.
“When there is record of achievement within the parameters of what was possible, we would have promoted the learner, but if the learners were not able to attain the basic competencies during last year, especially since the reopening of schools in September, we advised that these learners not advance to the next grade,” she said.
Bohn added that this would only be done when it is in the best interest of the learners and their well-being.
Rationalising of school curriculum
Another topic touched on was the rationalising of the school curriculum.
“We undertook the process of rationalising the school curriculum to see how we can mitigate the shortening of the academic year while taking the lost time into account and still reaching the learning targets,” Bohn added.
After consulting with regions through subject experts, education officers and the National Institute for Educational Development and going in-depth with the consultation process of the curriculum, the ministry has investigated the spiral nature of the curriculum.
This has been done to shorten the curriculum to allow schools the opportunity to start off the year with a baseline diagnostic evaluation of each learner to determine their skill level and standard. Meanwhile, a five-week recovery framework will be used to strengthen learners' literacy skills.
Spiral curriculum
“Through the spiral curriculum, we start with the most concrete topics and work towards abstract topics. There have been topics that have been repeated extensively, and we have tried to see where the repetition is excessive. Topics are dealt with at each grade and where possible, the continuous repletion is minimised. This enabled us to reduce content to 70% to ensure all content is covered, despite time lost due to the pandemic. This only applies to junior secondary phase, until grade nine,” Bohn added.
“We want to ensure that the education system remains resilient and bounces back from the effects of the pandemic,” she said.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article