Pretoria - Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has asked provincial education MECs to consider the suspension of all extra-mural activities and spend the available time on learning and teaching.
"Our main focus at this time is that schools remain focused on learning and teaching while our particular focus is on our Grade 12s, there is no time to waste," Motshekga said.
In addition to what provinces have put in place, the department has committed to directly assist the districts where schools have consistently underperformed and ensured that its direct interventions will be accompanied with good learning and revision materials.
Learners will also be placed under the expert guidance of subject specialists. "I am confident that the provinces' recovery plans will strengthen learning and effective preparation for the end of the year examinations, provinces will continue to offer special tuition as well as mass revision programmes.
"We will continue to work in partnership with the SABC and learners are also urged to make use of the learning support materials on our website (www.education.gov.za) as well as the Thutong education portal (www.thutong.gov.za)," she said, calling on all South Africans to rally behind the Class of 2010.
As part of the recovery plan to make up for the lost schooling during the strike, Motshekga said that her department and the Council of Education Ministers had considered a range of options, including the extension of the school day, classes on weekends and how best to use the September school holidays.
"All considerations and their potential impact are being carefully evaluated and implications considered for action, if need be, and the department will make an announcement on this matter shortly.
"We will engage all stakeholders, especially the teacher unions on the details of a comprehensive recovery programme to mitigate the challenges we face following the strike....nothing prevents a school community from deciding in the interests of learners to continue with support and enrichment programmes during the holiday period," Motshekga said.
The department has also decided to postpone the Annual National Assessments (ANA) for Grades 3, 6 and 9 planned for 3 and 4 November 2010 to be conducted in February 2011, in an attempt to recover the learning and teaching of learners.
"I am convinced that this will provide the system with the time and space to ensure that all learners are adequately prepared for these assessments.
"My department will distribute exemplars of ANA literacy and numeracy tests to enhance the focus on literacy and numeracy," Motshekga said.
She also urged all schools to make literacy and numeracy their primary focus and that any enrichment or additional programmes that schools introduce should be premised on the need to improve literacy and numeracy.
"We should also be prepared that the recovery of learning and teaching for our learners will need to continue into 2011, our Grade 11s will be entering Grade 12 and our younger learners need to strengthen their foundational skills of literacy and numeracy."
Department spokesperson Granville Whittle explained that the ANA is not used to determine whether the learners pass at the end of the year, but used to give the department and teachers an indication of the learner's competence in maths and home languages.
"They've got nothing to do with whether a learner passes or fails at the end of the year, but used as a diagnostic for the teacher to be aware on the level competence of each child and for the department to check whether its initiatives are effective," Whittle told BuaNews, adding that learners will continue to the next grade based on their final end of year exams.
