SAE 3701 ASSIGNMENT 03

QUESTION 1 : 1. Draw out the major differences between Outcomes Based education (OBE) and the current Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement.  OBE had a new approach to learning which focused on cooperation, integrated assessment, and specialized vocabulary while CAPS emphasizes content and textbooks. CAPS also introduces English in the early grades already.  OBE expected schools to be well-resourced and teachers to create own resources, which was difficult in under-resourced schools and for under-qualified teachers.  CAPS gives many pointers about what teachers should teach, how they should assess, how they should plan and set out lesson plans.  CAPS gives the teacher much more to work with, but unfortunately also takes away teachers' freedom to use their own ideas and material. 2. According to Balfour, what major factors affect dropout rates in South African schools.  Gender is a factor: Girls perform better in completing their school career within the expected time frame and girls also tend to get better grades than boys.  The drop-out rate of boys within the first 10 years of schooling remains high, which is worrying.  Race is also a factor: Racial inequalities still exist because drop-out rates are still high, which means many black learners are going into unskilled work.  Socio-economic factors are also a factor: An economic slowdown results in higher drop-out rates. 3. Balfour (2016) examines the decline in the numbers of state schools and proposes reasons for this phenomenon. Briefly discuss the reasons for this decline  There was a decline in numbers in state schools because apartheid legislation was revoked. Parents had more options where to send their children.  Parents who had the financial security, sent their children to former Model C schools.  Between 1995 and 2014, the number of private schools has increased. More children were attending these schools than during apartheid.  Over 20 years in Gauteng, 250 public schools closed down. Some learners have to travel further than before to go to school.  Social class stratification remains an issue. 4. Discuss why the issue of Afrikaans was so contentious (seen as a problem) in Bantu Education schools in the 1970s.  Afrikaans was associated with the Nationalist Party and apartheid.  So Afrikaans was linked to segregation and inequality by learners.  In general, the medium of instruction in Secondary Schools was mainly in English before 1976. The change in the policy of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction for certain vital subjects such as Mathematics angered teachers and learners because it compromised teaching and learning.  It was difficult for learners to study subjects such as Mathematics in Afrikaans because it was not their mother tongue. Most learners preferred the medium of instruction to be in English. QUESTION 2: 1. State education policy of 1955 to 1962 was forged under the pressure of urban crisis. Briefly discuss the four ways through which the state dealt with this crisis.