Annual Performance Plan Jaarlikse ... - National Treasury

A.4 The way forward
A.4.1 Pre-school services
1. Pre-Grade R
ECD for pre-Grade R is currently provided by the WCED, and the provincial departments of Health and Social Development,
as well as local government, through a variety of sites. An integrated delivery strategy has been developed.
The WCED assists with training of caregivers as well as the developing of the appropriate curriculum. In support of the
EPWP and ensuring quality education for the birth to 4½ year age group, the WCED is arranging that Learnerships are
provided for care-givers/practitioners, with the appropriate training by Training Institutions.
2. Grade R in community sites
The NCS includes one year of education prior to entering Grade 1. This is Grade R, which seeks to provide 5/6 year olds
with the necessary pre-literacy and numeracy as well as life skills to successfully cope with formal schooling.
While Grade R is not regarded as compulsory education, it is an integral part of the Foundation Phase of the NCS. The
WCED aims to provide universal access to Grade R to all 5/6-year-old children in the Western Cape by the year 2010.
In order to achieve this objective, the department will provide sufficient funds for 2 000 additional Grade R learners per
annum from 2007 at a per capita level of R2 400 per child in community and independent ECD Institutions. Approximately
33% of the Grade R age cohort will be accommodated in such institutions.
The training of educators to a level that will ensure quality education will take place using the Learnership Model. SGBs will
also be trained in Leadership and Governance skills.
A.4.2 Schools
1. Grade R in schools
In order to achieve universal access to Grade R by 2010, the WCED will provide sufficient funds for 4 000 additional Grade R
learners per annum from 2007 at a per capita level of R2 400 per child in public schools. Approximately 66% of the Grade R
cohort will be accommodated in such classes.
The training of educators to a level, which will ensure quality education, will take place using the Learnership Model.
2. General Education and Training (GET) (Grades 1 - 9)
GET provides a solid foundation for all future education and training, via quality programmes that will focus in particular on
developing high- level language and mathematical skills.
The WCED’s third human resource development goal is to provide quality programmes to Grade 1 – 6 learners. Data from
the 2001 Census and the WCED EMIS indicate that there are very high enrolment rates in the age group 6 – 15. In addition,
the age-grade match in the Western Cape is high.
However, recent studies conducted at Grades 3 and 6 indicate that learners in the Western Cape are not achieving the
learning goals of the national curriculum and, therefore, are not receiving the required foundation for human capital
development. The provincial testing conducted in 2002 to 2005 indicates that the results of the tests are highly correlated to
poverty. For this reason the WCED has placed a special focus on developing the reading, writing and mathematics levels of
all learners in Grades 1 to 6, especially poor learners. Since 2006 special emphasis has been placed on the support and
monitoring of reading, writing and calculating outcomes of the national curriculum in the primary school, especially in the
Foundation Phase.
The WCED will continue with province-wide testing at the end of the Foundation Phase and Intermediate Phase, that is
Grades 3 and 6, every alternative year. Grade 3 learners were tested in 2006 and Grade 6 learners will be tested in 2007.
In Grades 7 - 9 the WCED is building on the strong foundations laid in reading, writing and calculating. In these grades the
focus is on eight learning areas that provide learners with a general education that is the basis for choosing and succeeding
in a more specialized field of study.
Annual Performance Plan 2007/08 – 2009/10
15