In this day and age when socio-economic, academic, political and technological inclinations demand our attention for the reconstruction of societies, the question of a more suitable curriculum system for various countries arise. The markets today are in search of competent graduates who will be part of the hardworking staff of the organisations and institutions. These graduates are a viable option only if they have an astute academic background governed by an appropriate education curriculum system. This market process is also part of the solution to societal problems, as the missing skills, abilities and capacities are developed and availed for full functioning of societies and the world of work. So, what kind of a curriculum system is capable of guiding the education of the modern student who has to respond to the socio-economic, political and technological challenges?
A competency- based education curriculum system is the answer. This curriculum system is the relevant system in today’s world where the market is looking for competitive individuals to produce favourable outcomes for the benefit of organisations and institutions. In a world where competition is high and the best of the best thrive, it comes down to the issue of competency, which ultimately requires a competency-based curriculum system that produces competitive workforce the market envisages. Klein-Collins (2013) defines competency-based education as an educational model that focuses on what students know and can do, rather than how long it took them to learn it. Competency-based education is further simplified by Oroszi (2020), who claims that it is an innovative model of progression that organises academic content or delivery according to competencies. It is grounded on what a student knows and can do, rather than adhering to a traditional system of theoretical knowledge that is barely put into practice. It offers students the opportunity to use previous experience, skills, and knowledge to complete a course to pursue their career goals. Evident to this narrative is Dr Kokeyo in the publication titled “Why Most Students Prefer Diploma Courses over Degrees”, Kokeyo observes that students in Kenya are opting programs that offer a more direct route to employment which is enrolling for a diploma course whilst eligible to enrol for the traditional degree (Education News Arena, 2023). This is emanating from the undeniable fact that Diploma qualifications content delivery is dictated by job market requirements and it is more practical than traditional degree qualifications that are highly theorised.
The competency-based education system is designed to help students pursue their career goals without questioning the relevancy and significance of the content they receive at school. It is different from the mass curriculum system, which teaches all students the same thing. It is also characterised by personalized and individualized form of learning, which allows students to learn in the way that works best for them. This education system is grounded on the premise that students learn in various ways, which helps to ensure that instruction and assessment are customized for each student. That is why Peek (2020) argues that under competency-based education, student learning is individualized, meaning that the instruction and assessment is tailored accordingly. This form of learning is signaling vigorous chemistry with the personalized education. Likewise, education models such as competency-based education justify the introduction of a personalized education curriculum system(PECS), which is seen as an alternative to the CAPS curriculum in South Africa.
In the 21st century, the fundamental focus of education should be on equipping students with relevant skills to be effective in the workplace. PECS believes that this type of education should
be introduced in South African secondary schools, with primary schools serving as discovery centres. In secondary school, students should be able to understand why they are studying and what they are learning – their education should be goal oriented and meaningful in delivery process. If the curriculum remains a mass affair for all students rather than personalized and tailored to cater for individuality, secondary education remains a disaster waiting to occur. This argument is justified by a participant in Tacettin’s journal (2021:78), after being taken through the competency based education programme, the participant proclaimed “Competency-Based Education is a process that aims to educate individuals within the scope of the twenty-first-century skills in accordance with the desired and expected qualifications and that enables individuals to achieve the [learning] objectives determined according to their own characteristics or gain the qualifications…” This proclamation speaks to none other than personalized education curriculum system that South Africa should have adopted already in attempts to address education curriculum challenges.
Mulder and Winterton (2017) go back to 1910 and note that the educational philosophy of the competency-based education movement goes back to John Dewey. Dewey’s understanding of progressive education emphasised a student-centred approach to education based on experience and discovery rather than memorisation (Meier 1995). In contrast to the deductive approach, which emphasised the application of methods and principles, John Dewey called for empowering students to construct their own learning inductively through exposure to real life. Dewey’s understanding of education was influenced by the conditions of the time and evolved over time into vocational education. Around the same year, Charles Prosser emphasised the need for better, more comprehensive vocational education as a result of the post-war period and the Industrial Revolution. Taylor’s year 1911 behavioural approach to performance improvement also serves as the basis for the competence-based education (Tacettin, 2021:86). A brief background on competency-based education helps better understand its relevance and fundamental philosophy today. It can be explained like this – education should benefit those who practice it. The education system should not be imposed on students, but should serve and meet the educational needs of students. This is exactly what PECS advocates for – secondary school education should be regulated anew and personalized, that is to say; a more career oriented education system than it is currently under CAPS Curriculum. This will help students learn about specific industries, unlike the current CAPS curriculum, where courses are a mass-produced rather than tailored to students’ career interests.
That is why the independent education group, Simnandi education solutions is advocating for a personalised education curriculum system (PECS) for schools in South Africa. This type of curriculum is open and inclusive and provides education based on the specific aspirations of individual students. It rejects the notion that all students must take the same compulsory subjects, regardless of their chosen career path. PECS empowers students by giving them more subject options that align with their career goals. The proposed curriculum system (PECS) aims to meet the specific educational preferences of, for instance, young, aspiring journalists in public secondary schools. Subjects such as multimedia journalism, photojournalism, mass communication, ethics, broadcast journalism, news reporting and political science are offered to meet the needs of students. This astute and unique curriculum system will eradicate the problems associated with out-dated curricula and irrelevant subjects. Its main focus is to embrace modern trends in education and equip students with the necessary skills to demonstrate their talent and comprehend current developments more efficiently. The PECS, a product of diverse ideologies,
theories, philosophies, and educational foundations, employs a blended methodology that produces a distinctive and extensive curriculum, ensuring maximum relevance in education. PECS design deduces valuable aspects from foundations of competency based education, liberal education, academic rationalism, progressivism, pragmatic, socio-efficient reconstruction etc.
It is for such reasons the Personalised Education Curriculum System (PECS) was conceived as a curriculum system based on the foundations of competency oriented education and focused on equipping students with relevant skills, aptitudes and values to manoeuvre the modern day society successfully. PECS was developed to be at the forefront of curriculum relevance issues. Just like the birth of postmodernism, PECS is the product of dissatisfaction with the modernist curriculum system in South Africa. PECS is meant to rescue students from the monstrous curriculum that fails to implement progressivism and provide differentiated learning that suits all students. Just like progressivism in the past, PECS is a disruptive curriculum system that aims to end the confusion around the inconsistencies of the curriculum. PECS seeks to restore the value and dignity of our education system by making it responsive to the needs of society through the liberal education based curriculum system. PECS aims to give students the opportunity to gain an insight into the world of work during their school years. This makes PECS unique and highly relevant in inspiring the education community of our country, South Africa and Africa as a whole. And we believe that the education system can be improved in this way.
Know more about PECS: https:/simnandisolutions.co.za/personalized-education/
Please answer these 3 questions and submit them:https://simnandisolutions.co.za/pecs.
– Questionnaires.
Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. (2023). The education curriculum systems of the 21st century ought to be competency based. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/.
Bibliography:
Education News Arena, 2023. Why Most Students Prefer Diploma Courses Over Degrees. https://educationnewsarena.co.ke/why-most-students-prefer-diploma-courses-over-degrees/. Date of Access: 24 May 2023.
Peek, 2020. Competency based education made easy.https://academicaffairs.southtexascollege.edu/pdf/CBE/CBE-Made-Easy.pdf. Date of Access: 26 May 2023.
Oroszi, T. (2020). Competency-Based Education. Creative Education, 11, 2467-2476. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2020.1111181.
Tacettin, A. 2021. Competency-based education: theory and practice. Psycho-Educational Research Reviews | Vol: 10,(3), pp.78-86.
Klein-Collins, R. 2013. Sharpening Our Focus on Learning: The Rise of Competency-Based Approaches to Degree Completion. Occasional Paper 20 (2013) https://learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/Occasional%20Paper%2020.pdf.
Meier, D. 1995. The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 65, (1), pp. 93-95. (1995). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2967371.
Mulder, M. & Winterton, J.2017. Competence-Based Vocational and Professional Education. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer, 2017.