The streets of South Africa are crowded with begging people, prostitutes, those looking for piece jobs, street performers, loiterers, etc. These people are viewed as the “low lives” and given the label because they depend on street hustles to support themselves and their families, especially since the money they make barely covers basic needs. A survey on homeless persons was done by the city of Tshwane, and the results showed that 4000 people there are homeless and live on the streets (Kgosana, 2023). These people, along with many others in other cities across South Africa, believe that they need to leave their homes and look for a way to support themselves since they feel like a “burden” there. The majority of these individuals share the lack of a matriculation certificate, and as a result, they have to find ways to support themselves. Some of them come from low-income families who rely on elderly and child assistance handouts from the government, which is another thing in common with them. What actually transpired to these individuals? This article aims to explore how individuals like these were let down by the South African (NCS) educational curriculum system.
Kgosana (2023) reports that the homeless population of Tshwane is primarily made up of young people, with 48% of respondents being 34 years old or younger, 87% being men and 13% being women. The majority of this populace, like everyone else, had dreams. Some were gifted, but the school never paid attention to what they had to offer. Some of them aspired to be actors, poets, farmers, sports personalities, artists, musicians, and other professions. Unfortunately, the OBE-NCS curriculum system used in schools at the time, as it is now, never specifically addressed their educational needs in order for them to fulfill their life goals. Due to the school’s curriculum system, which ignored their life goals and required them to take subjects they didn’t need for their future dreams, they ultimately dropped out. In short, they came to school already filled with different desires and life aspirations, unfortunately, the curriculum system did not meet those aspirations, instead, the curriculum wanted to alter them to succumb to its requirements.
The DBE(2021) provides all the subjects accessible to choose from to create the seven required subjects for each learner in South Africa in its subject choice and career pathing. Law, sports sciences, and other important disciplines under journalism are not covered. Engineering, drama, and entrepreneurship are examples of technical courses that are taught in schools, yet despite how technical they may be, the substance is theoretical in these subjects. Some students quit school as a result, seeing no purpose in it and finding it difficult to relate to their objectives for their future. It is evident that the department of basic education’s curriculum organizational structure is detrimental to the general public and needs to be reviewed with the purpose of structuring it in a way that is pertinent to the benefit of all different learners with various levels of ability. The educational system is there to serve the students; they are not changing their aspirations to suit it.
The public occasionally sees, on various media channels, a homeless person who sings or can-do radio celebrity impersonations or even sports commentary, among many other distinct abilities they display. This serves to further highlight the reality of the talent and the desire within this population. Lebakeng (2022) describes the moving conversation of the group of homeless people who were invited to participate in the National Homelessness Network (NHN), in which the homeless population echoed similar sentiments that they didn’t want to spend their lives in shelters and on the streets and wished they had the skills to stand up for themselves. This discussion is intended to be educational; it serves as a reminder to the education department to learn from its past errors, give a helping hand, and do the right thing by these individuals by delivering relevant curriculum to the learners. In actuality and in areas with mature educational systems, the curriculum is determined by the educational needs of the learners. In South Africa, the curriculum compels students to accept what is offered, regardless of its relevance to their aspirations. These individuals dropped out as a result of that curriculum dilemma, which is how they ended up on the streets today.
People in South Africa have been victimized by the national curriculum, leaving them with no choice but to live on the streets. Only those who were able to abandon the passions and aspirations they brought to school and adopt the curricular criteria of success were able to escape the fury of the NCS. Due to the fact that they had to change themselves in order to fit the curriculum because the curriculum did not fit them, those individuals are now performing better in life. This indicates that those living on the streets became victims as a result of their resistance and refusal to follow the curriculum. Some of them couldn’t even accommodate the demanding curriculum; they just needed one that would value their individuality and distinctiveness. One of the dropouts is quoted by Wells (1983) as saying, “I never wanted to leave in the first place, but I was made to feel inferior and stupid.” Wells (1983) quoted several participant margin comments from a poll that guaranteed anonymity, like “I felt like an outsider” or “I felt like I didn’t belong” and “I hope you can keep a lot more kids in school by changing some things.” The curriculum system is being questioned by all of these comments, which essentially refer to modifying the curriculum to accommodate all students with similar ability. Expecting learners to go through a curriculum system that pushes them to do subjects that do not match their own interests will always be educational injustice.
It is for arguments such as these that prompted the conceiving of the Personalized Education Curriculum System (PECS) as a curriculum system strictly rooted in humanistic approach, quality curriculum theory aspects, foundations of competency- oriented education, and focused on practically assessing students for relevant skills, aptitudes, and values to maneuver 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 learners from the monstrous curriculum that fails to implement progressivism and provide differentiated learning that suits all learners. Just like progressivism in the past, PECS is a disruptive and qualitative 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 learners 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/
– Click on PECS PowerPoint presentation.
Please answer these 3 questions and submit them: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/pecs – Questionnaires
Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. 2023. The hidden skeletons of the NCS:Curriculum reform a necessity. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/
Bibliography
DBE, 2021. Subject choice and career pathing. https://www.education.gov.za/Informationfor/Learners/SubjectChoiceandCareerPathing/tabid/980/Default.aspx#:~:text=Accounting%2C%20Agricultural%20Management%20Practices%2C%20Agricultural,Geography%2C%20History%2C%20Hospitality%20Studies%2C. Date of Access:17 August 2023.
Kgosana, R. 2023.’Tshwane has 4,000 people living on its streets, study finds’ , Times live,10 May. Available at:https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-05-10-tshwane-has-4000-people-living-on-its-streets-study-finds/(Date of Access:16 August 2023)
Wells,B.E.1983.Dropouts Are Not Always Failures; The Schools Often Share the Blame. https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-dropouts-are-not-always-failures-the-schools-often-share-the-blame/1983/04. Date of Access:15 August 2023