The disproportionate distribution and delivery of the curriculum within the NCS has caused many educational problems south Africa is facing today. A curriculum system that is cognisant of the existing differences and uniqueness of learners within its structures would appropriately divide and deliver the curriculum accordingly and to the beneficiation of every learner adhering to the individuality and future desires of different learners.
The example of curriculum imbalance existing within the NCS system is when both an aspiring Engineer and an aspiring Drama and performing Artist learners are taught English subject the same way and the same content coverage within the subject and dictate the same pass requirements of the subject from both aspirants. The Drama and performing Artist is likely to find the subject appealing and relevant for his career path but not so relevant to an engineer because he doesn’t need Romeo and Juliet literature and doesn’t need poetry to become an engineer – English literature and engineering are two domains that can never be correlated. By demanding the same pass requirements and the same content coverage of this subject from both aspirants is automatic curriculum imbalance and this displays failure to appropriately distribute and deliver curriculum in accordance with learners’ different educational needs. This would need immediate attention because an aspiring engineer learner who fails English literature and creative writing and ultimately fail the subject to fail his Matric yet passes EGD and other engineering related subjects outstandingly has been put at a disadvantage. This would mean the life of a young person is held back by the subject he doesn’t even need to perform and execute engineering tasks and that would be education injustice of the highest order.
The 30% and 40% standard pass for certain subjects even in Gr12 is also a sign of curriculum imbalances and the shambles in which our education system finds itself.
The average pass requirements for high school learners in South Africa are as follows:To get an NSC pass you need your 40% minimum for your home language and 40% for another 2 subjects – you can fail a subject – even your first additional language – but you must then get 30% or more for the other 6 making a total of 6 passes.
The argument presented by basic education is that the NCS is seeking to ensure that all learners pass and have future ahead even if they’re not the so called “bright learners”. This is not true! The pass standards have been lowered over the years upon realization of the mass curriculum system (NCS) given to learners of different traits, abilities, capabilities and future desires taught the same subjects with complete disregard of relevancy to the future desires of individual learners.
The South African education authorities have designed a curriculum system (NCS) that is good and relevant for one particular group of learners at the expense of another particular group of learners. The NCS model doesn’t cater for the talented, the ambitious, the prodigies, the already “know how” holders, the educational unique individuals etc. it only caters for a few who are willing and perhaps indirectly forced to sacrifice their individuality and uniqueness to accommodate the system and its requirements.This is what we call “curriculum imbalances”. That is why some learners prosper under the NCS and others fail to prosper, it’s because of the issues of curriculum imbalances existing within the system itself.
Seeing that the NCS is designed as a singular “one size fits all” curriculum system that has to serve different and unique learners with unique individualities and capabilities, they had to lower the pass standards to help accommodate and pass the “other group” of learners for whom the curriculum system was not designed.
These standards have been lowered and dwindled down to the lowest common denominator with an intention to send a fabricated message that NCS is for every learner and any learner can succeed and prosper within this curriculum system.
It is the fact that the NCS is not for all learners. Under a different curriculum system the learners struggling (with 30% -40% pass standards under NCS) would prosper and find meaning in life if a curriculum that resonates with their unique capabilities and individuality is established. And that’s what the NCS is failing to achieve with the various learners they find under their educational care, they feed them same educational diet yet the learners are hungry for different educational results for different career paths.
The reason for this is because NCS is not personalized – NCS is mass curriculum for all learners (one size fits all curriculum). A personalized curriculum would mean that pass percentage standards are cognisant of individuality and uniqueness of each and every child. This would mean the curriculum will be designed and delivered to learners in accordance with their educational needs. A personalized curriculum would ensure education justified discrimination (segregating learners according to their abilities in a form of different schools of specialization). This would be done in order to root out any possible curriculum imbalances within our system.
This would also help raise standards at least to 50% pass requirements as now learners would be channeled in the education stream of relevance to their educational needs resonating with their uniqueness and future desires.
So, for as long as the curriculum is the same for every learner and not cognisant of the reality of uniqueness, the lowering of pass standards will be the permanent concept in our education system. The curriculum imbalances will also be a permanent factor within the education system and progress and growth will never be achieved.
That is why a Personalized Education Curriculum System (PECS) is needed as an alternative to the current National Curriculum Statement (NCS).
It is with such reasons that Simnandi Solutions Pty Ltd have developed an alternative curriculum system that is designed in cognisance of existing curriculum imbalances. Personalized Education Curriculum System (PECS) is an advocate for explicit education curriculum system that is about the reality of the world people find themselves in. PECS seeks to reverse the current curriculum irrelevancy into curriculum relevancy. The PECS is designed to save learners from the monstrous curriculum that forces them to undertake subjects they won’t need in the future. PECS is a transformative education curriculum system that, through its nature of design, will put an end to the whole confusion around curriculum debates. PECS seeks to bring back the value and the dignity of our education system. PECS ensures that learners taste the glimpse of the workplace experience while still at school. That’s what makes our curriculum unique and highly relevant to inspire the education community of our nation, South Africa and the whole of Africa. And that is how we believe the education system can be fixed.
Know more about PECS: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/personalized-education/.
Click on PECS PowerPoint presentation.
Please answer these 3 questions and submit: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/pecs-questionnaires/