A qualitative curriculum system (a curriculum system that is of quality) has been a cause for concern for various societies in the world since the inception of structured and institutionalized education. There is no specific definition for the term ‘qualitative curriculum system’, but the general definition of “quality education” can assist to formulate the definition of qualitative curriculum system since curriculum refers to subjects offered which then constitutes the idea of education holistically. Quality education has been defined by many in different ways. Some definitions are broad and encompass a range of factors in education in general. One example is Colby (2000), who defines quality education as content reflected in relevant curricula and materials for the acquisition of basic skills, especially literacy, numeracy, and life skills, as well as knowledge in areas such as gender, health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, and peace. Building on this definition, this publication will define qualitative curriculum systems as subjects that are relevant to address various societal issues and challenges with an intention to reconstruct society while ensuring societal sustainability for the next generation. These subjects are also designed and allocated appropriately for the relevant career paths. A qualitative curriculum system is characterized by blatant rejection that students should, either directly or indirectly, be forced to enrol in subjects that are outside the scope of the career path they aspire to venture into.
Based on the above definition, it is clear that a qualitative curriculum system is primarily based on relevance. An example of a qualitative curriculum system that can be derived from the definition above is that; no pupil, for instance, aspiring to pursue a career in fashion and design should be forced to take subjects like literature, geography, etc. at the expense of fashion and design subjects like Introduction to Fashion Design, Introduction to Textile Science, Introduction to Fashion Accessories, Fashion Engineering, etc. Pupils who find themselves in such a predicament should realize and accept that they are enrolling under a none qualitative curriculum system. A qualitative curriculum system is the exact opposite of a “one size fits all” generic system. In short, the quality of the curriculum offered to pupils is measured primarily by its relevance to the pupils ‘aspired career paths. This is the only way to determine how qualitative the curriculum system is. Other aspects that define the quality of education have no meaning if the curriculum system is not relevant. And this is exactly what South Africa suffers from, everything is good on paper; policy statements, right to education, decolonizing education, qualifications frameworks, awareness campaigns meant to promote education, school-based assessments, learning and teaching support material, schools as healthy and safe environments for teaching and learning, etc. All those things, unfortunately, hold no waters when it comes to assessing the quality of the curriculum system, the relevancy does; to what extent does the curriculum help pupils coherently connect them to their desired career paths? – that is the principle of a qualitative curriculum system.
In other words, a qualitative curriculum system does not measure its quality and relevance by the number of students who enroll in it, neither does it measure its quality by the number of students who matriculate and are admitted to higher institutions of learning, nor by the number of graduates who find jobs. This is a purely quantitative measurement tool that negates the proper assessment tools to determine quality. If a particular secondary school in South Africa becomes strictly an engineering school where all pupils in that area interested in engineering enroll, and where domains of engineering (chemical, electrical and mechanical) are offered and the teaching and learning is equally theoretical and practical, with purely engineering core subjects, and without imposing any irrelevant subjects on the pupils; even if one pupil passes in that school, such a school and its curriculum would still be representing a high-quality curriculum system. There’s quality because the school is personalized strictly for the particular career path without any form of distortion. That’s why most if not all, pupils would thrive and be successful because they find themselves in an education environment where their career goals are met by a qualitative curriculum system that guarantees favorable education outcomes.
Speaking of outcomes, the poor matric results each year serve as evidence that the South African curriculum system (NCS) is a quantitative curriculum system rather than a qualitative one. Considering the Matric class of 2022, Labuscagne (2023) reports that in 2020 just over a million (1,104,452) students enrolled for Grade 10, indicating that the class of 2022 -Grade 12 should be the same cohort as the class enrolled in 2020. Only just below a million, (922 034) pupils were registered for the 2022 matric academic year as reported by the basic education minister, Motshekga. This indicates that between 2020 and 2022, a significant number of pupils were lost -close to 200 000 pupils lost. Even worse, out of the already drastically reduced 922 034 pupils registered in Gr12 in 2022, just 580 555 matriculated, resulting in almost half of that failing their matric. This then explains the actual 53% matric pass rate for the year 2022 rather than the fabricated 80.1% that was paraded on all forms of mediahttps://simnandisolutions.co.za/2020/08/12/the-veracity-about-matric-results-in-sa/. This statistic is evident in the argument that the NCS is not qualitative but only quantitative. The curriculum in South Africa is not qualitative, which explains the rate of dropouts, failure rate, and the student discontentment rate which signifies a lack of relevancy and coherence between the subjects offered to pupils and the career paths desired by pupils. These are the factors you face when you operate at the expense of quality and depending on quantities and policing education that is irrelevant.
The depth of the education of people who deliver the curriculum to the pupils-teacher education is another way to gauge the quality of the curriculum system. A curriculum focused on providing pupils with quality education would guarantee that teachers have a solid understanding of their subject matter. The fact that teachers in Finland are obliged to hold a master’s degree that includes pedagogical studies and teaching practice (Pollari, 2018:8) may be due to the attempts of ensuring a more qualitative curriculum system than a mere curriculum system fixated by policy documents that are poorly implemented, if any implementation at all! This emphasizes the intended society the Finnish education system is attempting to create by imparting relevant knowledge to the pupils as leaders of tomorrow, all this is done via a qualitative curriculum system. On the other hand, in South Africa, a bachelor’s degree is all that is required to enter a classroom and begin teaching-not even a bachelor’s degree with honors. This comparative education inference seeks to demonstrate the differences in educational qualities of countries with intentions to fairly and profoundly establish the argument that the South African curriculum system (NCS) is indeed in shambles and needs fundamental reform.
A high-quality curriculum would structure its subjects in a way that is pertinent to the needs of the labor market; that is, it would confer with employers to determine what they are looking for in candidates and then train pupils in line with those abilities and aptitudes. In order to ensure that the curriculum delivered to pupils is relevant, a qualitative curriculum system consults with the education society (market, companies, organizations, and institutions). The market and the industries(the employers) are yet another typical illustrations that might be used to assess the quality, if any, of the NCS. The fact that many businesses, organizations, and institutions offer internship programs designed to teach graduates practical employment skills is strong evidence that the educational system is creating irrelevant graduates. Xaba, (2023) also argues that failure to erect a qualitative curriculum system justifies the labor market frustrations as they lament an unskilled workforce that is a direct product of both basic and higher education institutions. It is Wrenn & Wrenn, (2009) who also reveals that the existence of internship programs is the cause of the lack of a curriculum system that is able to transition students from theory to practice with confidence and effectiveness. This exposes the quality shortcomings of the NCS which lacks effective theoretical and practical integration within its teaching and learning processes.
It is for such reasons the Personalised Education Curriculum System (PECS) was conceived as a curriculum system strictly rooted in quality, foundations of competencyoriented education, and focused on equipping students with 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 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 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 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). PECS is a qualitative education curriculum system.https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/.
Bibliography: Pollari, Pirjo; Salo, Olli-Pekka; and Koski, Kirsti. (2018). In Teachers We Trust – the Finnish Way to Teach and Learn. Inquiry in education: Vol.10, No.1, pp, 1- 17.
https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol10/iss1/4. Wrenn, J. & Wrenn, B. 2009. Enhancing Learning by Integrating Theory and Practice. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Vol. 21, No. 2, pp, 258-265. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ899313.pdf.
Xaba, SS. 2023. The significance of explicit theoretical-practical integrated curriculum system. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/2023/04/16/the-significance-of-explicittheoretical-practical-integrated-curriculum-system/.
Labuscagne, H. 2022. 2022 matric pass rate – 53%. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/trending/476959-south-africas-real-2022-matricpass-rate-53.html. Date of Access: 02 June 2023.
Colby, J. 2000. Defining Quality in Education. Working paper presented by UNICEF at the meeting of The International Working Group on Education Florence, Italy.https://www.grainesdepaix.org/en/resources/references/quality-education/definingquality-in-education-unicef-2000.