Pre-primary schools operating without standard curriculum

 

Responding to a questionnaire from Mmegi, Zuze said schools have been operating with different types of curriculum, with no guide from the ministry.

'There was no standardisation or guide on what children should learn,' she said. However, the ministry has since developed a pre-primary school curriculum, which is currently a pilot programme. The pilot programme started last year and is expected to end in 2011.

Zuze said the government is still not ready to provide pre-school education.

'At the moment, the status quo on provision of pre-school education remains in the private and voluntary hands until government is ready to provide for all children,' she said in response to a questionnaire from Mmegi. She said there is at present no time frame when the government will be able to make this provision.

A MoESD initiated pre-primary programme in government primary schools was first broached in 2006, with the pilot expected to start in January 2010.

'Unfortunately, the project did not commence. It fell vulnerable to recession cuts,' Zuze told Mmegi.

The pilot was expected to have taken place in the Kgatleng and Kgalagadi districts, with Kgalagadi as the 'pilot district' and Kgatleng as the 'control district.' Four primary schools in the districts, which had extra classrooms, had been identified.

However, according to Zuze, some district councils have established pre-schools under their own cost to accommodate children from underprivileged communities. The Tlokweng Sub-District in particular, has a centre that it used to run from a primary school in the village, which is not arranged with the Ministry of Education, Zuze said.

Meanwhile, she said the MoESD currently has a pilot programme for pre-primary education curriculum.