More support for GP matrics

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Pretoria - Matric educators are set to receive uniform lesson plans from the Gauteng Education Department in a bid to increase time spent with learners. 

Addressing over 5 000 grade 10, 11 and 12 educators at Gallagher Convention Centre on Saturday, Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Greecy said educators would no longer have to develop and submit lesson plans, however, they still needed to use the standard lesson plans to prepare for lessons. 

The purpose of the meeting between the department and educators was to discuss the role of educators in Secondary School Improvement Programme (SSIP) schools and the training educators will receive this year.

The meeting was attended by all educators in schools that are part of the SSIP, which runs in schools that obtained a matric pass rate of less than 80 percent in 2010. 

During the meeting, Creecy announced that a training programme for educators in the 391 underperforming schools will start on 14 May until 15 October 2011. 

"They will attend training on Saturdays and during school holidays in the following subjects: Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, English First Additional Language, Geography, History, Life Sciences, Physical Science, Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy," Creecy said, pointing out that grade12 learners are attending classes in these subjects every Saturday and during school holidays. 

She said during extra classes, grade 12 learners are taken through selected topics that are high risk and high yield, optimal time management in an exam as well as mock examination papers. 

"Learners will also attend grade 12 camp programmes for two weeks to prepare them for the final examinations. Grades 10 and 11 attend during school holidays and the focus is on addressing content backlogs and gaps in Maths, Physical Science and Accounting ... They also focus on weekly tasks and problems, as well as career education," Creecy said. 

According to Creecy, schools in the SSIP programme will deliver the curriculum in terms of pace setters and work schedules. The SSIP programme for learners focuses on tuition and support in order to consolidate key concepts and focus on exams. 

She urged educators to positively engage with the SSIP programme, adhere to pace setters and work schedules and participate in the training sessions. 

She also asked educators to encourage learners to attend the extra classes on Saturdays as well as suggest ways of improving SIPP. - BuaNews