Question NW2859 to the Minister of Basic Education
14 November 2018 - NW2859
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(a) What are the relevant details of the Early Grade Reading Norms and Standards that are meant to be implemented by provincial education departments and (b) what progress has each province made in meeting the specified norms and standards?
Reply:
Response:
(a) The relevant details of the Early Grade Reading Norms and Standards which are meant to be implemented by provincial education departments are explained in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) from Grades R – 3. These include the text types that learners should engage with in a 2 weekly cycle and the time allocation per grade for each term of the year. They also contain the components of reading such as decoding, sounding letters of the alphabet, letter recognition to reading words and reading fluency which is clearly described in the Annual Teaching Plan (Section 3) of the CAPS. Additional guidelines were developed in February 2018 and mediated through the Foundation Phase Subject Committees and workshops at national, provincial, district and teacher training, as well as through Professional Learning Communities.
(b) Progress by province in meeting the specified norms and standards as per the CAPS are reported on quarterly through the National Strategy for Learner Attainment (NSLA). In addition, the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Programme is being implemented to assist teachers to evaluate learners reading progress. Base-line, mid-line and end-line assessments are conducted to evaluate learners. Currently, 1670 schools are using EGRA to support the implementation of the CAPS.
The Primary School Reading Improvement Programme (PSRIP) was launched in October 2016. As a result, 11 712 Foundation Phase teachers and 263 subject advisors have trained on reading content and pedagogy in preparation for delivering the reading component of the CAPS. The table below details the progress as at 30 September 2018 on the above programmes in provinces.
Province |
Progress |
Eastern Cape |
|
Free State |
|
Gauteng |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
|
Limpopo |
|
Mpumalanga |
|
North West |
|
Northern Cape |
|
Western Cape |
|