Schools

Photo: Pixabay

Education shake-up: Three big changes coming to our schools

It’s official: Schools in South Africa will be adapting to an unorthodox upcoming change to the calendar, and a shift in the subjects seen as compulsory.

Schools

Photo: Pixabay

The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) met last week to discuss a number of topics affecting the basic education sector. Chaired by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, the group revealed a few eye-opening changes to both the school timetable and the curriculum for the year ahead.

A change with physical sciences

There are three major changes coming to our schools in the near future. We’ll start with the timetable: When the 2022 year starts, there will be a staggered opening of schools across the country. Schools in five provinces will open on 10 January, whereas facilities in the other four won’t go back until 17 January.

There’s a shake-up for the subjects on offer, as well. Physical sciences – or life sciences – is no longer a requirement for students.

New topic coming to school curriculum

That means Sport and Exercise Science will play a more prominent role. The education authorities see this as a more inclusive option for pupils in South Africa, and explained their decisions further:

“The IEB argues that requiring learners to take either physical or life sciences places an unnecessary burden on learners who take sport and sciences as an additional subject.  This discourages learners from choosing SPSC. 

“It also excludes learners who would like to do the subject, as well as those who would benefit from doing so. The IEB argues that there is no evidence that the combination of SPSC with either life sciences or physical sciences is necessary.  CEM agreed and approved the removal of this requirement.”

Angie Motshekga

Important new dates for the school calendar

  • Matric exams for 2020 will begin on 19 October and will be concluded on 26 November.  
  • The practical subjects – computer applications technology (CAT), and information technology (IT) – will sit on 13 and 14 October respectively. 
  • In case of electricity disruptions, as experienced in 2019, re-writing of the two subjects will take place on 27 October.
  • The May/June 2020 matric re-write will take place from 4 May to 11 June.  The results of the May/June examinations will be released on 30 July. 
  • The opening of schools in 2022 will be staggered, with schools in the inland provinces (Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West) opening on 10 January 2022;
  • Schools in coastal provinces (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape) will open on 17 January 2022. 
  • Policy states that learners must have 202 “actual learning days”.