Chuchekani teachers "go back to school"

2008-10-20

Foundation Phase educators hard at work in the classroom Teachers in Humulani, one of the poorest villages near Lulekani township, have discovered the importance of non-government organisations in meeting the community’s needs when government structures are struggling. The Department of Education’s training programme for teachers often struggles to keep up with demand throughout South Africa, and Humulani’s situation was exacerbated by Chuchekani Primary School having appointed 20 new teachers in April this year. However, the staff decided to be proactive and called the Palabora Foundation in to help them.

There are 51 teachers working at Chuchekani, catering for 1 951 learners in the poverty-stricken rural village, which houses former refugees from Mozambique. The 20 new teachers had not yet been reached by the government’s training programme, which hampered their ability to deliver the academic curriculum, particularly the new National Curriculum Statements (NCS).

Palabora Mining Company/Palabora Foundation responded to Chuchekani Primary School’s request to train the entire teaching staff on the NCS. On 16 October, all 51 teachers attended a one-day workshop conducted by the In-Service Training (In-SET) team from the Foundation.

What made Palabora Mining Company/Palabora Foundation respond to the call was not the poverty but the sheer number of teachers who had not been reached by the Department of Education’s training programme six months after their appointment. The Palabora Foundation works in partnership with the Department of Education and it is times like these that affirm the importance of the partnership.

The workshop was held on the school’s premises to make it easier for the staff to attend. The workshop reached 21 Intermediate and Senior Phase educators and 27 Foundation Phase educators, while the principal and her deputy attended a separate session. The teachers were taken through teaching theories and policies, especially:

Policy on assessment;
Learning outcomes and assessment standards;
The three levels of planning;
National Policy on Assessment and Qualifications for schools in the GET band.

Orientation on these policy documents was a breakthrough for the new teachers, who did not have them and were not aware of the location of the core learning outcomes and assessment standards for each of the phases. The three levels of planning were done with more focus on the lesson plan, as requested by the principal and her deputy.

The principal and her staff expressed their gratitude to the Palabora Foundation for responding so spontaneously to their request. On the workshop evaluation forms, teachers expressed how exciting and informative the workshop was. “Schools must take control of their teacher development”, says Ray Duba, the programme head of In-SET at the Foundation. “The Palabora Foundation commends the principal, Mrs Maphanga, and the staff of Chuchekani for being dedicated and proactive”.

: ends :