Department of Basic Education curriculum review
29 March 2017
Equal Education welcomes Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s curriculum review. It aligns with the call made by our 2016 [Draft] Education Charter, for the decolonisation of the schooling curriculum.
The draft Charter, affirmed at our Teaching and Learning Summit in July 2016, states that the decolonisation of the curriculum must extend beyond content, and that teaching pedagogy must also be critically reflected upon.
We consider transformation and the decolonisation of knowledge as integral to building a nation characterised by freedom and equality. Expanding the curriculum to be inclusive of South African and African history, science and literature alongside the knowledge of the rest of the world will provide present and future generations with intellectual tools to reach this goal. We are aware that decolonisation is a progression which requires worldly knowledge such as Shakespeare, but it should not take first priority.
The draft Education Charter aims to offer guidance in alleviating education struggles in the South African education system. Equal Education continues taking strides in ensuring that the education system is fair and equal for all children. The proposed curriculum review by the Department of Basic Education is a necessary step in transforming an education system which still does not offer room for African knowledge. Additionally, decolonisation of the curriculum will pay respect to African heritage while allowing citizens to restore their identity and dignity stripped through the brutality of colonialism and apartheid.