Abstract
The subject of the investigation is the impact of management of curriculum delivery as an aspect of learner performance in Grade 12. The investigation is limited to public secondary and combined schools in District Six (D-6) of the Gauteng province.
Over the years, and even now, the Department of Education in D-6 is busy trying to find better methods of managing and empowering educators with the sole aim of improving the performance of learners in their Senior Certificate (Grade 12) Examinations. Some of the attempts by the Gauteng Department of Education in D-6 are indicated by the implementation of various intervention programmes and strategies in the public secondary and combined schools. The developmental workshops are continuously organized in order to improve the performance of learners in public schools.
The literature indicated that educators are not yet sufficiently empowered to manage curriculum delivery in the public secondary and combined schools.
The research project used a structured questionnaire to collect data on the opinions of the respondents in the 19 sample schools of D-6 in the Gauteng province. The questionnaire contained 60 items. The structured questionnaires were distributed to a convenient stratified sample of educators in all the 19 secondary and combined schools.
Based on the information from the questionnaire, each item relevant to this particular research was analysed and discussed. After the factor analysis, the significance of the difference between factors mean scores of various groups, for each of the factors that make up the extent of effective management strategies on the enhancement of curriculum delivery, and the extent of effective assessment strategies on the enhancement of curriculum delivery, were analysed and explained.
The data obtained indicates that the manner in which curriculum delivery is managed in schools has an impact on the learners’ performance in their Senior Certificate (Grade 12) Examinations. For that reason, the performance of learners in secondary and combined schools can only be improved by implementing effective management strategies and effective assessment strategies that could enhance curriculum delivery in secondary and combined schools.
In order to achieve the desired outcome, all the stakeholders, especially the Department of Education, the parents of learners and educators should be committed in improving the management of curriculum delivery in secondary
(iv)
schools. Managers in their schools should ensure that the management of curriculum delivery is not overlooked and improperly managed. The Department of Education should at all times empower educators in order to avoid continuous decline in learners` performance, including in the schools where intervention programmes and strategies are being implemented. The intervention programmes and strategies could be a success, provided they are coupled with proper management strategies for effective curriculum delivery.
Prof. B.R. Grobler