Massive Increase in Textbook Provision in the Foundation Phases

One of this Government's main priorities is to improve the levels of learner performance in the foundation phase (Grades 1 to 3) of education.

The foundation phase of learning is the most critical stage of our children's education as it forms the basis of all further learning.

Improving the literacy and numeracy skills of our learners at this stage is essential, therefore, this year, a number of measures have already been put in place to help our learners improve their reading, writing and calculating skills at the foundation phase level.

A central component of these measures is the increased use of texts in the classroom environment.

Texts are essential in the classroom environment as they provide structure to the classroom environment. They also allow parents to monitor their child's progress on a consistent basis.

Therefore, this year, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) through its textbook budget focused on the foundation phase of learning by delivering additional textbooks to primary schools.

With the focus primarily being on improving the literacy and numeracy skills of our learners, all primary schools have received maths textbooks for Grades 2 to 7.

Reading books have also been delivered to selected schools for Grades 1 to 6.

This is the first time in history that the Western Cape has provided textbooks to Grade 2 learners. We believe that it will play an essential role in improving the numeracy skills of our learners at that level.

Another important development this year is the delivery of the nationally produced workbooks for Grades 1 to 6.

The Western Cape Government have strongly supported the implementation of the workbooks at the national level, and have ensured, through a massive logistical exercise, the smooth delivery of these workbooks to schools throughout the province, starting on the 17th of January.

By the end of January, the majority of our 1 200 primary schools had received the workbooks. Each of these schools received the first of two workbooks for language and mathematics for Grades 1 to 6 per the language requirement.

In order to ensure that our educators understand how to properly manage the use of these texts, training workshops for all our Foundation Phase teachers were held in January 2011. The workshops informed teachers about the use of the nationally produced workbooks and the new textbooks and information and training on CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement).

Foundation Phase Curriculum Advisors have also undergone training in effective classroom practice, most particularly on ensuring how to cover the curriculum for the year in a structured and coherent fashion.

Statement by:
Donald Grant
Minister of Education
Western Cape