Independent schools fume over curricula legal opinion

Fears that pupils will be left stranded if alternative curricula are declared illegal

● Private school associations are outraged over a legal opinion declaring that three different curricula offered by 517 independent schools to almost 37,000 pupils are illegal.

The office of the chief state law adviser stated in a 13-page legal opinion that schools following a curriculum other than the national curriculum statement (NCS) were breaking the law.

Those not following the government’s prescribed curriculum and assessment policy statements (Caps) curriculum include 195 Montessori and 47 Waldorf schools and 275 institutions offering the Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E) programme.

But providers of the alternative curricula are vehemently opposed to exclusively offering the Caps curriculum to pupils from grade R, saying it is too rigid and prescribes the content that must be taught.

Waldorf education emphasises developmentally appropriate practices and experiential learning and the main lessons in a particular subject take place for about two hours a day over several weeks.

Children following the Montessori curriculum are provided with opportunities to learn what they are ready to learn based on individual development, whereas Caps envisages a particular sequence of teaching.

According to A.C.E, parents enrol their children for the programme because of their reluctance to expose them “to the subject content in Caps, some of which is contrary to their religious beliefs”.

A protracted dispute between the National Alliance of Independent Schools Associations (Naisa) representing the affected schools and quality assurer Umalusi forced the department of basic education to appoint mediators to resolve the impasse.

However, a draft interim report by the mediators dated October 3 2021 stated that they had “not yet succeeded in resolving the underlying dispute” between Naisa and Umalusi. It is unclear whether a final report was handed over to the department of basic education.

Following the draft report, the department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, sought a legal opinion to find out whether institutions offering alternative curricula to the NCS could be allowed to continue to operate locally without being subjected to Umalusi’s quality assurance framework.

In its legal opinion dated June 2, the office of the chief state law adviser said no entity or educational institution should be allowed to offer, “let alone be permitted to continue doing so, an alternative curriculum to the NCS because in terms of the Schools Act, the NCS is applicable to public and independent schools”.

It added: “It is our opinion that any entity or educational institution that offers [an] alternative curriculum defrauds the learners of the fees they pay. This is because the qualifications the learners ultimately receive are of no value given the fact that they are not registered on the NQF [National Qualifications Framework].”

Naisa chair Mandla Mthembu told Mweli and the heads of the nine provincial education departments at a meeting last month that Waldorf schools had been told they would lose their examination centre status if they did not change their curriculum.

“Waldorf schools have been writing the NSC [national senior certificate] exams and achieving a 100% pass rate year after year.”

He said thousands of pupils would be left stranded if alternative curricula were declared illegal.

Mthembu, who is also COO of ACE, said pupils followed the A.C.E programme from grades R to 9 before moving to the Caps curriculum in grades 10 to 12.

“We will never stop teaching our children the A.C.E curriculum and the word of God. It is our right.”

Natalie Gross, national representative of the South African Montessori Association (Sama), said schools offering an alternative curriculum that meets the minimum outcomes of the NCS are not breaking the law.

“Sama has shown that the minimum outcomes of the NCS are met, if not exceeded, using the Sama curriculum.”

William Bester, director of the Federation of Waldorf Schools in Southern Africa, said the Waldorf curriculum had been offered in South Africa for 68 years, with excellent results achieved in the matric exams.

He said that to suggest that an independent school not following the Caps curriculum was illegal “goes against the constitution, which clearly states that parents have the right to choose schools which appropriately give expression to their cultural and religious beliefs”.

Bester said the department was working with his organisation to avert Waldorf schools losing their exam centre status.

“Umalusi will accredit Caps schools under current legislation and the department is working to find a mechanism that will allow Umalusi to accredit alternative schools.”

The legal opinion also said that any entity offering a foreign qualification not registered on the NQF was doing so illegally.

Umalusi confirmed that the IGCSE, AS Level and A Levels offered by Cambridge International, the GED offered by the US and a programme offered by the International Baccalaureate organisation were not registered on the NQF.

But representatives of Cambridge International, International Baccalaureate and SK Education Solutions, which represents GED in Africa, said they were willing to undertake the process of being registered on the NQF.

All three entities confirmed they had held many discussions with Umalusi on the issue of foreign qualifications.

Juan Visser, Cambridge International’s regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa, said that once a policy on the regulation of foreign qualifications and alternative curricula had been finalised by Umalusi they would endeavour to meet local requirements.

Meanwhile, Umalusi spokesperson Biki Lepota said the entity was responsible for the accreditation of independent schools offering the NCS leading to an NSC.

“If a school is offering another qualification and curriculum it does not fall within Umalusi’s mandate and therefore Umalusi cannot accredit those schools to offer a different curriculum or qualification.”

He said Umalusi’s approach was that independent schools seeking accreditation “may add to or extend” the NCS but must offer it as a minimum standard.

“A school that is not accredited will not be able to register learners for the NSC exams. The provincial education departments, which register schools, should withdraw the registration status of the schools in question.”

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the department was handling the matter with stakeholders and would make a public statement on its position at the right time.