Perhaps some of the most poignant images from the late 20th century have come from South Africa. Here is the place where world headlines have been made—over and over again. Here are the monuments to a failed social-engineering policy: apartheid. Today, the eyes of the world are on South Africa to see if there can be a peaceful transition that brings equality to all South Africans.
In August 1999, I traveled to Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town as the leader of a Supervision and Curriculum Development delegation to the Republic of South Africa, under the auspices of the People to People Ambassador Programs.
Traveling through South Africa is an exhilarating experience. The country is a tapestry of cultures and languages as varied as its landscape. Once hidden by the ugly veil of apartheid, it is now available to the world. The profound changes of the past four-and-a-half years make the distance traversed seem incredibly short, the end so sudden. The foundation has been laid and the building is in progress.
In what has always been one of Africa's most progressive areas, the abundant enthusiasm and development unleashed by South Africa's peaceful transformation and subsequent integration into the international community has produced remarkable results. But some South Africans worry that it will be at least a generation before a significant portion of the population experiences real change. For South Africans of color, housing, health care, and education standards lag far behind the conditions experienced by whites.
A Changing Education System
South Africa's education system is also undergoing sweeping and widespread change. The old system did not serve the country well and was out of step with world trends. The elements critical to a successful, modern education system—equity, access, redress, and quality assurance—were completely absent from the agenda.
The process of review and renewal in South African education began in August 1995 in response to the need to transform teaching and learning in a new democratic nation. The changes are focused on the adoption of a new educational approach entitled Curriculum 2005, which revolves around the concept of transformational Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). The product of this approach will be recognized and certified by the new National Qualifications Framework.
The new system recognizes that "the learner is at the center of things and the teacher is the facilitator, constantly using group work and teamwork to draw the most out of this new approach and to consolidate it," says Anne Schlebusch of the Western Cape Education Department. Curriculum 2005 requires teachers to undergo an inner revolution or transformation.
But the problems identified in Curriculum 2005 still loom large: negative perceptions of OBE, teachers' lack of knowledge and skills, and the shortage of dissemination strategies for the new curriculum. Nevertheless, government officials express confidence that the new approach will achieve the outcomes that the nation demands of it. Education remains at the vortex of South Africa's continuing saga.
Despite daunting challenges, as South Africans prepare to usher in the new millennium, they are drawing upon their tremendous resources: their abilities, cultures, religions, and capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Perhaps President Thabo Mbeki said it best: "After a long walk, we too have arrived at the starting point of a new journey. We will not get lost."