The ushering in of the new democratic order in South Africa in 1994 brought with it
far-reaching changes that impacted on the lives of every citizen. South Africa was faced
with the task of translating the dreams of its citizens into reality. To do so, the state,
through its various departments had to revisit it approach to service delivery. this led
to the extensive restructuring processes that characterised the first decade of democratic
rule in this country. The changes that occurred and are still occurring in education are
remarkable and commendable.
Post 1994, the Ministry of Education had to dismantle the apartheid structure and create
a unified education system. During apartheid there were 19 Education Departments,
which had to be amalgamated into one National Department, which is further divided
into nine Provincial Education Departments (Hofmeyer, 2000:2). this was to create a
more equitable system of financing in a context of the huge demand on the limited
financial resources and to create a policy framework, which gave concrete expression to
the values, which underpinned the post apartheid state.
The first five years of reconstruction were dedicated towards the dismantling of
apartheid, and the creation of structures and procedures. This included transfers of staff,
offices, records, assets and more than ten million learners and educators into the new
system without compromising service delivery. Educators are central to educational
change, the policy on norms and standard for educators were introduced in 2000
(Robinson, 2003:19). This policy created the framework and procedures for the
approval of teacher education programmes and outlined the kinds of qualifications that
the Department of Education would consider for funding and for employment. The
policy provides an outline of the knowledge, skills and values that are seen as the
hallmarks of a professional and competent educator (Robinson, 2003:21 ). / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11210 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Seakamela, Caroline Mpho |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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