1. MEETING OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAPS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE GRADES R-12
Dr MJ Maboya
12 September 2018

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE Purpose Problem Statement Background
CAPS SASL Grades R-12
Stakeholder involvement and participation
Support for teachers
Job description of Deaf Teaching Assistants
Supply of Deaf teachers
Learning and Teaching Support Materials
Performance of Deaf learners
Governance issues
Way Forward
Recommendations 2

3. PURPOSE 3

4. PURPOSE
To present to the Portfolio Committee, the Department of Basic Education’s progress report on the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for South African Sign Language (SASL CAPS) Grades R-12. 4

5. PROBLEM STATEMENT 5

6. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The development of the SASL CAPS followed as a response to a court case between Springate and Others and the Minister of the Department of Basic Education and Others in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in 2009. 6

7. BACKGROUND 7

8. BACKGROUND
CEM approved the SASL CAPS to policy as well as its listing with other subjects in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 on 3 July 2014.
Furthermore, CEM also granted approval for the amendment of related policies and regulations.
2014 was set aside for preparing the system for the implementation of the SASL CAPS.
Preparations include: the development of materials for Foundation Phase and Grade 9 leading to the development of the national catalogue; the orientation of Languages subject advisors as well as the training of Foundation Phase and grade 9 teachers and Deaf Teaching Assistants.
DBE developed a costed Implementation Plan which spans from 2014 through to 2017 and the plan was approved at HEDCOM in August 2014. 8

9. CAPS SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE GRADES R-129

10. CAPS SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE GRADES R-12
South African Sign Language (SASL) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was approved as policy and has been implemented in 43 schools since 2015
There are respectively, 159 and 68 teachers teaching in the Foundation Phase and Grade 9.
There are 79 Deaf Teaching Assistants that have been appointed to assist with the implementation of the curriculum.
The system is thus being prepared for the first cohort of Grade 12 Deaf learners who will be writing the 2018 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination. 10

11. CAPS SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE GRADES R-12
There are 17 schools for the Deaf that offer Grade 12. From these, 58 learners from 10 of the 17 schools will be writing NSC examination in SASL Home Language in 2018.
Winter school classes were organised as part of initiatives to support and prepare these learners for writing the 2018 NSC examination. 11

12. CAPS SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE GRADES R-12
School
Province
Number of learners – Gr 12
Efata EC 3
St Thomas 16
Bartimea FS 4
Thiboloha 2
Fulton
KZN
Kwathintwa 8
St Martin 7
De-la-Bat WC 1
Dominican (Wittebome)
Sizwile GP 11
TotalTotal 9 58 12

13. Curriculum Support Programme
Established a FET teacher support team for SASL to develop teacher guides and supporting documents – first meeting conducted on 20 and 21 June 2018.
Extra Tuition Support:
Lesson plans for three subjects: SASL (HL); MATHS LIT and EFAL, were developed to support teachers.
10 hours of lesson plans are available per subject;
Focus of the lesson plans is on challenging content; 13

14. SASL LTSM
National Catalogue for Grades 4 – 12 released in January 2018.
Circular S1 of 2018 on the prescribed SASL literature texts for the FET phase released in February 2018.
These texts were provided to teachers and used during the training sessions in March and September 2017, focusing especially on how to teach and analyse SASL literature in the FET phase.
All the schools have procured SASL texts from the national catalogue.
Guidelines for the analysis of poems and short stories provided to all schools. 14

15. Teacher Training Conducted
5 day CAPS for SASL (HL) Teacher training session in
2016/ 17;
Assessment and Literature Training in September 2017; and
5 day training session with Home Language Subjects advisors in February 2017. 15

16. Subject Advisors Training
Prov
Subject Advisors
IE officials
 Total FP
(2014) IP
(2015) SP
( )
FET
( ) EC 1 3 6 14 27 FS - 2 8 GT 4 17
KZN 10 22 LP MP   NC 11 NW WC
Total: 21 24 37
130 16

17. Training Of Grade 10 - 12 Teachers & Deaf Teaching Assistants
Province
School
Number of teachers/ Deaf teaching assistants
FET
Teacher
DTA EC
Efata 1
St Thomas FS
Bartimea
Thiboloha 2 GP
Filadelfia
Sizwile
St Vincent
Transoranje
KZN
Fulton
Kwathintwa
St Martin
V.N. Naik
Vuleka School LP
Setotolwane NC
ReTlamaleng WC
De-la-Bat
Dominican (Wittebome)
Total: 21 16 17

18. STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT AND PARTICIPATION18

19. STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED IN THE ROLLOUT
Deaf stakeholders and SASL linguists were always included in the development and implementation of SASL CAPS.
For example, Mr L Magongwa who is Deaf and former National Chairperson of DeafSA participated in the rollout.
In addition, Deaf individuals were included in the Curriculum Management Team (CMT) which was established by the Minister to oversee the development of the curriculum.
Deaf individuals also formed part of the national training team (NTT). 19

20. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS 20

21. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS
Highly qualified individuals, hearing and Deaf were involved in training teachers in SASL CAPS.
These included:
Dr P Akach, former CMT member and Departmental Head and lecturer in SASL from UFS
Mr. L Magongwa, lecturer of SASL at Wits, former member of the CMT, who is Deaf;
Prof. C Storbeck, former CMT member from Wits highly qualified in linguistics and literature;
Ms. A Swannack , former member of the writing team from Wits Language School, who is Deaf; 21

22. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS…
Ms. N Nkwinika, a Deaf Facilitator who was involved in training;
Ms. N De Klerk, a lecturer in SASL linguistics from the University of the Free State;
Ms. Atiyah Asmal, Deaf Senior Facilitator at eDeaf;
Mr. S Ndaba a Deaf Skills Trainer from the National Institute for the Deaf; and
Ms. J Oosthuyzen (Child of Deaf Adult (CODA)), SASL teacher from Transoranje School for the Deaf. 22

23. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS…
250 Foundation Phase and Grade 9 teachers and Deaf Teaching Assistants (DTAs) were trained in October 2014.
The training was conducted over a two-week period instead of one week as it had happened other CAPS training sessions.
176 teachers and Deaf Teaching Assistants for Intermediate Phase and grades 9-10 trained in 2015/16 for 2016 implementation
Guidance was provided to provincial education departments (PEDs) to provide additional training for their teachers and DTAs in the SASL content. 23

24. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS…
PEDs enrolled other teachers in schools for the Deaf for accredited SASL courses at universities and a growing number of teachers have graduated.
24 Home Language subject advisors were orientated into for the SASL Foundation Phase and Grade 9. 24

25. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS Province Teachers Trained in Braille
Teachers Trained in SASL
Teachers Trained in Autism
Teachers Trained in IE Activities EC
298
189
196 FS
122 58
454
278 GP 44
309
497
2721
KZN
109
194
665
2138 LP
104
176
100
120 MP
329
172 40
733 NC 19 10
111
3270 NW 13 27
181 WC 80
285
180
Total
1118
1 420
2243
9441 25

26. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS: SASL CURRICULUM CONTENT
Prov. FP
Teachers & DTAs IP
Teachers
DTAs SP
FET EC 25 12 15 7 8 4 FS 31 3 1 2 GP 59 30 20 6
KZN 48 26 13 18 11 5 LP 41 MP NC NW WC
Total
269
103 75 72 53 24 26

27. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS…
SASL is a new subject and therefore teachers did not specialise prior to implementation from 2015.
The utilisation of Sign Language Interpreters did not only benefit hearing teachers but also Deaf teachers in that interpretation goes both ways.
It also provided for the equalisation of opportunity to participate in the training for Deaf teachers and DTAs as well. 27

28. JOB DESCRIPTION OF DEAF TEACHING ASSISTANTS28

29. JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR DEAF TEACHING ASSISTANTS
It was necessary to ensure that there were clear roles and responsibilities for Deaf Teaching Assistants to ensure that there was no confusion.
As a result, the DBE drafted a job description for Deaf Teaching Assistants to guide PEDs’ Human Resource Planning in creating such posts.
The DBE presented the job description during the orientation of School Management Teams (SMTs) into SASL CAPS at a national event of February 2014.
The job description was also presented at every national CAPS training from 2014 to 2017. 29

30. SUPPLY OF DEAF TEACHERS30

31. SUPPLY OF DEAF TEACHERS
Challenges remain in the supply of Deaf teachers in the system.
The sluggish growth in the number of qualified Deaf teachers is attributable to low throughput and completion rates for Deaf learners and the negligible number that has been entering university.
For many years, South Africa has reported only 30 Deaf graduates from university due to the above reasons.
From DBE perspective it is envisaged that with the introduction of SASL CAPS the situation will be turned around, going forward. 31

32. LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORT MATERIALS32

33. LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORT MATERIALS
All PEDs procured LTSM for schools for the Deaf.
Selection and preliminary screening of materials for Intermediate Phase and Grade 10 was completed in 2016. 33

34. PERFORMANCE OF DEAF LEARNERS34

35. PERFORMANCE OF DEAF LEARNERS
Research places a premium on language in education, more so, on home language in laying a solid foundation.
Regrettably, the absence of official HL and LoLT for Deaf learners impacted negatively on quality of education and led to poor throughput and completion rates over the years.
DeafSA has occasionally shared findings from monitoring schools for the Deaf which DBE has used with universities to strengthen teachers’ competence and fluency in signing.
The table in the next slide provides an overview of the quality in learners’ performance in the 2017 NSC examination per category of disability. 35

36. PERFORMANCE OF DEAF LEARNERS…
Qualification
Aphasic/Dyslexic
Blind
Deaf
Other
Total
Bachelors
150 54 17
685
906
Diploma 90 42 41
616
789
Higher Certificate 20 22 16
249
307
Achieved – NSC - 1 2
Endorsed NSC 3 6 7
105
121
The class of 2017 achieved good results and even had a top achiever from a special school.
Obviously, more efforts still needs to be put into allowing for more SNE learners to write the NSC. 36

37. Achieved Higher Certificate
Province
SNE Type
Qualification Type
Total
Achieved Bachelors
Achieved Diploma
Achieved Higher Certificate
Achieved NSC
Achieved SNE NSC
Eastern Cape
Aphasic/Dyslectic 5 1 2 8
Blind 4 12
Deaf 3
Other 20 19 51
Sub-total 30 24 76
Free State 6 10 16 18 55 22 7 65
Gauteng 15 31 13 71
170 39 70 73
200
KwaZulu-Natal 14 9 26 17 48 54 42
113

38. Achieved Higher Certificate
Province
SNE Type
Qualification Type
Total
Achieved Bachelors
Achieved Diploma
Achieved Higher Certificate
Achieved NSC
Achieved SNE NSC
KwaZulu-Nata
Aphasic/Dyslectic 14 6 2 22
Blind 9 10 7 26
Deaf 5 1 17
Other 19 3 48
Sub-total 54 42
113
Limpopo 4 21 11 24 16 18 45
Mpumalanga 40 25 68 27 70

39. Achieved Higher Certificate
Province
SNE Type
Qualification Type
Total
Achieved Bachelors
Achieved Diploma
Achieved Higher Certificate
Achieved NSC
Achieved SNE NSC
Northern Cape
Aphasic/Dyslectic 2 1 3
Other 4 9 15
Sub-total 11 18
North West
Western Cape
122 73
208
Blind 31 6 50
Deaf 12 55
537
463
206
1222
701
578
235 20
1535
Grand Total
906
789
307
121
2125

40. PERFORMANCE OF DEAF LEARNERS…
Research places a premium on language in education, more so, on home language in laying a solid foundation.
The DBE collects data on grade repetition and pass rates through SA-SAMS.
This data can be accessed per request for utilisation by organisations interested in research on the education of Deaf children.
In addition, the DBE has a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation function which monitors the performance of the sector and will be in a position to provide the data whenever required
Statistics South Africa also collects education data which could be used to understand the performance of the Deaf learners. 37

41. GOVERNANCE ISSUES 38

42. GOVERNANCE ISSUES
Representation of people with disabilities in School Governance and Management is provided for in the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996.
The DBE is monitoring the implementation of this provision to ensure that Deaf people are able to participate actively in governance structures. 39

43. WAY FORWARD 40

44. WAY FORWARD
HR Planning at DBE will continue to provide guidance to PEDs on the appointment of Deaf Teaching Assistants.
DBE will engage DHET for strengthening of the training of teachers and assistants in the content of the curriculum.
DBE will continue to involve Deaf individuals with expert knowledge in SASL, linguistics, and other areas as part of its stakeholder involvement processes.
Opportunities for hearing teachers will progressively be opened for them to enroll in university courses in SASL to improve their competency so that Interpreters are effectively utilised during DBE activities in SASL implementation.
DBE will strengthen partnerships with civil society organisations for effective and improved implementation of SASL CAPS as well as improvement of quality of education for Deaf learners. 41

45. WAY FORWARD…
DBE will strengthen its efforts to improve the recruitment of Deaf learners into the teaching profession.
The DBE sector will step up the monitoring of all its policies and programmes to ensure effective implementation including SGB elections in special schools.
DBE will engage DHET on the quality of SASL training courses that are offered by universities.
DBE will engage civil society organisations on the proposed Roundtable discussion on the implementation of SASL CAPS. 42

46. RECOMMENDATION 43

47. RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Portfolio Committee discusses progress report on the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for South African Sign Language (SASL CAPS) Grades R-12, and provides guidance on how the implementation could be improved. 44

48. 45