NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION 47
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 21/05/2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 13-2010)
Mr D B Feldman (COPE-Gauteng) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
Whether her department has initiated any pilot projects to determine
the extent to which the remediation of vocabulary deficit was
contributing to an overall improvement of learner performance across
the curriculum; if not, why not; if so, (a) where was the project
initiated and (b) how was this problem successfully overcome? CO258E
REPLY:
a) There are no pilot projects that are in place to determine the
remediation of vocabulary deficit in learners.
if not; why not
(b) Vocabulary is one part of a broad spectrum of aspects to ensure
that learners become literate.The Department of Basic Education,
has put in place various initiatives that address poor
performance in Literacy. These include:
Through the Foundations for Learning programme teachers have
been given clear guidelines on the key aspects to be taught and
learnt in each quarter and the minimum time allocation for each
aspect; the necessary resources to support teaching and learning
and assessment. In addition, the necessary resources such as
lesson plans and teaching and learning materials such as charts;
books and other manipulatives have also been provided.
Furthermore, through the Annual National Assessments, learner
performance is measured each year. The literacy results for
2009, indicate an improvement in Grade 3 scores. In 2011, a full
scale evaluation will be conducted to assess the impact of the
various initiatives to improve literacy.
The provision of age appropriate reading materials in relevant
languages to learners in the early grades through the Drop All
and Read project and the partnership with the Sunday Times are
other initiatives to inculcate a love for reading in the early
years. This is reinforced by the Foundations for Learning
directive for schools to set aside 30 minutes a day for reading
for enjoyment.
Provision of access to library and information services through
the provision of the guidelines on implementing various models
of libraries and also the provision mobile libraries; classroom
libraries and centralized school libraries and the relevant
materials are also ways in promoting reading and literacy.