| Summary: | M.Ed. === South Africa's democratic government inherited a divided and unequal system of education. Under apartheid, South Africa had nineteen different educational departments separated by race, geography and ideology (Department of Education, 2002:4). In this education system, teachers taught a syllabus and learners were required to meet certain objectives. These objectives were normally fixed and had to be achieved by all learners within a certain time frame. Assessment was based mainly on knowledge by means of a test. This system did not serve the needs of all learners in the country (Pretorius, 1998:1). Curriculum change in post-apartheid South Africa started immediately after the election in 1994 when the National Education and Training Forum began a process of syllabus revision and subject rationalisation (Department of Education, 2002:4). The purpose of this process was mainly to lay the foundation for a single national core syllabus. This brought about the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in 1998 which marked a watershed in the educational history of South Africa. The Outcomes-based education (OBE) approach represents a paradigm shift in education. === Prof. Duan Van der Westhuizen
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