JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – A strategy by the Gauteng Education Department has been rolled out in over 900 primary schools to ensure that the Primary Literacy and Maths Strategy (GPLMS) forms part of the core approach.
“Building on successes achieved through its Primary Literacy and Maths Strategy (GPLMS) in the past three years, the Gauteng Department of Education is making the support system part of the teaching and learning mainstream in over 900 primary schools in the Province in 2014,” said MEC Barbara Creecy in a statement.
According to Creecy, this effort by the Education department is to ensure that the strategy is no longer reliant on outside support, but forms part of the core approach to literacy and numeracy teaching in around 982 primary schools, up until now classified as under-performing and therefore in need of specific support interventions by the Department.
The primary numeracy and literacy strategy’s central pillars include:
*ensuring that participating schools are well resourced with textbooks and lesson plans
*ongoing teacher development through targeted training, coaching, and support by the GDE
*training for parents so that they can support the school’s and their children’s efforts
*afternoon homework sessions to ensure that children get help and a framework for their own study as required.
The Gauteng Department of Education has reported that in the New Year, they will begin the planned implementation of the strategy’s next phase. “As a result, the umbrella contract with 13 external providers responsible until now for providing support to the designated schools, ends at the end of this year.”
