Due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, the rotational timetable meant that learners attended school on different days. These regulations require a two-metre distance between learners in order to limit the spread of the virus.
According to Wits University Education Professor, Mary Metcalfe, this led to further losses in learning.
The social distance requirements are no longer in practice and learners should be in class on a full time basis. However, it has been reported that some schools are still using a rotational timetable due to overcrowding in classrooms.
Metcalfe says that if this is not the case, a school making use of a rational timetable should be reported to the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
The overall impact of the loss in teaching time is not the same for all grades, explained Metcalfe, as some grades returned to the classroom earlier than others.
She adds that the DBE has also trimmed the curriculum as much as possible, explaining that it is difficult to trim the curriculum of subjects such as mathematics and numeracy as they require sequential knowledge.
Metcalfe says the DBE’s approach is to allow teachers to determine where learners are in their development and subsequently focus on what they believe learners need to learn.
This however will vary across learners, schools and provinces.
