An investigation into whether Physical Education is being taught at Department of Education and culture Secondary schools in the Cape Peninsula according to the prescribed Physical education Syllabi

Abstract

The educational system in South Africa today is in a state of flux. (Kloppers 1990:24) Father Smangaliso Mkatshwa emphasized that education was completely intertwined with the economic, political and social structures of society (Yan den Heever 1987:1). Therefore, if we want to understand the schooling system in a particular society, we can't just look at schools. we also have to look at the society in which they operate (Christie 1985:17) The South African society is presently experiencing a transformation, concommitent to this are tremendous political and economic upheavals which are responsible for the education system being in a state of flux. AII school syllabusses are developed at the instigation of the Committee of Heads of Education (CHE), but it is the Joint Matriculation Board (JUB) which is the final arbiter. After the instigation the task of drawing up the core syllabus is delegated to one of the white provincial administrations (Kloppers 1990:9; Cleophas 1990 ). After 1976 the intense dissatisfaction (from the left of the political spectrum) with the educational policy forced. The authorities, in 1986, to introduce National Curriculum Committees for all school subject. These committees are constituted of: one representative of the Department of Education and culture (DEC - Head. office); two representatives of each of the four provincial Administrations and one observer each from the Department of Education and training (African), House of Delegates (Indians), House of Representatives (coloureds) (Kloppers 1990:10; Cleophas 1990). Thus, as one can observe, the whites have total control over the drawing up of the curriculum, and are thus able to determine the aims and objectives of the syllabus content.