Vol. 417, No. 20945, 1 March 2000
GENERAL NOTICE
Notice 207 of 2000
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY ACT, 1996 (No. 27 of 1996)
NATIONAL POLICY FOR DESIGNING SCHOOL CALENDARS FOR ORDINARY
PUBLIC SCHOOL IN SOUTH AFRICA
I, Kader Asmal, Minister of Education, after consultation with the Council of Education Ministers, and with national and provincial stakeholders with a specific interest in school calendars, hereby announce in terms of section 3(4)(k) of the National Education Policy Act, 1996 (No. 27 of 1996), the national policy for designing school calendars for ordinary public schools in South Africa.
Prof. Kader Asmal, MP Minister of Education
GLOSSARY
Allocated time means the amount of time reamers attend school in years, days or hours.
Breaking time means the amount of time taken during the school day for recreation and meals.
Chester means an organisational unit consisting of two or more provinces that all share the same school calendar.
Curriculum according to Lawton (1975) is defined as "essentially a selection from the culture of a society: certain aspects of our way of life, certain kinds of knowledge, certain attitudes and values regarded as so important that their transmission to the next generation is not left to chance".
Instructional time means instructional time is the amount of allocated time when instruction is provided in the essential reaming areas.
School calendar means the annual plan that allocates the total number of days in a school year in a specific pattern, in accordance with the published regulations.
School day is defined by a specific number of hours.
School holiday means time allocated for learners and teachers to recuperate and also to engage in education related activities such as conferences and sport competitions.
School term means the basic sub-unit of time into which the school year is sub-divided. In the four-term system, this amounts to approximately 50 days.
School year is defined by a specific number of days.
School governing body means
Staggering refers to the planning technique of ensuring that the closing and opening dates of school terms of provinces in different clusters are separated by three or more days.
Time on task is the amount of instructional time when a student or group of students is attending to an appropriate task or is engaged in reaming. (Also referred to as engaged time)
Some of the definitions are adapted from: Lorin W. Anderson and Herbert J. Walberg (1993) Timepiece: Extending and Enhancing Learning Time National Association of Secondary School Principals, Virginia, United States.
The school calendar structures the total number of days allocated for teaching and learning in a school year according to a unique pattern. It lays down the dates of commencement and termination of the school terms and the length of school holidays. The process of constructing the school calendar is guided by general principles and a set of specifications. In South Africa, the amalgamation of a number of different education departments and sub-departments after 1994, necessitated the consolidation of the various approaches to designing the calendar for application within the nine new provinces that formed the sub-national units of educational provision and management. Consequently, the document, "Criteria for the Compilation of School Calendars" was developed and utilised in the co-ordination of the school calendars from 1995 to 2000. The current document; "National Policy for Designing School Calendar for Ordinary Public Schools in South Africa. was drawn up as part of an investigation into the school calendar, conducted in 1999 by the Human Science Research Council (HSRC).
This document contains:
- the broad principles that should be taken into account in the school calendar design process,
- specific criteria that need to be taken into account in constructing the calendar for any specific year;
- definition of some key terms;
- a sample time frame for the construction of the calendar for any particular year, and
- legislation which has application to aspects related to calendar construction.
2.1 EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The construction of the school calendar involves taking into account the sometimes conflicting needs and interests of various stakeholders and interest groups It will not be possible Sways to accommodate the needs of all stakeholders. Educational requirements must be satisfied/given priority. This means that the interests of the learners should receive priority. The interests of teachers and other education personnel who serve the immediate needs of learners must also be taken into account.
2.2 CULTURE OF LEARNING AND TEACHING
Planning of the school terms should where possible ensure that the allocation of holidays minimises interruptions to the learning/teaching cycle.
2.3 CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION
Wide consultation must take place with stakeholder and ro~players at the district, provincial and national levels.
The involvement of the organised teaching profession and other personnel engaged in education on planning related to the school calendar is important.The Provincial Education Departments should maximise the levels of participation from stakeholders and role players at the provincial level meetings. At the national level, provinces should be required to ensure that they are represented at all duly convened meetings of the HEDCOM Sub-Committee for School Calendars.
2.4 CO-OPERATION
The provinces in each cluster must ensure high levels of co-operation between each other.
2.5 TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL INFRASTRUCTURE
The school calendar must take into account the effect that the timing of school holidays could have on the flow of traffic and the potential road safety implications of the calendar. Similarly, congestion of other transport infrastructure such as rail, air and related facilities need' to be taken into account. This is an important consideration as the numbers of South Africans able to engage in domestic tourism is increasing rapidly.
In planning the dates on which school terries will close especially at the end of the year, cognizance should be taken of the dates on which factories and the building and allied industries shut down for their holidays. It should be home in mind that the school holidays during the end-of-year period are primarily determined by the closing dates adhered to in the private sector and not vice-versa.
Even though road safety is of great concern to the Departments of Education, the Department of Transport should take responsibility for managing road traffic flows and reducing loss of life on the roads during school and public holidays.
2.6 CONSISTENCY
The school holiday schedule of each Provincial Education Department should be kept reasonably constant in order to facilitate planning for holiday seasons by the tourism industry, the private sector, the road traffic authorities and parents of learners.
2.7 UNIFORM APPLICATION OF CRlTERIA
The same criteria must be applied uniformly to the calendars for every cluster and province.
2.8 ADVANCE PLANNING FOR CALENDAR DESIGN
The calendar for a particular year must be designed sufficiently far in advance of the year it pertains to so as to facilitate planning by all affected parties and stakeholders. The calendar must be available a minimum of eighteen (18) months in advance of the year it pertains to.
Delayed changes to the compilation of the calendar or late changes to the calendar must be avoided. Provinces with proportionally higher numbers of rural schools expressed concern over any late changes to the calendar. Communication with outlying schools is difficult and changes will sow contusion.
2.9 PROCESS OF COMMUNICATING CALENDAR DESIGN OPTIONS
When the draft calendar is sent out for consultation it should be accompanied by a rationale for its composition.
3.1 ALLOCATION OF TO IN THE CALENDAR
3.1.1 REQUIRED NUMBER OF SCHOOL DAYS PER YEAR
The number of school days must provide sufficient time to enable the educational programs to be completed. Approximately 195 - 200 school days per year are considered sufficient for the purposes of teaching and learning.
Educators and learners in each province should as far as possible be allocated the same number of days.
3.1.2 NUMBER OF TERMS
The South African school calendar assumes a four-term structure.
3.1.3 LENGTH OF TERMS
The length of terms should as far as possible be of equal length. It is however, desirable for educational reasons that the third tend should be longer than the fourth term.
3.1.4 LENGTH OF SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
School holidays should provide learners and educators with sufficient opportunity to rest. At the same time, holidays should not be so long as to adversely affect learning retention.
3.1.5 NUMBER OF HOURS PER DAY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
According to the terms and conditions of employment of educator as determined in terms of Section 4 of the Employment of Education Act, 1998 (Government Gazette, Notice 222 of 18 February 1999, Chapter A Number 3), the workload of educators should meet the following requirements:
Section 3.1 (d): The expectation is that every educator must be able to account for 1800 actual working hours per annum. Section 3.2 (a): Word of Are - All educators should be at school during the formal school day which should not be less than 7 hours per day. 31.6 DAYS FOR ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING
At the beginning of the year, teachers should start work at least one day before the pupils start school the end of the year; teachers should stay on for at least three days for administration and planning.
3.1.7 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
In accordance with Item 15 of the Bill of Rights, the South African Schools Act (SASA), No. 84 of 1996 that with regard to "Freedom of conscience "d religion at public schools"(Para.7, p.8) "subject to the constitution and any applicable provincial law, religious observances may be conducted at a public school under rules issued by the governing body if such observances are conducted on an equitable basis and attendance at them by learners and members of staff is free and voluntary". The SASA does not take into account the possibility of temporary closure of a school for reasons of religious observance. However, consonant with the spirit of the Constitution, School Governing Bodies may exercise the right to close for religious commemorations only where the majority of pupils are members of the faith in question.
Closure of schools for religious observance is subject to the following conditions. The number of days may not exceed two days, and must be taken in lieu of the two days allocated for Sport and Culture in paragraph 3.1.8, following. Schools must prioritise their activities in making choices about which school days to take off, which may not be recovered. The School Governing Body must snake application to the Head of Department to exercise this option and must give details with respect to: the size (in percent and numbers) of the religious majority in the school; the day(s) being applied for; and how the school days taken off for such religious observances will be made up, if more that two school days have been taken off. Individual schools that make provision for closure on religious grounds should under no circumstances be open for fewer days than the rest of the province.
Simultaneously, the prescription of the Constitution that cultural, linguistic or linguistic communities should also respect the rights of others, must also be affirmed through ensuring that minority religious groups within a school community are not disadvantaged in any way. Member of world religions that form a minority of learners in schools may be given permission to take two recognised religious days off school. Learners of minority religious groups who do not attend school on such school day(s) should not be marked absent for the day(s) in question. Learners should not be academically disadvantaged as a result of their absence. For example, assessments such u examinatiom or tests should not be administered on days that they are absent.
In terms of regulations, educators are obliged to request to take leave should they wish to celebrate published religious days that fall in term time, except where the school is closed on the basis of an application from the SOB as provided for above.
3.1.8 SPORTING AND CULTURAL DAYS
A maximum of two days per year may be allocated to schools for this purpose. School Governing Bodies should apply to the Head of Department or his/her representative at the District level to utilise such days for school sporting and cultural events. Records will be kept of the dlo~tion of such days with regard to numbers of applications, reasons given for applications and slumber of application granted.
3.2 CLUSTERS AND STAGGERING
3.2.1 CLUSTERS
Within the South African education system, the provision of school education is a provincial competence. The nine provinces have agreed to be allocated into two "Clusters". A cluster refers to a set of provincial education departments that conform to the same school calendar.
3.2.2 CLUSTER GROUPING
Grouping of clusters takes into account the principle that in high population density areas neighbouring provinces should be allocated to the same cluster where possible. The grouping also takes into account peak season traffic flows, and the requirements of the tourism and hospitality industries. The agreed clusters are:
Inland Provinces: Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North-West Province and Northern Province Coastal Provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape 3.2.3 STAGGERED CLOSING AND OPENING TIMES
Clusters should not open their schools on the same date as other clusters. Nor should clusters close their schools on the same date as other clusters. Dates should, where possible, be staggered by three to seven days. There are three considerations that must be taken into consideration in the staggering of school opening and closing times.
First, the structure of the school calendar has to take into account traffic flows. In particular, the aim is to allocate different dates to clusters so that peak traffic density after school closing and before opening is kept within acceptable levels.
Second, staggered term closing and opening times is required in order to reduce the load on establishments offering accommodation on the main road traffic routes.
Third, staggering of holidays promotes optimal utilisation of holiday facilities by spreading demand over a longer period in provinces. In this way shortages associated with peak demand are avoided and provincial economies with developed tourism and hospitality industries can sustain higher levels of growth and employment.
3.2.4 HOLIDAY OVERLAP WITH ALL CLUSTERS/PROVINCES
The mid-year holidays for all provinces should have an overlap of at least one week. This is required to enable the scheduling of events such as sports code national tournaments and teacher union national congresses.
For similar reasons five days, which may include a weekend, should overlap from province to province during the September/October holiday.
3.3 SCHEDULING OF SCHOOL TERMS
3.3.1 AVOID EARLY START IN JANUARY
A very early start to the school term in January should be avoided as this will shorten the holidays of parents who are only able to take leave from Christmas.
3.3.2 FIRST DAY OF A SCHOOL TERM
If possible, school terms for learners should not begin on a Monday. This reduces traffic flows on a Sunday. Opening on a Monday does not provide time for school hostel staff to prepare for the return of learners. With the agreement of teacher unions, Monday can be scheduled for educators to engage in planning for the new term.
3.3.3 EXAMINATIONS
The fourth school term should not end too late in December, as kite closure affects the final publication of the Senior Certificate results (Preferably not later than 8 December). A kite start at the beginning of the year should also be avoided as this pushes back all the terms, thus producing delays in marking and the publication of results.
3.4 SCHEDULING OF SCHOOL TERMS WITH REFERENCE TO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
3.4.1 EASTER HOLIDAYS
Since the dates of the Easter weekend differ from year to year, an effort should be made where possible, to have the Easter weekend fall in the school holiday in order to prevent unnecessary travelling and disrupting of the teaching program.
3.4.2 SCHEDULING DATES OF SCHOOL HOLIDAYS IN RELATION TO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
If a long weekend begins on a public holiday that falls on 8 Friday, and this weekend coincides with the beginning of a school holiday, schools should close on the Wednesday and not the Thursday. If a public holiday falls on the first Monday of a school holiday, schools should close not later than the preview Thursday.
3.4.3 SCHEDULING DATES OF SCHOOL TERMS IN RELATION TO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Especially at the beginning and end of the school year, an effort should be made to have a gap between the opening and the closing day of a school tend and any public holiday fading in the period concerned.
There should preferably be no public holiday in the first week of a school term. Such a holiday prevents a proper start to the new term, as it tends to disrupt the Endemic work of the school.
3.4.4 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS FALLING ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS
Where public holidays fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the intervening Monday or Friday should not be declared as a school holiday unless the public holiday falls in conjunction with another public holiday the creates a long weekend e.g. 27 April and 1 May.
3.5 ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
3.5.1 CLIMATE
Extreme climatic conditions that make school attendance unproductive, uncomfortable, even possibly injurious to health need to be taken into account. Conditions of extreme heat that are experienced in parts of Southern African summer can only to a limited extent be avoided by scheduling the start of school terms later in January. Of greater relevance is the relationship between temperature and humidity. High heat and humidity is a seasonal feature of tropical coastal regions such as along the Kwazulu-Natal seaboard. Principals of schools which are located in areas where high heat and humidity conditions occur should be aware of the conditions that could put children/leamers at risk and on what basis to the decision to close their school can be made.
3.5.2 DISCRETION OF THE HEAD OF THE PROVINCIAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Certain types of schools under the jurisdiction of Provincial Education Departments such as schools for children with Special Education Needs may require Lightly different calendar arrangements to be made from the majority of ordinary schools (eg: on account of transport and accommodation problems).
1998 Mar National Department develops a draft Calendar Proposal and sends to provinces Teleconference between cluster members Apt *HEDCOM Sub-Committee: Cluster meeting on Calendar Proposal
Full meeting discussion of the Calendar ProposalMay Consultation in Provinces June Consultation in Provinces
Teleconference between cluster membersJuly *HEDCOM Sub-Committee: Cluster meeting on the Calendar Proposal
Negotiate Calendar ProposalAug Consultation in Provinces Sep Teleconference between cluster members
Submission of comments/suggestions. Amendments to Calendar administratively if there is consensus and submit to HEDCOMOR *HEDCOM Sub- Committee: Cluster meeting on Calendar Proposal
Full meeting to negotiate Calendar ProposalOct Submit to HEDCOM for consideration
(Approval OR request for amendment and re-submission with further consultation)Nov Submit to Council of Education Ministers (CEM) for approval Dec Publication by Department and Minister 1999 Continue with process for 2001 school calendar 2000 Continue with process for 2002 - 2004 school calendars 2001 Implement fast school calendar (2001) compiled in accordance with this national policy.
6.1 SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT, 1996 (No. 84 of 1996)
Section 4(1): Exemption from Compulsory Attendance - A Head of Department may exempt a learner entirely, partially or conditionally from compulsory school attendance if it is in the best interests of the learner. Section 7: Freedom of conscience ant religion at public schools - Subject to the Constitution and any applicable provincial law, religious observances may be conducted at a public school under the rules issued by the governing body if such observances are conducted on an equitable basis and attendance at them by learners and members of staff is free and voluntary Section 20(1)(f): Functions of all school governing bodies - Subject to this Act, the governing body of a public school must determine the times of the school day consistent with any applicable conditions of employment of staff at the school Section 21(1)(b) & (e): Allocated functions of governing bodies - Subject to this Act, a governing body may apply to the Head of Department in writing to be allocated any of the following functions (b) to determine the extra-mural curriculum of the school and the choice of subject options in terms of provincial curriculum policy; and (e) other functions consistent with this Act and any applicable provincial law.
6.2 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, Act 108 of 1996 and amended on 11 October 1996 by the Constitutional Assembly
Chapter 2: Bill of Rights
Item 15 (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion. (2) Religious observances may be conducted at state or state-aided institutions provided that -
- those observances follow rules made by the appropriate public authorities,
- they are conducted on an equitable basis, and
- attendance at them is free and voluntary.
Item 28 (1) Every child has the right -
- to be protected from exploitative labour practices
- not to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that (i) are inappropriate for a person of that child's age; or (ii) place at risk the child's well being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual or moral or social development;
(2) A child's best interests are of paramount importance in even matter concerning the child.
(3) In this section "child" means a person under the age of 18 years.
6.3 MINES AND WORKS ACT, Act 27 of 1956 prior to Act 13 of 1991
Section 11 (1): Restriction upon employment of juveniles and females - No male person under the age of sixteen years and no female shall work, and no person shall cause or permit any male person apparently under the age of sixteen years or any female to work underground in any mine. 6.4 TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATORS DETERMINED IN TERMS OF SECTION 4 OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATORS ACT, 1998 (Government Gazette, Notice 222 of 18 February 1999)
Section 3.1 (d): The expectation is that every educator must be able to account for 1800 actual working hours per annum. Section 3.2 (a): Workload per educator - All educators should be at school during the formal school day which should not be less than 7 hours per day, except for reasons and with the prior permission of the Principal. The principal will exercise his/her discretion in this regard in tempts of provincial policy. The 7 hours per day includes the breaks and the period& that the learner& are not at school.