CAPS

Educational reform and curriculum development in South Africa is the result of a complex and evolving history that spans well over a century, with significant transformation taking place particularly between 1994 and 2014.

Democratic transition in 1994 marked the beginning of extensive reforms. The introduction of the South African Schools Act (1996) laid the foundation for a unified, inclusive, and outcomes-based education system.

Curriculum 2005 (OBE) of 1998 was reconstructed into a revised National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in 2002. This National Curriculum Statement was revised in 2009 and the amended National Curriculum Statement was called CAPS.

CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements) is a single, comprehensive and concise policy document for each subject listed in the National Curriculum Statement for Grades R-12. CAPS informs teachers what to teach, when to teach and what to assess on a grade-by-grade and subject-by-subject basis. CAPS stipulates the aims, scope, content and assessment for each subject from Grades R-12.

The National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 (2012) emphasises knowledge, skills and values taught in South African schools. The curriculum aims to provide learners that are able to:

• Use critical thinking and creative thinking to identify and solve problems.


• Collect, analyse, organise and critcally evaluate information.


• Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility            towards the environment and health of others


• Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related system                    recognising that problem solving contexts do not exist in isolation