On 28 March 2014 the Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) system was officially launched, in presence of Mr. Enver Surty, the Deputy Minister of Basic Education.
In 2007 National Policy Framework on Teacher Education and Development (NPFTED) was introduced to address the gaps in the teacher development landscape. Introduction of CPTD was one of the most significant outcomes of NPFTED. The South African Council for Educators (SACE), one of the operational partners of VVOB in South Africa, is the regulatory body of the teaching profession and was mandated by Basic Education Laws Amendment Act of 2011 as responsible for setting up and managing the implementation of the CPTD Management system. This system was developed by a task team coordinated by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and SACE and is based on following principles:
- Teachers have a responsibility to engage in lifelong learning, supported by a qualitative and varied offer of professional development.
- The state has a responsibility to regulate the quality of professional development.
- SACE manages records of each educator’s engagements in informal and formal profession development courses
In practice, principals, heads of department (HODs) and teachers need to collect at least 150 CPD points of a 3-year period. Points are obtained by participating in CPD, both individual activities such as attending an education conference, school-based activities like participating in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and centre-based activities organized by governments, universities, NGOs or private providers.
Representatives of South Africa’s main unions for educators (NAPTOSA, NATU, SADTU, PEU, SAPA, SAOU) endorsed the new system. However, they also made critical reflections on the accessibility to quality professional development for teachers in remote and poor areas, the risk of ‘malicious compliance’ and how the persistence of political assignments demotivates people to pursue professional development. The Deputy Minister suggested that programmes that focus on nutrition, health, social and emotional skills, social coherence or ICT literacy should be recognized as well.
In the 2014-2016 multi-year programme, VVOB supports SACE in the development of its CPTD system. It plans to strengthen the team of evaluators by capacity development on effective CPD, including PLCs. In particular, uniting the potential value of PLCs as a form of relevant, just-in-time and continuous learning with the requirements of documentation and accreditation will be a big challenge for SACE. During the seminar, both SACE CEO, Mr. Rej Brijaj, and Mr. Enver Surty, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, explicitly appreciated the VVOB’s support to realize SACE’s objectives.
The launch highlighted the ambition of the CPTD management system, but also the complexity of the challenge. VVOB is looking forward to making that fascinating journey with SACE and other partners in the coming years.
