District officials in two Mpumalanga education districts are participating in an 18-month Future Education Leadership (FEL) pilot programme which is focused on Education 4.0 and the new world of work. The programme encompasses nine core topics including service excellence, data-driven decision-making, accountability, coaching and collaboration as well as critical thinking and continuous improvement.
The FEL programme which has been made possible through a collaboration between the Mpumalanga Department of Education and the Old Mutual Foundation, has been underway for six months in two districts Nkangala and Ehlanzeni and involves twenty officials consisting of circuit managers, CESs Circuit Coordination, CESs GET Curriculum, CES TD & Governance, DCESs Curriculum and TD & Governance.
The purpose of the programme is to prepare district officials for the major shifts which are taking place in education as it seeks to transform what is taught (the curriculum), how it is taught (the pedagogy) as well as the way schools will be supported (the ecosystem). Phase 2 of the FEL programme which will start in mid 2024 will involve school principals and SGBs so that they are able to build an environment which is conducive and supportive to the changing education landscape in each of their schools.
A great deal of work is currently being done at the level of teacher preparation – for example, the NECT Edhub’s Competency-Based Learning (CLP) programme which has focused on supporting teachers to develop the competencies to cover core 21st Century Skills as part of their teaching of the curriculum. The FEL programme complements these types of initiatives by preparing the other elements in the school ecosystem that support teachers and the curriculum.
Participation in the programme which involves training and structured coaching around key practices in the nine core areas, has been extremely positive. “The biggest challenge district officials face is time” said Zothile Skhosana who has been leading the training and coaching on the ground. “District officials are often overwhelmed with the work that they need to get through. Digital platforms and data-driven problem solving will help these officials to be more targeted in their support and will enable them to increasingly bring this support online, thereby freeing up their time and reducing travel and related costs.”
The Old Mutual Flagship programme with the Province also includes a major focus on Reading as it is recognised that the Department must grapple with current realities such as the crisis in levels of reading comprehension while at the same time looking towards the future and not getting left behind the rest of the world.
“This means we are supporting a bi-modal approach which grapples concurrently with the current and the future. The MPL DoE has made good progress in developing EFAL at the Foundation Phase and is now focused on home language instruction. At the same time, they are developing their FEL capabilities – we would all like to get to a place where we can connect the current and future streams for example through the cloud-based Curriculum Management Tracker and online district coaching which will enable targeted support from all levels to the teaching of HL in the classroom” said Lungi Gungubele the OM Programme Manager.
The FEL programme will be fully evaluated in 2024 against a range of criteria including impact, cost outcomes, diffusion and sustainability.
FEL Baseline Assessment & Modules