Following widespread poor June exam results, educators agree that the implementation of the new Grade 10 school curriculum should have been more gradual, but that a concerted effort was now needed to prevent a similar situation in November, the exams which count for 75 percent of the year's grade.

"There was this big thing thrown at them too quickly," said Edgemead High School principal Malcolm Venter, referring to the introduction of the new further education and training (FET) curriculum for Grade 10s this year.

"The fact is that it has happened and we must rise to the occasion."

Venter said teachers, parents, pupils and the education system needed to work together and the chief director for education planning at the Western Cape Education Department, Sigamoney Naicker, had asked to meet him on Tuesday.

Venter arranged for his pupils to retake the June exams last week so that they could achieve a better grade. The June exam results count as part of the grade for the year, so the department allowed rewrites. Both grades would appear on reports.

The results from the second set of exams were not marked yet, but so far indications are that everyone had improved, he said.

"Learners are only required to stay in school until Grade 9, so FET is optional. Learners need to say 'I'm here because I want to be here' and parents need to say 'I choose for my child to continue'," Venter said.

The president of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA, Dave Balt, said teacher training in the Western Cape of the new system had been better than in other provinces, and the Western Cape had been proactive in evaluating the June results.

Although he supported the new curriculum as it would improve standards, he said the system should have only been implemented next year to allow for enough time for the training of teachers.

Large class sizes made the effectiveness of outcomes-based education difficult to achieve, he added.

"The programme requirements are dramatically firmer than last year. The previous curriculum was much softer.

"We've got to work together to get this corrected. What we don't want is a disaster at the end of the year," he said.

Naicker said the Heads of Education Committee approved a pilot examination of the FET curriculum in Grade 10 this year in which 10 schools per province would participate. They would be given question papers and teachers would be given memos to assess the exams. 

"While the June exams for Grade 10 is not standardised, all schools will receive example question papers for all subjects and will use these guidelines for setting their November examinations.

"Ultimately, this will result in monitoring and support for Grade 10," he said.

A report was being compiled on the qualification levels of teachers to improve the quality of teacher education.