South African secondary education is marred with crises of various dimensions and magnitude, all of which combine to suggest that the system is at crossroad. Poor examination results are always related to failure and they dent the reputation of the school. On the other hand, good results are related to success, and they earn the principal and his team a good name. It is against this background that the study explored the concept of output of secondary schools, from the lowest performing province in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges faced by school management in curriculum implementation in Eastern Cape Province. The key factors that contributed to the low pass rate of Grade 12 learners, in the Eastern Cape Province in 2011 were examined. A qualitative approach was used with focus group interviews as suitable tools in the study. The key findings that emerged in the study were scarcity of resources, unsafe environment, unstable job security, recruitment and poor retention strategies. Evolving from the above findings, recommendations were formulated to equip principals with the strategies for the effective implementation of the curriculum.

Author: Mutendwahothe Walter Lumadi

Published in: London International Conference on Education (LICE-2023)

• Date of Conference: 13-15 November 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/LICE.2023.0009
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-66-2
• Conference Location: St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK