Research shows that there are lot of factors contributing to lack of curriculum coverage in secondary schools. Poor quality teaching, poor classroom instruction, inadequate teacher knowledge and skills, and teachers being assigned to subjects for which they are not trained, low teacher morale, ineffective leadership and inadequate resources are some of the factors (Shava & Heystek, 2019). Research also shows that curriculum coverage is also affected by factors such as motivation of learner, the learners’ attitude to learning, the learners cognitive abilities, the teaching and resources availability, and the climate at the school (Schulze & Steyn, 2007). Mji and Makgato (2006) report that outdated teaching practice and lack of basic content knowledge can result in the lack of curriculum coverage. They further state that the poor curriculum coverage has also been exacerbated by a large number of under-qualified or unqualified teachers who teach in overcrowded and non-equipped classrooms. One of the reasons that result in the lack of curriculum coverage, which will be discussed below, is the lack of monitoring of schools by the district officers, lack of control over the curriculum and lack of expertise to manage the curriculum and the additional workload and shortage of resources in the schools.
2.7.1 Lack of monitoring of schools
All the provinces in South Africa have schools situated in rural areas with their unique conditions and challenges, where teachers work under bad conditions and without much human support (Gardiner, 2008). A challenge, particularly in rural high schools, is teachers' lack of subject content knowledge, and limited resources contributing to teachers' low morale (Gordon, 2009). The inability of the subject advisors to supervise teachers' performance add to the doubtful ability of most Professional Development programme to change teachers’ practices (De Kadt, 2010). Adedeji and Olaniyan (2011) report that schools in rural areas are not necessarily monitored regularly by the district officials due to their remote location. Lack of monitoring of the schools results in the schools doing what they like and the teachers not reporting on time or being absent from school for no good, all which lead to poor performance by learners of mathematics and science. Mampane (2013) highlights that in under resourced schools, particularly township schools, there is no one to take care of learners in the absence
28 of their teachers, which results in learners not finishing the curriculum. Teachers absent themselves from school without valid reasons and, worse, they do not inform the principal beforehand (Brown & Arnell, 2012). Wastage and inefficient use of time will result in less teaching time and will make it impossible for teachers and learners to cover the curriculum (Stols, 2013).
Reports from district intervention teams and the oversight visit by the MEC for education in KwaZulu-Natal indicate that there is no common strategy for the monitoring of curriculum delivery across the twelve districts(DBE, 2011). There is no instrument designed to inform the system if the learners achieve learning objectives (DBE, 2014). The Department of Education aims to improve curriculum delivery, management, and support.
2.7.2 Lack of control over the curriculum and expertise to manage curriculum
Literature indicates that teachers are concerned about the overcrowded curriculum (Nel & Luneta, 2017) and teachers have no control over curriculum selection, development, and implementation. If teachers' input on curriculum issues is eroded, this will significantly undermine their professional standing. Teachers stress their willingness to be accountable but believe it is important that the profession be involved in the accountability mechanisms and processes (Selepe, 2016). In current interventions such as 9+1 intervention, teachers are provided with lesson plans and the annual teaching plan. However, no mechanism is put in place to ensure that the lesson plan is delivered accordingly and that HODs are actually managing the curriculum. While it is good to provide teachers with lesson plans, it takes away the ownership of the curriculum as the expectation to be told what to do infiltrates their minds. Other than tracking and managing the curriculum, the introduction of CT aims to place teachers and HODs at the ownership level of the curriculum. Similar views were raised by (Graven, 2016b) that when teachers are motivated, they are more likely to unearth their expertise. The study by Börü (2018) states that motivation, on the other hand, stimulates teachers to change their behaviors and make effort to sustain their endeavors in the direction of determined goals.
29 2.7.3 Additional workload and shortage of resources
In South Africa, the ratio of teacher to learner is 1: 35. However, the reality is that mostly in rural areas the ratio of learners to teachers is probably double. Therefore, teachers and HODs find themselves unable to work with learners to cover the curriculum. (Raselimo & Mahao, 2015), posit that the learner-teacher ratio may impact negatively on teachers' ability to successfully implement an integrated curriculum. They further assert that the shortage of classrooms is sometimes the cause of the overcrowding in the classrooms. Zheltoukhova, O’Dea, and Bevan (2012) describe additional workload on teachers as the task that will result in underperformance in their work and will exceed personal capabilities and result in threats and reactions of nervousness, anxiety, frustration, pressing or annoyance. Mahlangu (2001) contends that additional workload that is embedded within a curriculum reform cannot be disregarded. Jansen (2001) concurs, stating that teachers complained that the curriculum was too demanding, stressful and time-consuming. It is not surprising that Mahlangu (2001) asserts that due to increased workload during the implementation of curriculum reform, some teachers may be unwilling to go an extra mile in the work they do, which will have an impact on curriculum coverage. In their study, Ayeni and Amanekwe (2018) state that teachers’ instructional workload is faced with serious challenges, which, among others, include shortage of teachers’ lack of instructional materials, learners over-enrolment, high number of teaching periods per work, lack of well-equipped laboratories and large class size without instructional technology effect learners academics performance in secondary schools.
Secondly, in rural areas additional workload is not only caused by overcrowding in classrooms; it is further perpetuated by shortage of teachers(Matshipi, Mulaudzi, & Mashau, 2017). This results in one teacher teaching mathematics and sciences from grade 8 to grade 12, and with the emphasis that is often put on the matric pass rate, such teachers tend to ignore other classes and focus on matric. The same was echoed by Nel and Luneta (2017) who state that the reason teachers do not finish the syllabus in schools is that they are having too many classes. A study by Mbugua, Kibet, Muthaa, and Nkonke (2012) indicated that 27.8% of mathematics teachers in rural schools taught below 15 lessons per week, 66.7% teachers between 16 to 30 lessons in a week while 27.8% taught more than 30 lessons. This indicates that 27.8% of mathematics teachers are still overloaded. This may contribute to poor performance in mathematics. Teacher additional workload has a direct impact on learners’ academic achievement. Insights and resilience, positive and caring relationships are requirements of effective teaching in the classroom (Sparks, 2016). This condition definitely results in negative influence on the
30 instructional quality in schools, which translate to poor attitude and values, and low academic performance (Ayeni & Amanekwe, 2018). Other factors that cause lack of curriculum coverage include shortage of resources, inadequate facilities such as classrooms, laboratories, libraries and playing grounds, all which can affect the implementation of the new curriculum (Jansen & Taylor, 2003).