Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A DELINEATION OF THE ALIGNMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS COVERAGE IN THE POLICY AND EXAMINATION: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF POLICY VERSUS EXAMINATIONS

Sikhulile Bonginkosi Msezane

Abstract

This paper provides content analysis of policy coverage and examination of the environment topics in the South African (Further Education and Training) FET Phase. Several shifts in the curriculum since 1994 have affected the coverage, teaching and examination of environmental topics in subjects such as Life Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Geography. These content paradigm shift has profound consequences for the delivery of the curriculum, resulting in negative effects on initiatives to fight pollution, global warming, deforestation, desertification and loss of biodiversity, to mention a few. Data were collected using policy documents and past examination papers. In analysing coverage and examination of environmental topics, the document analysis procedure was followed, including skimming, reading and interpreting tables and broken line graphs. The results of this paper show that there is no alignment of content coverage between policy and examinations.