Curriculum tinkering in situations of crises and inequalities: The case of South Africa

This article interrogates a curriculum recovery plan designed to obviate the loss of time due to the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, it analyses two strategies, the first to overcome time lost and the second, to reorganize the curriculum. A description of the landscape of inequalities in South Africa serves as a conceptual and analytical framework. The article deploys the curriculum recovery plan as “data”. It interrogates two strategies of the recovery plan: namely, curriculum trimming and curriculum reorganization. A major finding is that the strategies recommended in the recovery plan intensify economic stratification. Immediate, short-term, and long-term actions for reducing inequalities include excising irrelevant curricula, upskilling teachers, and reconsidering the criteria for the appointment of school leaders. Furthermore, disease-prevention strategies and social-distancing measures, which lower the teacher-student ratio, are viable solutions to reduce teacher burdens in overcrowded classrooms and to improve student learning.