ABSTRACT The world and also South Africa are at present experiencing a profound psychological and educational crisis, due to rapid and radical changes in the ecology of educational and psychological systems, social structures, disparities in education, financial problems and population explosion. There is little question that there is a growing recognition and acceptance of the belief that a full and appropriate education is a right tor 8il children in South Africa, including those with handicaps, developmental delays, learning problems, culture differences, culture deprivation and socially disadvantaged. Valid and accurate diagnosis in the early weeks of a child's formal educational experience in the primary school could be a major determinant of his/her achievement throughout all the school years to come. There is a need for pre-primary teaching, bridging classes, development programmes and school-readiness programmes for children from deprived and socially disadvantaged communities, especially in the rural areas of South Africa. The main purpose of the 'bridging period' is to promote school readiness of school beginners. The indirect aim of the 'bridging period' is to prevent failure in the beginners' classes. According to the research of the Department of Education and Training (DET) it has been found that about 30% of the school beginners are still not ready for school after being involved in the school readiness programme for 12 weeks. To also give these children a sound basis from which to depart for their school career and life, the DET has during 1988 and 1989 started to extend the 12 week readiness programme to a full year - the Bridging Period programme. Children in 'bridging classes' would have been the pupils who would otherwise have failed repeatedly and would have made poor progress for the rest of their school careers. By placing these pupils in 'bridging period classes' and implementing the Bridging Period programme the fail/dropout rate in beginners classes decreased dramatically. INTRODUCTION I would like to start the presentation with the following Declaration on the rights of the child (General Assembly of the United Nations 1959):
Few societies today are homogenous. Most societies, as a result of various social, economical and political developments, have become heterogeneous. As societies have become increasingly diverse, policy-makers have been faced with the challenge of how to deal with such diversity. This is also the reason why the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is in a transitional phase. Today teachers in a multicultural society are faced with the challenge of teaching increasingly culturally diverse classes. The process of school desegregation has further brought about a need for a school reform programme that will change the nature of teaching and learning so that the needs of all pupils will be met and suitable learning environments created for motivating pupils towards acquiring the necessary skills, knowledge, values and attitudes to enable them to participate meaningfully in a multicultural society (Lemmer 8. Squelch 1993:2). Therefore children are, as far as possible, given an equal start through bridging programmes prior to basic formal education. South African schooling needs a drastic shift in emphasis from Secondary to the Pre-primary and Junior Primary schooling years. This should be the educational implication of the transitional phase in the RSA. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce educators, teachers and student teachers to the bridging period programme in black primary schools. The need for school readiness Leading educationists in the RSA are of the opinion that up to 50% ot the school-going pupils in this country may fail at one stage or another due to the fact that they were not school ready when they were admitted to the first grade. For this reason the Department of Education and Training (DET) has since 1980 committed itself to educationally prepare youngsters who enter departmental schools for a period of at least 12 weeks before they start with formal training in reading, writing and arithmetic. It is suggested that it is important that the schools need to be ready to help succeed at learning. School readiness needs to be redefined with a broad definition that includes every aspect of children's development and children's lives, both inside and outside of school This is something to remember in the transitional phase in the RSA. Pre-primary education Some educationalists are of the opinion that the school readiness problem can be resolved if children could receive pre-primary education from the age of 3 years. Others, however, are not in favour of such early involvement and hold that children who are so young should rather receive constant constructive care from a mother. The problem, however, exists that many mothers today are not in a position to devote such attention to their young pre-school children. It thus seems as though a big demand presently exists for pre-basic education. Usually, children who reach the age of 3 years, may be enrolled in pre-primary schools. If the DET should grant free education to pre-primary children, it could result in the admittance of at least one million pre-primary pupils per annum. This could escalate the present fiscal budget for primary education by 70%. A further escalation can be foreseen as the result of the training of 70% more pre-primary and primary teachers. Financial implications Although a big demand may exist for pre-primary education for children from the age of 3 years, the statistics which are given, show that financial commitments will drastically escalate if free pre-basic education is to be granted. A worldwide crisis is presently faced because large financial commitments are usually the result of educational endeavours, and the RSA is no exception to this rule (Joubert 1991:1). The problem is further emphasised by the fact that the SANEP formula which is used to generate funds for education, does only to a very limited extent make provision for pre-basic education. The RSA may thus just not be in a favourable position to raise funds for such expenditure. In an effort to find a solution for the financial problem, the DET was forced to try alternative avenues. An extended school readiness programme Fortunately, the Committee of Education Ministers has decided that the pupils who are not school ready after the initial 12 week school readiness programme in the first grade, could be allowed to remain in 'an extended school readiness programme'. The intention is that these pupils should be transferred back to the main stream (formal education) as soon as they become school ready. Consecutively, the DET made an allowance that the existing school entrance age may be lowered from five and three quarter years (69 months) to five and a half years (66 months). The "bridging period" programme In the White Paper of 1983 on the provision of education, it is recommended that school beginners should pass through a 'bridging period' programme which is aimed at making them school ready before they start with the first grade. No rules are, however, prescribed and each department should thus be free to implement this 'bridging period' according to its own needs. It is also recommended that five year old children should be admitted to such bridging classes. As mentioned, the problem exists that the SANEP formula does only to a very limited extent, make provision for funding the pre-basic education. It is expected that the lowering of the school entrance age to 66 months will relieve the situation to a great extent because the "bridging period' can now formally be regarded as first grade education and can thus be fully subsidised when applying the SANEP formula. The Department of Education and Training was thus in a position to implement the 'bridging period' programme. The school readiness problem is thus handled by the implementation of 'bridging period' classes as the department is not in a favourable position to fund pre-primary education on a large scale. THE PURPOSE OF THE BRIDGING PERIOD The main purpose of the 'bridging period' is to promote school readiness of school beginners. As a result or practical considerations, some pupils will already do formal first grade learning contents in the 'bridging period' classes. The 'bridging period' classes will serve a dual purpose. In the first instance an attempt will be made to accelerate the school readiness of pupils and in the second instance it will be endeavoured to involve pupils in formal first grade learning contents (according to groups and developmental stage) as soon as possible. The indirect aim of the 'bridging period' is to prevent failure in the beginners classes. It is expected that failure can lead to negative self-concept formation and this should be avoided at all cost. Success should rather be emphasised because it has the potential to promote a will to learn and to succeed. THE BRIDGING PERIOD IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING (DET) Presently, ten years after the initiation of the 12 week school readiness programme, the mentioned situation of unreadiness has to a great extent been relieved for a large number of school beginners who took part in the 12 week programme. At this stage, it is also reported by Junior Primary Inspectresses that pupils who were involved in the school readiness programmes, are better off as regards their school success than school beginners who have not been prepared in this way. According to departmental research it has been found that about 30% of the school beginners are still not ready for school after being involved in the school readiness programme for 12 weeks. To also give these pupils a sound basis from which to depart for their school career and life, the DET has during 1988 and 1989 started to extend the 12 week readiness programme to a full year. This extended readiness programme which is currently developed by the Department, is known as the Bridging Period programme or project. The mentioned decision of the Committee of Education Ministers facilitated the partial accommodation of the Bridging Period in first grade classes (SSA). Bridging Period classes have up to 1989 only been formed in schools with three or more SSA classes. It is hoped that, before 1994, it will be possible to extend the Bridging Period project to all departmental primary schools, in urban as well as rural areas. Up to date, the DET has established Bridging Period classes in 1320 (may be more in 1994) primary schools in eight of the regional areas (Joubert 1991:4). It can thus be reported that a representative sample of schools are already involved in the Bridging Period project. The school readiness programme which is currently being used in departmental schools, was tested out against other programmes in 1988 and 1989. It seems as though it will be feasible to adapt and extend this 12 week programme for use in the Bridging Period classes for a full year (Joubert 1989 (a)). TRANSFER AND PROMOTION Pupils who are not school ready after the initial 12 week readiness programme may be transferred to a Bridging Period class until they are school ready. It is presumed that these pupils can be identified through testing after only two weeks in the school readiness programme. A standardised instrument which can be used for the determination of the level of school readiness of school beginners, is being developed for this purpose by the Directorate for Primary Education of the DET (DET 1990). The standardised instrument, the BABY (Battery for the Assessment of Bridging-period Yields), is a battery of five 'tasks' which are given to school beginners at intervals of two weeks, with a view to rate (assess) their behavior in a more structured way than during normal classroom sessions. Each of the 'tasks' is constructed to reflect characteristic situations with which beginners were confronted during lessons presented for a period of approximately two weeks, before the performance of an assessment (DET 1990:2). As soon as it is found that beginners in Bridging Period Classes are school ready according to the standards of this instrument (BABY), they may be transferred to the groups in the formal SSA-programme. Presumably, these pupils are the ones who used to fail repeatedly and would have made poor progress for the rest ot their school careers. By transferring these pupils to Bridging Period classes, the fail/drop-out rate in beginners classes may decrease dramatically. Eventually, at the end of the first school year, the pupiis in the Brldging Period classes will again be evaluated with the standardised instrument to determine whether they should be promoted to SSA or to SSB or whether they rather stay in the Bridging Period class for another year. Under this new dispensation, all SSA-pupils will have the opportunity to anain school readiness before commencing with formal SSA-contents (syllabusj. It is believed that in this way their selfconcepts will not suffer an unnecessary blow which may lead to negative learning attitudes. ADVANTAGES OF THE BRIDGING PERIOD An 1988 investigation which was conducted in Bridging Period classes shows that the Bridging Period, when implemented on full scale, will involve at the most, 30% of the school beginners in primary schools of the DET. Almost none of the pupils in Bridging Period classes have dropped out during 1988 and only few of them were absent for more than one day during the year, which indicates that the programme was received very favourably (Joubert 1989 (b)). In this investigation, it was also found that almost 70% of the pupils who entered the Bridging Period classes in 1988 could be promoted to the SSA-classes at the end of the Bridging Period. About 20% could even be promoted to SSB. The rest, which amounts to less than 10% of the pupils who entered the Bridging Feriod classes, had to repeat the year. It has also been found that about 20% of the repeaters should be regarded as mildly mentally retarded and thus only 80% of this group were as a matter of fact not yet school ready. From the statistics reported by this investigation, it can be concluded that almost all of the Bridging Period pupils have a resonable chance to succeed. It was also verbally reported that these children can cope better with the learning contents in the SSB-classes (Joubert 1989 (b)). The long term effect of the Bridging period classes can therefore also be considered as a gain. The statislics of the mentioned investigation also show that pupils in Bridging Period classes who would probably have failed, have a considorable chance to pass under the new dispensatlon. It is even possible that the school careers of some of these pupils can be shortened by completely cutting out failure at some stage or another. EMPIRICAL MODEL The model (see Figure 1) was suggested as an empirical model and could initially only serve as an experimental model because statlstical information was not available when the Bridging Period was introduced. In 1988 the DET, for instance, did not know what percentage of the beginners would not yet be school ready after the initial 12 week school readiness programme. By merely taking account of the failldrop-out rate in SSA, the DET could only suspect that approximately 30% of the school beginners would have to be transferred to Bridging Period classes. The DET also did not know at what rate these pupils would eventually become school ready. Research had to be done to prove the validity of the model. With the data available from the 1988 and 1989 investigations in Bridging Period classes, the DET has good reason to believe that the suggested model would serve the purpose it was designed for (Joubert 1989 (b). More research will, however, have to be done before a final educational model is developed. Details of the model which is graphically represented in Figure 1, will be discussed in the following paragraphs:"1. All children, no matter wllat their race, colour, sex, language or religion, we entitled to these rights.
2. Children have a right to special protection, and a right to opportunities and facilities so that they can develop in a normal and healthy way to freedom and dignity.
3. Children have the right to have a name and nationality from birth.
4. Children have the right to have enough to eat, to have a decent place to live as well as to play, and to receive good medical care when they are sick.
5. If children are handicapped in any way, they have a right to special treatment and education.
6. Children have a right to grow up with love, affection and security. Babies should not be separated from their mothers. Children should be brought up by their parents wherever possible. Children without parents should be looked after by the state.
7. Children have a right to free education.
8. Children have a right to be among the first to be protected in times of disaster.
9 They have a right to be protected from all forms of neglect cruelty and exploitation.
10. Children should not be made to work before a certain age, they should never be made to do work which is dangerous to their health or which harms their education of physical or moral development.
11. Childlren should be protected from anything that causes racial religious or other forms of discrimillation. They should be brought up in a spirit of understanding friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood.
12. Children should be brought up to understand that their energy and talents should be devoted to the service of their fellow men."
- All school beginners will take part in an orientation programme for approximately three weeks. During this time, they will be roughly divided into groups
The empirical model makes it possible to implement the principle of differentiation in detail. Each pupil is given the opportunity to progress in the group at his/her own pace. At all levels, the use of play as a learning aid, is emphasised in the school readiness programme which is followed. At the beginning of the following school year, the following may happen to the pupils from Group lll which can be regarded as the Bridging Period pupils:
- Group I pupils who become school ready, will be transferred from beginners' classes to start with formal work as soon as possible.
- Group ll pupils will continue with the usual school readiness programme for about 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, pupils who are not school ready yet, will be transferred to Group lll.
- Group lll pupils will be involved in an extended, enriched school readiness programme. These pupils will be subdivided into three groups (Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3) according to their level of school readiness and each group will be involved in the school readiness programme at its own pace. The stronger pupils in the top group may also, where appropriate, start formal SSA-work at their own pace. Pupils who are, for instance, school ready with regard to their language ability may start to read and write. They will only be introduced to formal mathematics when they are ready for it.
At this stage it is envisaged that Bridging Period pupils can be shifted from one group to another during the year. The opportunity to be promoted must remain open to all Bridging Period pupils, even the pupils from Group 3. It must also be emphasised that this empirical model should only be considered a test model. Due to practical experience, the final model may be changed. More than 5000 of the DET teachers are already competent in the handling of the 12 week school readiness programme. The change to the Bridging Period classes presented no serious problems for the primary school teachers. CONCLUSION The Department of Education and Training is eagerly looking forward to the full implementation of Bridging Period classes in all its primary schools. Coutts (1992: 94-95) suggests the following principles when implementing a learning support programme (therefore also a Bridging Period programme): The teacher should: (a) begin where the child is, by trying to build a picture of the pupil in the context of his cultural heritage and previous experiences. Great care will obviously be needed in deciding which children are disadvantaged and in what respect they are disadvantaged. Careful testing must be implemented before valuable educational resources are committed to process of learning support. Class teachers will be expected to identify children who have physical disabilities, or who are emotionally disturbed or significantly behind the academic norm for their age. (b) encourage the idea that the child can change his world, that a work or developmental programme can produce results. There must be a climate of motivation. (c) question pupils sensitively at every opportunity, and give frequent praise and feedback. (d) teach the disadvantaged pupils at a slower pace. Repeat frequently. Perhaps teach less material more thoroughly. (e) be pleasant and supportive to children in special need. (f) with classes of mixed ability (i) give extra time, contact and teacher centredness to the less advantaged. (ii) provide more assignments, research topics and personal projects for the more capable pupils. (g) bring in welfare authorities where necessary. (h) start extra-mural remedial programmes if necessary. Teaching in South Africa stands at the threshold of tremendous changes and its role in the education of a new nation will be central. REFERENCES Coutts, A. 1992. Multi-cultura/ education: The way ahead. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. Department of Education and Training. 1987. An inquiry into the introduction of a bridging period prior to basic education. Pretoria: DET. Department of Education and Training. 1990. Concept manual for the BABY-test Pretoria: DET. Joubert, M. 1989 (a). 'n Vergelykende ondersoek ten opsigte van die invloed van drie verskillende skoolgereedmakings-programme. Pretoria: Departement van Onderwys en Opleiding. (Eerste Interimverslag) Joubert, M. 1989 (b). Evaluering van 'n loodsbrugklasprogram wat gedurende 1989 in 'n steekproef van skole in die Departement toegepas is. Pretoria: Departement van Onderwys en Opleiding. (Eerste Interimverslag) Joubert, M. 1991. The Bridging Period. Paper presented at a Conference for Junior Primary subject advisers. Lemmer, E. & Squelch, J. 1993. Multicultural Education: A teachers manual. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
- A group of pupils can possibly be promoted to SSB. (This also implies that in SSB differentiation in the group will be done according to the pupils ability level)
- Another group can join Group I of the SSA-class of the new school year and start off directly with formal learning contents.
- A third group will have to repeat the 12 week school readiness programme with Group 2 of the SSA-class of the new school year.
- A fourth group will have to be tested to determine whether they are on the level of bridging class pupils or perhaps moderately or severely mentally handicapped. If handicapped, they will have to be transferred (according to the correct procedures) to classes or schools intended for intensive care, otherwise they will remain with Group 3 (the Bridging Period group) of the SSA-class in the new year.
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