Challenges in implementing a South African curriculum in Eswatini

Abstract

Since 2010, some private and public high schools in Eswatini1 have begun to offer the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). Demand for this increased from one school in 2010 to 13 schools in 2018. The study accordingly investigated the challenges inherent in the transferal and implementation of the CAPS Curriculum in secondary schools in Eswatini. Phillips and Ochs (2003) and Dolowitz and Marsh’s (2000) model of policy borrowing were used as a theoretical lens to steer the study. The study adopted a qualitative case study as the research design in terms of which a sample of four schools was conveniently and purposively selected. Document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 33 participants were conducted. The study identified that the curriculum transfer was initiated by parents whose demand for the South African curriculum emanated from a number of factors such as low pass threshold, cheaper access, rejection of Swazi learners by South African public schools, limited professional courses and few universities in Eswatini. The challenges to such transferal and implementation were identified as lack of contextual suitability; lack of training for educators; border immigration requirements; high tuition fees and absence of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.