"PUOTLALELETSO YA BOBEDI MEPHATO 7 – 9 FOREWORD by thE ministER Our national curriculum is the culmination of our efforts over a period of seventeen years to transform the curriculum bequeathed to us by apartheid. From the start of democracy we have built our curriculum on the values that inspired our Constitution (Act 108 of 1996). the Preamble to the Constitution states that the aims of the Constitution are to: • heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; • improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; • lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; and • build a united and democratic south Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations. Education and the curriculum have an important role to play in realising these aims. in 1997 we introduced outcomes-based education to overcome the curricular divisions of the past, but the experience of implementation prompted a review in 2000. This led to the first curriculum revision: the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 and the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (2002). Ongoing implementation challenges resulted in another review in 2009 and we revised the Revised National Curriculum Statement (2002) and the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 to produce this document. From 2012 the two national Curriculum statements, for Grades R-9 and Grades 10-12 respectively, are combined in a single document and will simply be known as the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. the National Curriculum Statement for Grades R-12 builds on the previous curriculum but also updates it and aims to provide clearer specification of what is to be taught and learnt on a term-by-term basis. the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 represents a policy statement for learning and teaching in south African schools and comprises of the following: (a) Curriculum and Assessment Policy statements (CAPs) for all approved subjects listed in this document; (b) National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12; and (c) National Protocol for Assessment Grades R-12. MRS ANGIE MOTSHEKGA, MP MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION CAPS"