Globally, policy implementation in the education system has been found to be a challenging area of development. The South African education system is no exception to the ineffective implementation of policies. For example, in South Africa, the progression policy was introduced by the Department of Education in 2013 for the purpose of minimising school drop-out rates. It was intended particularly for learners who had been retained for more than 4 years in a phase. However, progressed learners have been said to be contributing to the decline of Grade 12 national results in 2015 and 2016. We argue that due procedures in the implementation of this policy could have affected the performance of progressed learners, and in turn the overall matriculation results. A qualitative approach was followed and a descriptive case study design was adopted in the study reported on here. Data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews from 2 secondary schools in the Dimamo circuit, Limpopo province. We found that the progression policy was not implemented according to the stipulations. Communication breakdown, negative teacher attitude, overcrowded classrooms, a lack of knowledge and support were found to be contributory factors in the ineffective implementation of the policy.

This empirical paper provides a critical analysis of progressed learners’ participation in the development of curriculum support programmes through Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy. Progression policy was promulgated in the Further Education and Training Phase to ensure uniformity and consistency in the implementation of National Policy Pertaining to the Programme and Promotion Requirements (N4PR) to prohibit learners from spending more than four years in a phase. The policy stresses the development of intervention programmes for identified learners to bridge the content gap. However, literature based on progression policy focus on programmes that teachers develop and implement. The focus of this paper is on progressed learners’ contribution to curriculum support. Through Freire’s critical pedagogy, it critiques traditional teaching methods where the teacher is the knower who deposits knowledge to novice “progressed” learners. In an argument for a problem posing education, the study employs a qualitative research approach. Data was collected through document analysis and interviews with six teachers. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed a lack of evidence of progressed learner participation in the development of curriculum support programmes. In addition, progressed learners feature when they have to respond to developed programmes. This study concludes that teachers are fixated on traditional learning models. Based on the findings, the study recommends the need to shift to a “dialogue approach” where both the teacher and progressed learners design intervention strategies that communicate directly to the specific needs of such learners. Keywords: Curriculum support, progressed learners, critical pedagogy