Teachers’ perceptions on the revised curriculum assessment requirements for mechanical technology subject in South Africa

Abstract

Although competency-based vocational education emphasizes practical skills development, limited attention has been paid to how assessment requirements are perceived to influence the implementation of skills-oriented subjects at the secondary-school level. This study addresses this gap by exploring teachers’ perceptions of the balance between theoretical and practical assessment within the promotion requirements for Mechanical Technology in South Africa. Specifically, it examines teachers’ views of the 75:25 weighting between theory-based assessment and the Practical Assessment Task (PAT) and its implications for practical skills development. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological design involving 18 purposively selected mechanical technology teachers from eight districts in Gauteng Province. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and face-to-face interviews and analysed through a systematic coding and theme-development process. The findings showed that all participants expressed concern about the balance between theoretical knowledge and practical skills and supported reconsideration of the current assessment arrangement. Most participants also perceived students who had completed the previous curriculum as having better employment prospects. Interview findings further highlighted concerns related to the weighting of practical assessment, opportunities for practical learning, workshop capacity, and resource availability. Overall, the participating teachers perceived the current promotion requirements as placing insufficient emphasis on the practical component of Mechanical Technology. The findings suggest a need to examine whether the current balance between theory and practical assessment adequately reflects the competency-oriented aims of the subject while maintaining the integration of theoretical understanding and practical competence. This study contributes to vocational education research by providing context-specific evidence of how teachers perceive assessment weighting in relation to curriculum implementation and practical skills development in secondary technical education.