This new curriculum has an outcomes based approach

This new curriculum has an Outcomes Based approach, builds on the Critical and
Developmental outcomes that were inspired by the Constitution of South Africa and
distinguishes between the General Education and Training (GET) band and the
Further Education and Training (FET) band.
What challenges do these changes have for learners, educators and schools?
. Learners will become innovative, active and critical thinkers.
. Educators will change their teaching methodologies.
. Schools will become learning organisations and community centres.
The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10–12 (General ) is a transformative
curriculum as it accommodates all type of changes mentioned in the discussion
above.
SDTECSY/1 265

WHAT ABOUT CIVIL TECHNOLOGY?
The work of the civil engineer includes the building of railways, roads, tunnels,
bridges, dams, seaways and harbours; the erection of great buildings; and the clearing
of marshes and swamps. The civil engineer uses his or her skills and experience to
bring the benefits of civilization to the most remote people of the earth.
Civil Technology arose from four basic needs of man:
1 The need for food, which led to irrigation and drainage systems. To provide arable
land for the billions who inhabit our globe today, the civil engineer is reclaiming
land from swamp and sea, and his dams and irrigation works are storing water
against possible drought.
2 The need for shelter, which led to the buildings we live and work in today.
Concrete and steel, together with new construction techniques, are enabling the
civil engineer to produce daring new designs which would have been regarded as
impossible a hundred years ago.
3 The need for communication, which led to our modern roads, bridges and
airfields. The swift rise of mechanised transportation has challenged the civil
engineer to build roadways across deserts and rivers, through swamps and
mountains.
4 The need for power which led to dams and the atomic power stations that are
being built today.
During the first half of the 20th century, life spans in the Western world doubled. This
was not the result of improvements in medicine, but due to improvements in
environmental and social hygiene brought about by engineers.
The history of civil engineering achievements from the pyramids to recent
developments is evaluated and the conclusion is that ‘’no African Renaissance is
possible without engineers’’. The development of young engineering professionals is
thus essential and we as Civil Technology educators are going to play a major role in
this context.
The factors that lead to success are examined and engineering professionals will have
to become more entrepreneurial, particularly with regard to identifying needs and
fund raising.
The future is bright, but only for those who can adapt to the changing circumstances,
which are as much to do with the changing ways of doing business worldwide, as
they are to do with the changes taking place in South Africa.