GRADE 1, 3 and 10 pupils and teachers are due to start the new school year with the new curriculum, known as the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).

The CAPS will replace the current Subject and Learning Area Statements, Learning Programme Guidelines and Subject Assessment Guidelines for all subjects listed in the National Curriculum Statement for grades R to 12.

CAPS will provide clear guidelines on what teachers ought to teach and assess on a grade-by-grade and subject basis.

The proposed CAPS follow a report released in 2009 by Ministerial Review Committee, which raised questions about the lack of clarity in the NCS.

One of the changes in CAPS is the teaching of English as a first additional language to be given priority alongside the mother tongue.

Sibongile Kekana, a teacher at Moshodo Primary School in Zebediela, Limpopo, said: "We are now going back to the old tradition of teaching. Unlike in OBE we will pay more attention to reading and writing."

The National Professional Teacher's Organisation of South Africa's Ezra Ramasehla said: "The great thing about CAPS is that teachers were involved in the formation of it."