+27 (21) 810 8931 curmo@mweb.co.za

Dr Willem Burger

(BSc MEd DEd)
Dr Willem Burger (BSc DEd), previously Deputy Chief Director of Education (Natural Sciences), well-known for curriculum development in Agricultural Education and Training and special expertise in assessment and moderation.

CURRICULUM VITAE: DR WP BURGER

B.Sc. Agriculture HOD, B.Ed.
M.Ed.: Agricultural education at secondary school level in the Republic of South Africa: A critical-comparative study of certain educational administrative and organisational aspects
D.Ed.: A didactical research into the relevance and efficiency of agricultural education in the developing regions of Southern Africa

Professional registrations:
Assessor (NQF L5) Assessor number: ABUR 4623
Moderator (NQF L6) Moderator number: MBUR 9362

Director:
CURMO Designs (Pty) Ltd (Research and Development)

Research focus:
ETD Practice, rural development, agricultural practice.

Learning material development:
Agricultural science, agricultural practice.

Freelance academic writer

Teaching/lecturing

1971 – 1983
Secondary and tertiary education sectors (Teachers’ training)

1984 – 1986
Subject-advisory, Agricultural Education and Training
Educational planning

1986 – 1995
Senior Deputy Chief Director, Department of Education
Curriculum Development:

  • Physical Sciences
  • Agricultural Education and Training
  • Biology
  • Vocational education and training

Private Practice

  • Curriculum development
  • Learning support material development
  • Rural development project planning and implementation

Teaching/lecturing

1971 – 1983
Secondary and tertiary education sectors (Teachers’ training)

1984 – 1986
Subject-advisory, Agricultural Education and Training
Educational planning

1986 – 1995
Senior Deputy Chief Director, Department of Education
Curriculum Development:

  • Physical Sciences
  • Agricultural Education and Training
  • Biology
  • Vocational education and training

Private Practice

  • Curriculum development
  • Learning support material development
  • Rural development project planning and implementation

inter alia:

  • Co-author: Agricultural Management Practice. FET Series Grades 10-12 (2010 – 2012). CURMO Designs (Pty) Ltd.
  • Co-author: Agricultural Science. FET Series Grades 11-12 (2011 – 2012). Macmillan Publishers.
  • Primary agriculture. FET Series. (2006 – 2008). Macmillan and Troupant Publishers.
  • Co-author: Agricultural Science for All. FET Series for Grades 10-12, including OBE Teachers’ Guides. (2004 – 2006. Macmillan Publishers.
  • The New Agricultural Science. Series for Grades 10-12. 1995. Hodder & Stoughton.
  • New Modern Agricultural Science. Grades 8-9. 1987. Kagiso Publishers.
  • Gardening: Fun and Fact Series. Grades 3-6. 1994. Via Africa Publishers.
  • ABET Applied Agriculture Series. 1999. Stimela/NASPERS.
  • A curriculum design for adult education, training and entrepreneurial development in targeted areas (Private Research Report). 1995. Africa Co-operative Action Trust (ACAT). Pietermaritzburg.
  • Solar energy for activating rural and home-based industries for the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs: A situation analysis and implementation model. Department Mineral and Energy Affairs. 1996. Pretoria.
  • Report on research tour to Israel and various states of the USA: A comparative study to determine the effectiveness and relevance of agricultural education in South Africa. 1987.
  • Report on the investigation of relevant education in rural areas. 1993. Department of Education. 

Several articles in Farmer’s weekly and Landbouweekblad, for example:

  • Enigste kweekskool vir Landbou-onderwysers. Landbouweekblad. 1982.
  • Agri-schools time to reassess. Farmer’s Weekly. 2015.
  • Onderrig sleutel tot suksesvolle grondhervorming. Landbouweekblad.
  • ‘n Reeks artikels oor die geskiedenis van Brandewyn in Suid-Afrika. Landbouweekblad. 2022

inter alia:

  • A relevant education and training programme for rural development. Eighteenth meeting of the Standing Committee of SARCCUS aimed at education and training, Mmabane, Swaziland, August 1991.
  • Maintaining of standards through legitimising career education in co-operation with the private sector. Congress of Education Association of South Africa, (EASA) in Bloemfontein, 15-17 Jan 1992.
  • Agricultural extension by motivating the youth through agricultural education. Conference, South African Association of Agricultural Extension, Mmabato, Bophuthatswana, 5 March 1992.
  • The validity of criteria (indicators) appropriate for evaluating extension work done in rural areas. Meeting of Standing Committee, SARCCUS. Windhoek, Namibia, August 1992.
  • Agricultural education and training with the aim of rural development, a new perspective on community centred education and training. Annual Congress, Western Cape Agricultural Union, 26-27 July 1994.
  • Motivating and encouraging the youth of Africa to participate in agricultural and rural development through relevant and effective vocational education. Twenty-first meeting of SARCCUS Standing Committee for Education and Extension (EDEX), Stellenbosch, 1-5 August 1994.
  • The feasibility of relevant and efficient education and training programmes to address the needs of rural Southern Africa. South Africa – FSRE Conference, Windhoek, Namibia, 1-2 November 1994.
  • State-aided, career-directed schools as community-centred instruments to rural development, Farm School Conference, Bothaville, 9 March 1995.
  • Curriculum development for the primary school phase to ensure relevancy to needs of rural communities. Farm School Conference, Bothaville. 10 March 1995.
  • Conditions for effective vocational education and training programmes for rural development. International Vocational Education and Training Association conference 1995. 1-5 May 1995. Sun City.
  • A holistic approach to small farmers’ development. SASAE/NEPC joint conference, 27-29 June 1995.
  • Curriculum-based solutions to the educational dilemma of rural communities. EASA. Annual conference 17-19 January 1996.
  • A development strategy to address poverty in rural areas: The role of the state. Society for Agricultural Extension.  Annual Conference, 13-15 May 1997.
  • Removing barriers to the use of renewable energy for thermal application in disadvantaged rural communities. Paper presented at the International Conference on Solar Cooking, Kimberley, South Africa. 2000.

inter alia:

Member of:

  • Standards Generating Task Team: Electives, Department of Education (1998), Assessment Task
  • Team, Department of Education (1998), Education Association of SA (EASA), South African
  • Farming System Research Extension (FSRE), S A Association for Agricultural
  • Extension (SASAE), South African Board of Education and Training in Agriculture (SABETA),
  • Association for the Study of Educational Evaluation in Southern Africa (ASEESA), South African
  • Network of Animal Traction (SANAT), Steering Committee for the Productive Urban Open
  • Space Management (POSM).
  • Chairman of:

Interdepartmental Syllabus Committee for Agricultural Education and Training.

Core syllabus Committee for Agricultural Education.

  • Consultant: Villa Academy.
  • Consultant: Dihlabeng Land Reform Project (in association with Provincial Department of Education).
  • Consultant: Willem Nicol Education Trust.
  • Consultant: Africa Co-operative Action Trust (ACAT) in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland branches.
  • Co-ordinate the development of ABET learning support materials for Stimela/NASPERS.
  • Research the utilizing alternative energy sources to stimulate economic development in the rural areas (project for the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs)
  • Research to determine the training needs of the secondary agricultural sector.