Department for Educational Development: Core Curriculum

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Final objectives

"Minimum objectives the educational authorities consider necessary and feasible for a particular part of the pupil population. Final objectives apply to a minimum set of knowledge, skills and attitudes for this part of the pupil population."

Final objectives with regard to knowledge and skills must be attained. Final objectives with regard to attitudes must be aimed for.

Final objectives are established for the subjects of compulsory basic schooling. These subjects are compulsory for all pupils of the same education form (general, technical, vocational or artistic secondary education) and stage (there are 3 stages in secondary education: 1 is for pupils aged 12-14, 2 for pupils aged 14-16 and 3 for pupils aged 16-18).
Final objectives can be subject-bound or cross-curricular.

Final objectives have been established for:

• mainstream primary education
• the first stage of mainstream secondary education A-stream
• the second stage of mainstream secondary education
• the third stage of mainstream secondary education

Developmental aims

For some groups of pupils the final objectives need not be attained (for instance in pre-school education). The school must make visible efforts to work on these objectives and to aim for them. In that case the objectives are called developmental objectives.

Developmental objectives have been established for:

• nursery school education
• special primary education - type 1 (children with a mild mental retardation)
• special primary education - type 2 (children with a moderate and/or severe mental retardation)
• special primary education - type 7 (children with a auditory disability)
• special primary education - type 8 (children with specific learning disabilities (e.g. language delay, dyslexia))
• the first stage of mainstream secondary education stream - B

Specific final objectives

"Objectives with regard to specific skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to start further/higher education and/or a professional career and/or needed for social functioning."

The latter applies to adult education.

Specific final objectives are established for the subjects or modules of a branch of study (e.g. science, construction or child care) within an education form.

Specific final objectives based on study profiles have been developed and legally established for several branches of study in General Secondary Education (ASO) (Decree of May 7th 2004). In Technical Secondary Education (TSO) specific final objectives have been established for the Top-class sport branch of study.

Cross-curricular final objectives

Social organisations and interest groups have been demanding the schools’ attention for consumer education, health education, environmental education, road safety education, leisure education, global education, citizenship education and so on for years now. As a result, schools are under great pressure to incorporate such themes into their curriculum.

On the other hand, many demands are made to the school by very diverse social groups. In order to prevent the school from being swamped, the authorities initially intended to delimit the social demands with regard to the school’s task through cross-curricular final objectives. These cross-curricular final objectives describe a basic package of themes on which the school can be called to account by society.

Read more about cross-curricular final objectives.

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