Teachers' Approaches to Improving Intervention Strategies on Academic Performance of Grade 12 learners in Vhembe District, Limpopo

The Department of Basic Education in South Africa is worried about massive learners' poor academic performance in public secondary schools. In various secondary schools in Vhembe District, the quality of learners' academic performance has retrogressed and deteriorated, despite several intervention strategies to improve the performance. The study aims to determine how teachers' approaches can influence intervention strategies to enhance learners' performance in Grade 12 by providing support, care, guidance and professional development programmes within the schools and through the government initiative programmes. This study focused on the teachers' approaches to improving intervention strategies to enhance the academic performance of Grade 12 learners in Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa. A sample of 16 teachers and 15 heads of the department was purposively selected in this interpretive qualitative study. The participants were engaged in two semi-structured focus group interviews. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the interview data. Findings revealed that extra lessons, peer teaching, collaborative teaching and learning, outsourcing of expert subject teachers, quality quarterly assessment and monitoring of informal and formal tasks were implemented as teachers' approaches to enhance quality of learners' performance. While the participants decried that several schools in the Vhembe District are dysfunctional and need interventions to improve output. The study recommends further support for teacher professional development to enhance teaching and learning for better quality results.