The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early January 2020 in some countries and subsequently in South Africa at the beginning of March 2020 forced schools worldwide to make unprecedented decisions. Across the globe, the educational institutions had to close immediately, which resulted in the loss of teaching and learning time. The education stakeholders had to act quickly to devise strategies to address this problem. Remote schooling replaced face-to-face teaching and learning. Jena (2020) argued that in developed countries such as China, digital learning was simpler because they are more familiar with technology and computerised learning. However, digitalisation of teaching and learning in developing countries like South Africa presented many challenges. In developing countries, most households are poor and it is difficult to access online learning, for example, Ethiopia, a developing country where approximately 80% of the people living in rural areas are without electronic devices for online learning, digitalisation of teaching and learning had multiple challenges (Tiruneh, 2020). Similarly, a study conducted by Putri et al. (2020) in Indonesia established that teachers were faced with numerous challenges such as teaching online, the unavailability of infrastructure and not having enough time to familiarise themselves with the changes. Another problem was that many learners’ homes were too unstable to sustain home learning. Bayradkar & Guveli explained that ‘children from poor families lived mostly under deprived conditions’ (2020, p. 5). They usually have a small house and children do not have their own rooms (Bayradkar & Guveli 2020), making it difficult for them to do schoolwork without disturbance. In support of this, Harris and Jones (2020) confirmed that COVID-19 highlighted the inequalities of access to education because of household income differences. For this reason, Gustafsson and Deliwe (2020) argued that ‘remote schooling in the context of the pandemic is neither feasible nor fair in developing countries’ (p. 3). Most households are poor and cannot afford online learning.

In South Africa, where schools remained closed for nearly 4 months (from March 2020 to July 2020), the challenges were particularly pronounced. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) had established a strict time allocation within the curriculum for teaching and learning, with Grades 10 and 11 assigned 36 weeks and Grade 12 with 30 weeks designated for learning (DBE, 2012). The extended closure had severe consequences, leading to the loss of substantial teaching and learning time and consequently, a substantial impact on curriculum implementation (Mahaye, 2020). The disruption caused by the pandemic also extended to the 2021 school calendar. Initially scheduled to open on 13 January 2021, schools remained closed until 25 January 2021, owing to the COVID-19 second wave, as announced by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr. Mhaule (2021). Additionally, in July 2021, early winter holidays were mandated following the Presidential Address to Curb the Spread of COVID-19 (Circular No. 52 of 2021), with an extra week of holidays granted by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (DoE) (2021). These cumulative disruptions resulted in the loss of approximately 70 school days, placing tremendous pressure on teachers who had to find innovative ways to recover the lost time. In response to the aforementioned challenges, the DoE came up with various ways of replacing traditional face-to-face teaching. These responses include broadcasting lessons on television and radio and implementing online teaching. However, it became evident that not all students would have equal access to online education, revealing persistent inequalities within the education system, especially in rural schools (Khumalo & Mji, 2014). As Pillay (2021, p. 5) succinctly noted, ‘the inaccessibility to online learning by poor and rural children has enforced the old saying that the poor become poorer and the wealthy continue to prosper’.

This study explores the multifaceted challenges encountered in curriculum implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic within the context of rural secondary school in South Africa. Guided by two fundamental research questions, this research seeks to shed the light on the experiences of teachers facing these challenges: (1) what were the curriculum implementation challenges encountered by teachers in a rural secondary school during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How did teachers in a rural secondary school respond to the curriculum implementation challenges during COVID-19?

In the literature (Langa, 2015; Marongwe & Giridzarai, 2021), a rural context is defined both in terms of geographical location and historical segregation, for example, of the South African apartheid government policy. In the context of the colonial and apartheid-driven land settlement in South Africa, Langa (2015) defines a rural context as a setting where agricultural activities are the main means of economic gain in areas that are densely populated. According to the DBE (2013), rural contexts are defined as farms and traditional areas characterised by low population, low levels of economic activity and low levels of infrastructure. A farm school is one that is built on a farm and usually the parents of the learners work on that farm.

There are rural schools located in areas that are under tribal authorities led by izinduna (headman), amakhosi (chiefs) and counsellors. Customarily, these schools are far from towns and are located in places where there is very little development. Therefore, farm and rural schools are usually ranked in Quintile 1. In the South African context, schools are ranked from Quintile 1, the poorest schools, to Quintile 5, the wealthy schools. The Quintile 1 schools receive the highest subsidy from the DoE, which is R1466 per learner (Maistry & Afrika, 2020). This quintile system aimed to distribute equitable funds to both poor and wealthy public schools in order to achieve equity in education; however, the system has not achieved the goals that were envisioned (Van Dyk & White, 2019). Although the Quantile 1 schools receive big amounts per learner, the rural schools are still faced with numerous curriculum implementation challenges.

Prior to COVID-19, the rural schools had been experiencing a number of challenges that impacted the way in which Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was recontextualised. Khumalo and Mji (2014) stated that many rural schools did not have the necessary infrastructure. Du Plessis and Mestry (2019) also noted that some rural school buildings were built of mud blocks, exposing the learners to physical harm as mud structures could fall at any time. Marwan et al. (2012) discovered similarities in their study of rural schools in Malaysia, where the shortage of urinals was one of the challenges. A school should be safe for learners; however, lack of buildings that are fit for use puts the learners’ lives in danger and makes it difficult for teaching and learning to continue smoothly. This is the same as not having enough teaching and learning material, which Fesi and Mncube (2021) confirmed added to the difficulty of teaching in a rural school.

Additionally, inadequate furniture makes it difficult for the teaching and learning process to continue smoothly. Moreover, Du Plessis and Mestry (2019) stated that it was difficult for rural schools to find qualified teachers who were willing to teach multiple grades in one classroom. Another issue was that farm and rural schools receive very little support from the DoE, and it is difficult for teachers to attend development workshops as they have to travel long distances (Du Plessis & Mestry, 2019). Teachers need to be constantly developed if teaching and learning are not to be affected, causing learners’ performance to drop. The aforementioned challenges create the gap between the planned curriculum and the enacted curriculum. Little is known about how teachers in a rural school context responded to these challenges as they escalated during COVID-19.

Several research scholars (Fransson, 2016; Fransson & Grannäs, 2013; Lofving et al., 2023; Westerholm & Lindqvit, 2023) attest that for a better understanding of the teachers’ challenges, a theory of ‘dilemmatic spaces’ should be used. According to Lofving et al. (2023), the concept of dilemmatic space in a teaching situation concerns aspects of control and is affected by expectations from both people and curricula. Hence, this study adopted the dilemmatic spaces theory as a framework for understanding curriculum implementation challenges and responses in a rural secondary school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study conducted by Maree (2022) on managing the COVID-19 pandemic in South African schools established that COVID-19 came with a lot of changes for society and, in particular, for education, it transformed educational contexts resulting in turning challenges into opportunities. In relation to dilemmas, when teachers are responding to the challenge, they can turn them into opportunities. A dilemma, a problem that one has to find ways of dealing with, is explained by Chen et al. (2017) as a circumstance that one needs to manage, as it cannot be resolved, just as societies are still learning to live with COVID-19. Fransson and Grannäs (2013) cited Honig (1996), explaining that ‘dilemmas should not be regarded as specific situations but things that are ever-present in people’s living spaces’ (p. 7). They quoted Lampert (1985), adding that teachers have a lot of work to do under difficult circumstances that end up resulting in practical dilemmas.

In the teaching profession, there are always different challenges, which might not only be caused by the subject content, but, arising from the environment, they also end up affecting teaching and learning, forcing teachers to learn to deal with them on a daily basis. Chen et al. (2017) cited Fransson and Grannäs (2013), explaining that just as dilemmatic spaces are deep-rooted in the teachers’ work, external contexts can also result in dilemmas for teachers. For example, COVID-19 caused disruptions to teaching and learning. The theory of dilemmatic spaces enhanced an understanding of important aspects of the nature and complexity of teachers’ work in the rural context. As teachers sometimes find themselves in situations where they have to try their best to overcome challenges that they face in the teaching profession, the dilemmas of everyday practice might differ from teacher to teacher. Fransson and Grannäs (2013) explained that depending on the context, one teacher might experience something as a dilemma and another may not. For example, a rural school teacher’s dilemma would not be the same as that of an urban school teacher. Fransson and Grannäs (2013) pointed out that handling dilemmas sometimes needs knowledge about different or possible solutions. Hence, teachers had to find ways of managing the dilemmas in order to effectively implement the curriculum.

This study adopted a qualitative case study to provide a representation of real people who are in real dilemmas, resulting in in-depth understanding of the situation (Cohen et al., 2007). Using the case study enables researchers to explore a general issue within a limited and focused setting (Rule & John, 2011). The study was conducted in 2021 at Lihlithemba (pseudonym) secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal. Lihlithemba is categorised as Quintile 1, a no fees-paying school with 450 learners and 14 teachers. Purposive sampling was used to select the four participants (from one secondary school in a rural context) teaching in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. The participants were given letters explaining what the study was about and requesting their participation. They were also given consent letters to sign. For confidentiality reasons, participants were allocated the numbers 1–4. Teacher 1 had been teaching geography for 5 years, Teacher 2 taught mathematical literacy with 18 years of teaching experience, Teacher 3 had been teaching agricultural sciences for 8 years and Teacher 4 had been teaching IsiZulu home language for 4 years.

The participants were selected because they taught in the FET Phase, which was the grade phase that was first allowed back to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants all had more than 3 years of teaching experience in the same rural school. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Because of COVID-19, the semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom. The documents that were analysed were teachers’ annual teaching plans (ATPs), the school’s logbook and the minutes of the staff meetings. In the teachers’ ATPs, to check the curriculum implementation, a comparison was made of what was taught with what had not yet been taught and with what should have been taught. The school’s logbook is the heart and soul of the school. Therefore, any challenge that is faced by the school or the teachers is recorded in it. Moreover, if there is any support provided to the school in order to overcome curriculum implementation challenges, it should be recorded in the logbook. The minutes of the staff meetings were reviewed to find out what was discussed regarding the challenges that affected curriculum implementation. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the transcribed qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews. Data from document analyses were also thematically analysed. Relevant gatekeepers’ permission for the study to be undertaken was obtained from the DBE and UKZN ethics committee.

The findings of the study suggest that teachers encountered many dilemmas that affected teaching and learning. Mbatha (2016) stated that teachers play an important role in creating learning environments that enhance learning. However, the arrival of COVID-19 brought new and also highlighted existing challenges in farm schools which made it difficult for teachers to implement the curriculum.

Given that teachers in farm schools experience a lot of challenges when implementing the curriculum, Lofving et al. (2023) attest that dilemmas arise from the context where they work. Hence, teachers who worked in the farm school under study experienced a lot of challenges because of the environment they were in. The biggest challenge was the irregular school closures during COVID-19. The data show that the school closed regularly because of the shortage of toilets and water. However, in the school’s logbook and minutes, it emerged that there had been a contractor who was building the toilets, indicating that the toilet issue might have resolved as soon as the construction had ended.

Khumalo and Mji (2014) argue that infrastructure is the most important element in teaching and learning. Teachers found themselves facing additional dilemmas because there was a great lack of infrastructure. The shortage of buildings and furniture resulted in the disturbance of curriculum implementation, as the school had to use the rotational timetable. When the learners were rotating, it was difficult for teachers to implement the curriculum because there were fewer teaching days than stipulated in the CAPS document. Another issue was the shortage of textbooks. Teachers could not teach effectively, as sharing was not allowed during COVID-19. To cover the curriculum gaps that had resulted because of curriculum implementation problems, teachers conducted extra lessons on weekends and holidays. However, this was provided for Grade 12 only and did not solve the problem for Grades 10 and 11.

According to Westerholm and Lindqvist (2023), the dilemmas teachers experience every day influence how they deliver subject content. Hence, the teachers under study tried various ways of interacting with the learners, such as teaching online. As Qoytimah et al. (2020) affirmed, whenever a teacher is faced with a dilemma, they have to develop ways of dealing with it. However, in this case, teachers faced challenges because of the lack of signal in the area. Their school even installed Wi-Fi to assist teachers in implementing online teaching and learning, but it was still unsuccessful. The school’s ability to install the Wi-Fi shows that it had the capability of doing more, using the funds allocated by the government. These findings suggest a need for guidance and support on how the funds allocated to schools by the DoE can be spent on the required resources.

Although these teachers from a rural school were facing dilemmas because of COVID-19, teacher agency seemed to play a very big role in how they dealt with the challenges. The findings show how, for instance, Wi-Fi was used to learn new teaching and learning strategies. Fransson and Grannäs (2013) contend that handling dilemmas requires knowledge about different things, such as the internet, which can be exploited by teachers not only for teaching and learning but also to find solutions to their dilemmas. The findings indicate that the rural schools can exploit Wi-Fi to their advantage, using it to find teaching strategies and to connect with other teachers. Before COVID-19, teachers took learners to well-resourced schools for their practicals. However, during COVID-19 they could not visit these schools and ended up teaching more theory. The findings also show that team teaching enabled the teachers to cover curriculum gaps, as other teachers taught different topics to their learners. This also highlights the importance of PLC.

Learner participation and feedback to learners is crucial in teaching and learning. The findings indicate that during COVID-19 the teachers were no longer checking work or giving feedback to learners, which might have been the reason for learners not doing their work. Another reason could be that parents are not involved in their children’s education because of their level of education and work commitments. According to Kaden (2020), parents who work are not able to supervise their children’s learning. As most parents in this study area work on the farm, most of the time they are not at home to help their children. Moreover, Ngwacho (2020) mentioned that the reason for parents not being involved in their children’s learning could be their lack of education. On the farms, many parents are not literate and therefore do not know how to assist their children. Additionally, a high rate of learner absenteeism adds more to the challenges that teachers face when implementing the curriculum.

The findings suggest that during COVID-19 curriculum, implementation was uneasy and stressful, as teachers had to be extra careful when interacting with the learners. McDonough and Lemon (2022) contend that the stressors that were a result of COVID-19 negatively impacted the teachers’ well-being. Sfard (1998) argued that if a solution to a dilemma cannot be found, people learn to live with it. According to McDonough and Lemon (2022), COVID-19 affected the well-being of both teachers and learners. Hence, the solution was to teach the learners about COVID-19 and to incorporate it into every lesson, as was discussed in one of the staff meetings. The pedagogy during the COVID-19 lockdowns has been labelled by Schwartzman (2020) as pandemic pedagogy, which takes into consideration family dynamics and interaction and allows students to drive discussions. Although this study did not aim to focus on teacher well-being, it cannot be ignored that while the study findings show that the teachers were facing a lot of stressors, they do not show how teachers coped with their well-being during COVID-19.

This study established that COVID-19 broadened the pre-existing challenges in the rural secondary school under study. These were irregular school closures, shortage of classrooms, shortage of furniture, curriculum content coverage gaps, assessment, lack of internet connectivity, teaching strategies, shortage of LTSM, low learner participation and attendance rates and distress for teachers and learners because of COVID-19. It appears that responses towards some of these challenges facilitated innovation and agency in the rural school. However, the distress experienced by teachers and learners was too much and resulted in learners not receiving the quality education they should have received. From the findings of this study, teachers, the DBE and all the stakeholders may gain insight into how rural schools could be supported to implement the curriculum effectively. Curriculum implementation in the South African rural schools requires the joint efforts of all the stakeholders. Future research is needed to show how teachers are closing the gaps in subject content that were not covered in the previous grades because of the challenges that were caused by COVID-19.