Problem provinces worry Umalusi
AS MORE than 700,000 grade 12 pupils prepare to sit for this year’s National Senior Certificate exams, Umalusi —the council for quality assurance in general and further education — has expressed concern over the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provincial education departments which are under administration.
Umalusi said during a media briefing yesterday that while it was satisfied with the preparations for the National Senior Certificate exams, it was concerned about the two provinces. Umalusi has recommended to the Department of Basic Education that intensive monitoring of these provinces needs to be instituted to mitigate possible unintended consequences of the situation.
“For its part, Umalusi will also intensify its monitoring where it deems it necessary to do so,” Umalusi said.
Last year, five schools in Limpopo had a 0% pass rate. One of the key problems identified by the Limpopo government is the inability to attract teachers to the farflung rural areas. However, Limpopo did manage to lift its pass rate from 63.9% in 2011 to 66.9% last year.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga assured Parliament last month that both education departments had stabilised after drastic interventions by the central government which placed them under administration in 2011.
The class of 2012 achieved a 73.9% pass rate, up 3.7% from the previous year. While the pass rate was up from 2011, the quality of the National Senior Certificate has also been subject to much scrutiny in recent years, with education commentators expressing their outrage at the 30% pass mark as well as the introduction of mathematical literacy.
In response to these issues Ms Motshekga established a committee this month to probe the standard of the final exams following widespread criticism of the lower pass mark.
Equal Education general secretary Brad Brockman said the department did the right thing by appointing the task team. “Many people are questioning the matric pass rate and it’s important that these concerns are addressed.
“At the same time, we should avoid a singular focus on the matric pass rate. There are other indicators like the dropout rate and, the percentage of students passing maths and science. That we need to be more aware of and that will help to give us a better picture of the health of our education system,” he said.
South African Institute of Race Rela- tions education researcher Jonathan Snyman said the proposed increase of the pass mark was long overdue.
According to the department, the trend of enrolment for mathematics and mathematical literacy has not changed, with 67% of learners sitting for the National Senior Certificate this year opting to do maths literacy.
Mr Snyman said the ratio of maths literacy to maths students has gone from 0.9 to 1 in 2008, to 1.3 to 1 as of last year. “It seems to indicate that either schools are increasingly pushing pupils to take maths literacy to improve their overall pass rates, or that pupils themselves are opting for maths literacy because it is an easier subject. However, this greatly jeopardises a pupil’s chance of being admitted to university as all professional degree courses — and even the more technical courses at FET (further education and training) colleges — require mathematics and not maths literacy.”
The World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report 2013 ranks SA’s maths and science education second last in the world, ahead only of Yemen. The forum ranks the quality of SA’s education system 140th out of 144 countries and internet access in schools 111th out of 143.