Systemic tests at schools sure to spell success

AN INCREASE in difficult systemic tests has yielded positive results showing a steady improvement since 2011, the Western Cape Education Department said.

Systemic tests in language and maths, introduced in 2001, are conducted each year in Grades 3 and 6 to indicate pupil’s language and maths levels and identify areas for improvement. Tests also assist schools in improving outcomes.

According to the department, since the difficulty of the tests was increased in 2011 there had been a steady improvement.

Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said the pass rate for Grade 3 maths had improved from 47.2% in 2011 to 56.6% last year; an increase of 9.4%.

She said the Grade 6 pass rate showed a sustained increase from 23.4% in 2011 to 42.4% last year. The results indicate that pupils struggled with identifying space and shapes.

Grade 9 pupils struggled with data handling, but the results showed an improvement from 10.4% in 2011 to 23% last year.

The language test results for Grade 3s showed an improvement from 38.7% in 2011 to 45.4% last year.

While the Grade 6 results were up from 40.9% in 2011 to 44% last year and the Grade 9 results increased by only 2.2% from 48.9% in 2011 to 51.1% .

“The WCED has provided reports to every participating school, which they can now use to inform their school improvement plans for 2019”.