Grades 10 and 11 final exams cancelled
Preparation through the year too varied across schools to apply common criteria
Teachers, teacher unions and education experts have welcomed the department of basic education’s scrapping of the final exams for grade 10 and 11 pupils.
These pupils will now write “controlled” tests set by schools instead of the so-called common exams that have been previously set by the provinces.
In the past, the promotion of grade 10 and 11 pupils to the next grade was largely dependent on the results pupils achieved in the high-stakes, year-end exams, which counted for 300 of the 400 marks for each subject. The remaining 100 marks came from tests, assignments and projects, known as school-based assessment (SBA).
The weighting for the exams, which will take the form of tests this year, has now been reduced from 75% to 40%, while the weighting for the SBA has been increased from 25% to 60%.
The revised promotion requirements are contained in a circular dated September 12 that was signed by basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli.
According to the circular, “the additional loss of teaching time due to rotational attendance, Covid-19 infections and the additional four-week closure has resulted in a variable completion of the annual teaching plans”.
The document states that in line with the revised plans and the time spent on teaching and learning, the promotion requirements have been revised for this year.
Grade 10 papers will be an hour’s duration, while grade 11 papers will be two hours long.
According to the circular, “controlled tests should only be set on content taught”.
“The controlled test must cover a substantial portion of the curriculum taught, preferably work covered in all terms, wherever possible.”
The circular states that the tests must be administered under controlled conditions.
“Fundamental subjects such as languages, maths and maths literacy will offer the required number of papers with a reduced duration. All elective subjects to reduce the number of papers to one test per subject.”
Eugene Rooyakkers, principal of Benoni High in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, said because of the tight time-frame for the completion of the academic programme, replacing the exams with tests “is the best decision that could have been made”.
Because of social-distancing requirements, the different grades in most schools only attend school on alternate days or weeks. The dire shortage of classrooms has forced some schools to only allow certain grades to attend class one week in a month.
A principal of a high school in Rustenburg said it is only fair to scrap the exams because pupils are not getting enough instruction time in class. “The exams are based on work done during the whole year, while the tests will be based on work done during a term.”
At his school, grades 10 and 11 attend lessons for five days in a 10-day cycle.
A teacher from a school in Chatsworth, Durban, echoed these sentiments, saying few schools have completed the whole syllabus and that testing children on the entire year’s work would be unfair. “We can’t place too much emphasis on a high-stakes exam, especially in a year when schooling has been seriously disrupted because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
He said many teachers, who have been stressed about completing the syllabus, are relieved the exams have been scrapped.
Prof Labby Ramrathan, from the education faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), was adamant the emphasis should not be on the writing of final exams.
“Learning is a continuous process and we need to focus on units of learning and the ability to master that and gain sufficient competence in that.
“There are a whole lot of issues around exams, such as the psychological trauma and stress that doesn’t support students who have anxiety issues,” said Ramrathan.
Prof Ursula Hoadley, from the school of education at the University of Cape Town (UCT), said for the department there was no other choice but to scrap the exams. “There was too little time for teaching and learning to carry on for meaningful exams to take place. And this, too, was too variable to make common exams possible.”
Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said they have always strongly supported the use of school-based assessments instead of large-scale exams.
“We have become so much part of an assessment culture. We think that exams improve performance and they don’t.”
Manuel said some schools may have completed far more work than others, adding: “So you can’t try to have standardised tests. Besides, it’s the role of teachers to assess children, not outside agencies.”