REPORT ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF LEARNER PERFORMANCE IN GRADES 10- 12
FOR 2001

1.National pass rates for the Senior Certificate examination for 1997,1998 and 1999 were respectively 47,4%, 49,3% and 48,9%. Since this was totally unacceptable the Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, MP, intervened and went public with the release of the 1999 Senior Certificate results with a promise of a 5% improvement. In order to raise the accountability and commitment the performances of each school was also published in the national newspapers. This led to major strategic initiatives that included the establishment of a National Forum for Learner Performance (NFLP). The pass percentages of all nine provinces over the last four years are included as Annexure A and the performance of schools for 1999 and 2000 is included as Annexure B.

2.At the HEDCQM meeting held on 13 November 2000 the committee recommended that the initiative and the work of the NFLP should continue in 2001.
3.At a two-day workshop of the National Forum for Learner Performance in January 2001 the following objectives were formulated for 2001:
· A 5% increase in the pass rate.
· A 5% increase in the number of candidates who pass the Senior Certificate with endorsement.
· A 50% reduction in the number of schools that achieve a pass rate between 0 -20% (eliminated by 2004).
· A reduction of schools that drop by more than 10%.
· An improved throughput rate.
· An increase in number of girls that pass Mathematics and Physical Science.
· An increase in the number of distinctions obtained.
· An increase in the number of candidates who obtain 4 or more distinctions (HG or SG), with an aggregate of 1680 or more. These candidates will obtain a "Senior Certificate with distinction". [Analysis in process to confirm detail.]
· An increase in the number of candidates who obtain an aggregate between 1260 and 1680 or who obtain 3 distinctions (HG or SG). These candidates will obtain a "Senior Certificate with merit". [Analysis in process to confirm detail.]

4.Each province has its own focus with regard to the improvement of learner performance according to its own needs and circumstances. However, the focus of all provincial improvement strategies should include at least the following:
· Schools that achieved a pass rate between 0 to 30% in the 2000 Senior Certificate examination;
· The five subjects that will be written nationally in the 2001 Senior Certificate examination, viz. Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology, Accounting and English 2nd Language as well as Geography; and
· Assistance to learners who are not English mother-tongue speakers who write their Senior Certificate examinations in English.
· Compulsory preparatory examinations for all Grade 12 learners
· Common papers at district level for Grades 10 - 11 learners

5.The following generic implementation plan for PEDs was developed at the workshop:

STEP

ACTION

RESPONSIBILITY

1.

Identification of schools/districts that need assistance to improve learner performance

PED’s

2.

Communication, information and contact between the role players

Districts/Regions, PED’s

3.

School SWOT analysis, unique developmental plan and strategies to address deficiencies

Schools, Districts/Regions, PED’s

4.

Implementation of improvement plans

Schools

5.

Monitoring of underperforming schools in all 9 provinces

DOE, PED’s, District and Regional Officials

6.

Evaluation and reporting on shortcomings and positive observations

DOE, PED’s NFLP, IPEC


6. REPORT ON VISITS IN ALL NINE PROVINCES BY THE COMBINED NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL MONITORING TEAMS
During February, March, April and May 2001, the first round of monitoring of the improvement of learner performance by the DoE monitoring team and provincial officials took place. Encouraging initiatives were observed at underperforming schools in all nine provinces, however, it is evident that some issues need urgent attention. 40 schools were visited in this round of monitoring.

During May and June 2001 the second round of monitoring visits took place. Up to now 29 schools in 16 districts in 6 provinces have been monitored. The remaining three provinces will be visited this week (11 June - 5 June 2001).

7.POSITIVE OBSERVATIONS
7.1Positive awareness amongst educators and learners alike of the graveness of the situation and an eagerness and commitment to do better.
7.2The provincial co-ordinators and their teams were very dedicated and should be commended for their efforts to improve learner performance in their provinces.
7.3In all the provinces there were plans for extra classes or good schools and universities offered extra tuition.
7.4In one district in the Free State feeder schools were also being monitored.
7.5In Gauteng the schools visited were neat and there was good documentation on school management.
7.6In KwaZulu-Natal there was a common test timetable for all Grade 12 learners.

8.GENERAL SHORTCOMINGS IDENTIFIED
The following shortcomings were observed in most of the provinces:
8.1Schools either did not have an improvement strategy available or it was not used effectively
8.2Poor management by principals was still one of the most prevalent problems.
8.3Many SMTs did not know how to develop an effective timetable. This led to many problems. At some schools it was found that learners had up to 50 "free" periods a week.
8.4Minutes of staff and other meetings were rarely available to the monitoring team for perusal.
8.5Learner records/files were not available.
8.6Analysis of 2000 SCE results by SMTs was rarely available.
8.7SMTs rarely made class visits.
8.8The textbook retrieval system at most school was totally ineffective.
8.9Indiscriminate promotion of learners in earlier grades resulted in Grade 12 learners who were not able to cope with the level of work required.
8.10Educators were regularly absent from school which resulted in a substantial number of person-days being lost.
8.11Educators were not committed to their work and defiant of authority. Principals and SMTs were often not regarded as figures of authority. Learners were frequently left unattended.
8.12In some provinces the minimum requirements such as subject files with syllabi, written lesson preparation, assessment records, etc. were not available for scrutiny by the team.
8.13Sometimes educators produced the minimum requirements (subject files, etc.) but did not do any written preparation at all.
8.14Many educators felt uncertain about what was required in terms of CASS.
8.15District and circuit support of underperforming schools was lacking and educators indicated that in some cases subject advisers had not visited them in years.
8.16In some provinces the guideline documents for the five national subjects could not be produced.

9.RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are recommended to improve performance at underperforming schools:
9.1The focus of improvement strategies should be the principal as it was found that as soon as a competent principal was appointed at an underperforming school overall performance improved dramatically. A number of PEDs have already followed this route with great success. If a principal cannot be removed from a school a strong development programme to improve capacity is recommended. Criteria for the appointment of principals should be revised as School Governing Bodies appointed principals who are clearly not competent.
9.2A meeting should be convened with the teacher unions as classroom visits by management and other departmental officials were being opposed by unions at local level in some areas.
9.3Senior Management Teams at schools should be taught how to pack timetables. During the monitoring it was found that many schools had "free" periods and this was because they did not know how to pack the timetable. Regulation that circuit managers have to approve a school's timetable needs to be put in place.
9.4Circuit/District/Regional support to schools should be improved.
9.5The whole system and structure of the provisioning of learning materials and funds to schools need to be revisited. It was found during the monitoring visits that underperforming schools were not able to manage these funds at all.
9.6Regulations regarding the use of cellphones during teaching time need to be put in place.

10.As a result of the poor pass percentages during the past few years, the focus has been on the improvement of this pass percentage. However, in 2000 the pass percentage was 58% and it has now become necessary to monitor and improve the quality of the candidates' pass percentages. In the 2001 analysis of the Senior Certificate provision will be made for different categories of passes such as passing a Senior Certificate with merit and passing a Senior Certificate with distinction although this is being researched and details will be made available later.

11.CONCLUSION
The Department of Education is positive that we will be able to build on the successes of last year, that there will once again be an improvement in the general pass percentage in 2001 and that the number of underperforming schools (schools with a pass percentage below 20%) will drop even further. Although the Department is positive about learner performance improvement in most schools, the reality is that improvement of some schools is virtually impossible unless the whole socio-economic environment is improved.

Another factor that needs to be considered is the effect of the results of the national question papers in the five key subjects, viz. Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology, Accounting and English 2nd Language.
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