ATC130319: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the Official Release of the National Senior Certificate Results for 2012, dated 12 March 2013
Basic Education
Report of
the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the Official Release of the
National Senior Certificate Results for 2012, dated 12 March 2013.
The
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, having attended the official release of
the National Senior Certificate results for 2012, reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
1.1
A delegation of the Portfolio Committee on Basic
Education attended the official release of the National Senior Certificate
(NSC) results for 2012 on Wednesday, 2 January 2013 at the SABC M1 Studios in
1.2
The delegation comprised the following members of the
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education: Hon H Malgas MP (ANC) (Chairperson),
Hon N Gina MP (ANC) (Whip), Hon Z S Makhubele MP (ANC), Hon A C Mashishi MP
(ANC), Hon A T Lovemore MP (DA) and Hon A M Mpontshane MP (IFP).
1.3
Members of staff who formed part of the delegation
included Mr D Bandi (Content Advisor), Mr L Brown (Committee Secretary) and Ms
R Azzakani (Parliamentary Communications Unit).
2.
Background
The national examination system in
With the completion of the marking of the National Senior Certificate
(NSC) Examinations in December 2012, the Minister of Basic Education officially
announced the final results which were broadcast live nationally. The Portfolio
Committee on Basic Education was invited to attend the official announcement of
the results of the NSC Examinations for 2012 at the SABC M1 Studios,
3.
Presentation of the 2012 National
Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination Results
Technical
Briefing Mr B Soobrayan, Director-General: Department of Basic Education
Mr
Soobrayan indicated that t
he NSC results over the last five years pointed to the
attainment
of stability in the
system with tangible and gradually improving results. In terms of Action Plan
2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling
2025, the key thrust was to improve the quality of
basic education. The three key target areas were:
-
To increase the number of Grade 12 learners who become
eligible for a Bachelors Programme at a university
-
To increase the number of Grade 12 learners who pass Mathematics
-
To increase the number of Grade 12 learners who pass
Physical Science
Mr Soobrayan gave
a broad overview of the intervention strategies employed by the
Department to improve quality of
schooling. These included:
-
Teacher, Text and Time
-
Diagnostic Reports on Learner Performance
-
Improving Learner and Teacher Access to Materials (Textbooks
and Study Guides)
-
The development of Practical Assessment Tasks (PATs)
-
Teacher Development Programme Partnerships
-
Syllabus Completion
Mr Soobrayan mentioned that progress
in terms of the key educational outcomes showed that Grade R expansion was
encouraging, more learners completed Grade 12 and more learners qualified for
access to degree programmes. Mr Soobrayan, again, explained the criteria that
were set for entry into Higher Certificate, Diploma and Degree Studies. He
further elaborated on the difference between the pass requirements for the
National Senior Certificate and that of the old Senior Certificate, indicating
that the requirements were equivalent, if not higher than the old Senior
Certificate.
In respect of the
standardisation of results, Mr Soobrayan stressed that Umalusi, the Quality
Assurance Council, had conducted an
internationally acceptable process to ensure that the
results were valid and credible. Out of 58 subjects
presented for standardization, raw marks
of
41 were used, 12 subjects were adjusted downwards and five were adjusted
upwards.
Mr Soobrayan went further to present charts with detailed information on
the following:
·
Examination Administration and the Examination Cycle
·
The overall performance of candidates in the 2012 NSC
Examination
·
A comparison of the NSC passes from 2009 to 2012 by
province
·
School performance per Quintile
·
NSC passes by type of qualification
·
A comparison of Bachelors passes by province from
2009 to 2012
·
A comparison of the number of NSC passes by province
and gender
·
Pass rates within different percentage categories
·
Subject analysis NSC candidates performance per
subject
·
NSC District Performance
In conclusion, Mr Soobrayan
indicated that there were significant gains made in the system
over the last five years of the NSC
and there were areas that warranted much attention and
effort in the next few years. The Department of Basic
Education was convinced that the
schooling
sector, despite its serious challenges, was beginning to move forward on the
trajectory of improved school
performance.
4.
Address by Hon A Motshekga, Minister of
Basic Education
After the official opening, welcome and introductory remarks by the
Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Hon E Surty, the Hon A Motshekga, Minister
of Basic Education addressed the gathering. This address was a live television
broadcast nationally.
4.1
Achievements in education
Hon Motshekga indicated that the
Department was encouraged by notable improvements in
the education of children and society. The sustained
improvements on matric results were
attributed
to systemic interventions for strengthening and raising performance in all
levels
of the system. She
mentioned that the revised Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement
(CAPS) was being implemented, per phase,
in the General Education and Training and
Further
Education and Training bands as follows:
-
Grades R, 1-3 and 10 (done) in 2012
-
Grades 4-6 and 11 in 2013
-
Grades 7-9 and 12 in 2014
The Minister
noted that teachers were empowered with clear, concise and unambiguous
curriculum and assessment
statements. This helped in improving
learners ability to count,
read and
write. Many educators and parents supported changes in the curriculum.
She also
mentioned that the Departments National Strategy for improving Literacy and
Numeracy had assisted in improving
education quality and strengthened the teachers
capacity to teach. Further, the Department had coordinated
teacher development with
provincial
departments in
targeted areas. The
Department had
provided workbooks,
nationally,
to all learners in Grades 1 to 9.
The 2012 Annual National Assessment
was a massive undertaking, written by over seven
million learners. Learner performance in the Foundation Phase
(Grades 1, 2 and 3) was
encouraging
and there was progress in the Intermediate Phase (Grade 4, 5 and 6). For the
first time, in 2012, the Department
assessed Grade 9s to enable the Department to have a
benchmark through which they could report progress or
lack thereof in this phase.
4.2
Schooling
in 2012
Hon Motshekga
indicated that there was stability in the sector. In 2012, the teaching and
learning environment was relatively stable
with the exception of the
Since the
In respect of the
textbook saga, Hon Motshekga admitted that this was an unfortunate matter
that should not have happened. She
explained that, contrary to concerns raised that there was
no teaching in
4.3
National
Senior Certificate examinations
Hon Motshekga
mentioned that the
NSC examination
results rank among the important
performance
indicators of the entire schooling system. Results over the past four years
showed progress in education.
She
mentioned that it was encouraging to note that public
examinations in
In respect of
promotion issues, Hon Motshekga indicated that the pass requirements for
the
NSC
were not lower than those of the old Senior Certificate. She alluded to the
differences
between the old and the
new systems. Hon Motshekga mentioned that she was setting-up a
Ministerial committee to re-examine the matter
and to give international comparisons. This
would
help to
put the minds of parents and
learners at rest and to restore confidence in
4.4
Class of 2012
The number of
fulltime candidates writing the NSC examinations had increased from 496 090
in 2011to 511 152 in 2012, an increase
of 15 062 candidates. The number of part-time
candidates
who wrote in 2012 was 81 552 compared to 80 116 in 2011 (an increase of 1 436).
In total, 262 question papers were set,
7.8 million question papers printed and written at 6611
examination centres, supervised by 65 000 invigilators.
In total, 7.4 million scripts were
marked by 39 039 markers at 118 centres.
To ensure that
the papers were pitched at an international standard, the Department
embarked on an international
evaluation of question papers of 2002, 2007 and 2010.
Question
papers for selected subjects were evaluated by reputable international
assessment
bodies, namely,
Cambridge International Examinations, the Scottish Qualification Authority
and the Board of Studies of New
South Wales. The 2011 benchmarking process also added
an important dimension that included Higher Education
South
4.5
Standardisation
On 21 December
2012, Umalusi convened the standardisation meeting at which performance
in each subject was analysed
statistically and qualitatively to ensure current performance was
in keeping with performance in previous years.
Umalusi was able to use raw scores for the
majority
of subjects. Out of the 58 subjects that were standardised, raw scores of 41
were
accepted. Of those that were
adjusted, 12 were taken down, and only five
were taken up. On
28 December 2012, Umalusi announced
that the 2012 NSC examinations were fair, valid and
credible and that all processes met their standards.
4.6
2012 National Results
In announcing the 2012 National Results, Hon Motshekga was pleased to
announce that the national pass rate for the class of 2012 was 73.9 percent. It
presented an increase of 3.7 percent on the 2011 results (70.2 percent).
Provincial pass rates were as follows (in ascending order):
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
4.7
2013
priorities
Hon Motshekga
mentioned that in 2013, the Department would continue to focus on strategic
priorities, encompassing CAPS, ANA,
Workbooks and Infrastructure. The Department would
continue to focus on the 3Ts of Teachers, Text and Time on task.
Districts needed to intensify
monitoring,
management and support of intervention programmes at schools. The Department
planned to improve learning outcomes
by,
inter alia
, attracting young,
talented and
appropriately trained
teachers and paying attention to improving and enhancing teaching skills
and content knowledge of those already in the
profession.
The Department will prioritise
school infrastructure and the eradication of mud schools. On 10
December 2012, the Presidents
Infrastructure Coordinating Committee launched the National
School Build Programme and government has
committed more funding for school
infrastructure.
The Department established special
teams to strengthen the monitoring and support work for
provinces. These included a team to audit provincial
reading programmes and investigate the
strengths
and weaknesses in the implementation of programmes. The Department established
a maths and science task-team, not only
to identify challenges in the teaching of maths and
science but also to work with provincial departments dealing
with them.
4.8
Message
for the Class of 2012
Hon Motshekgas
message to the Class of 2012 was that the world was their oyster. She
urged them to go out and realise their dreams
as the country needed them. To those who did
not
perform as expected, she asked that they should not lose heart. There were many
options
for improving results or pursuing
alternative career paths.
4.9
Message
for the Class of 2013
To
motivate the Class of 2013, Hon Motshekga shared a sad experience of a
committed
learner yearning to attain
education by all means. In 2012, in spite of being gravely ill, the
learner wrote and passed English Home
Language (57 percent), Mathematics (62 percent),
Life Sciences (62 percent), Physical Science (54 percent) and
Afrikaans FAL. This translated
to
a National Senior Certificate Bachelors Pass. Unfortunately he was overcome by
illness.
Hon Motshekga
mentioned that the bar had been set. The Class of 2013 needed to aim high.
Hon Motshekga
also acknowledged the sterling support and motivation of parents, guardians
and teachers who actually carried the
most responsibility in the education chain and all
education officials. She expressed gratitude to members of
the Portfolio Committee on Basic
Education
for their ongoing guidance, teacher unions for their support and partnership,
the
business sector that continues to
support the Department, both professionally and materially
as well as educational
non-governmental organisations.
T
he
official announcement by Minister Motshekga was followed by the presentation of
learner
awards and media
interviews.
Report to be
noted.
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