Johannesburg -
The annual national assessment (ANA) results are shocking and reflect badly on teachers, two political parties said on Tuesday.
“These results are shocking, to say the least, and reflect badly on teachers if learners are not able to read or count in class,” said Inkatha Freedom Part education spokesman Alfred Mpontshane.
“We are calling for further, effective teacher in-service programmes for teachers - not the current touch-and-go programmes - and for improvement in school infrastructure so that teachers are able to provide better teaching to pupils in secure environments,” he said.
Mpontshane said that without well-trained teachers, the education system would continue to be a disaster and would result in the education department not reaching its target of 60 percent of pupils passing numeracy and literacy tests with a mark of at least 50 percent by 2014.
The Democratic Alliance said the ANA results reflected an inequality gap in the education system.
“The assessments results imply that no-fee schools perform poorly compared to fee-paying schools,” said DA Gauteng education spokesman Khume Ramulifho.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga released the ANA results on Monday.
They showed that Grade Nine pupils had performed poorly in maths, scoring an average mark of 13 percent.
The provincial maths marks ranged from nine percent to 17 percent.
Ramulifho said the inequalities meant quality education was given to those who had the money to pay for their children's education.
“The DA believes that children must be afforded an opportunity to access quality education regardless of their background.”
He said the government had to introduce an allowance to supplement the salaries of teachers who possessed good knowledge of scarce subjects, or who produced excellent results in under-performing schools.
“This will provide learners from poor backgrounds access to quality learning and opportunities for advancement.” - Sapa