Cape Town - About 480 Western Cape pupils who had repeatedly failed Grade 10 by the end of 2012 have been moved to Grade 11.
Bronagh Casey, spokesperson for Education MEC Donald Grant, said the pupils were “progressed” to Grade 11 in February.
This came after requirements stating a pupil may only be “retained” once in the Further Education and Training phase (grades 10 to 12), were published in the Government Gazette in December.
Asked how the department would assess if these children were coping in their new grade, Casey said this was being monitored by the districts.
“Educators dealt with each learner individually to ensure they received extra support to catch up with the curriculum.”
David Millar, provincial chairperson of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation, said the union had asked the Minister of Basic Education to retract the regulations.
Last month the union said many pupils pushed through the Further Education and Training phase after being retained once, would not be able to pass the Grade 12 final exam.
Wayne Klaasen, deputy chairperson of the school governing body of Kuils River Technical High School, said all Grade 10 pupils whose failures had been appealed against had progressed to Grade 11.
In a statement in February the school’s governing body said it was not only disappointed, but aggrieved by “this unilateral decision which totally disregards the resource capabilities of schools and the ability of school governing bodies to fund progressions at this late stage”.
On Thursday, Klaasen said the affected pupils had not written exams in the first term because they still had to catch up with the Grade 11 work. - Cape Argus