Grade 1 test riddled with silly mistakes

A Western Cape assessment test for Grade 1 pupils had so many errors that a teacher refused to hand it to her pupils. File Photo: Matthew Jordaan

A Western Cape assessment test for Grade 1 pupils had so many errors that a teacher refused to hand it to her pupils. File Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Published Oct 29, 2015

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Cape Town - A Western Cape assessment test for Grade 1 pupils had so many errors that a teacher refused to hand the papers to her pupils and the department has launched an investigation.

On Wednesday, Education MEC Debbie Schäfer was studying a report into why the assessment, to determine how well Grade 1s were doing, was riddled with errors.

 One teacher posted on Facebook that she had not handed it out to her pupils to complete.

The Formal Assessment Task (FAT) 1 for the fourth term was uploaded on to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) webpage on a WCED letterhead.

The assessment considers the level at which pupils should demonstrate their achievement of learning outcomes.

The shared reading is about a boy wanting a bicycle for his birthday.

Extracts read: “Mom was afraid that he will drive a bit reckless in the streets and get knocked by a car.”; “He was anxiously waiting for his mom and dad to congratulate him with his birthday.”; “John jumped out of bed, ran pass his mom and dad straight to the garage.”

An extract from a poem, which pupils were meant to recite, reads: ”The other children rides pass me.”

From Activity 2: listening and speaking, an extract reads: “He wish he could get a bicycle.”

Schäfer’s spokesperson, Jessica Shelver, said the MEC was outraged that the assessment contained errors.

“As soon as I became aware of the matter yesterday (Tuesday), I immediately requested a report on the matter. I am busy studying the initial report and will decide on further action thereafter.

“I am outraged that a document of such poor standard can be published on a WCED letterhead and will not leave the matter there,” Schäfer said.

SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial chairperson Jonovan Rustin said the mistakes pupils saw in the readings had the potential to be duplicated in their vocabulary.

“It is not acceptable that grammatical errors creep into language papers when we are trying to improve pupils’ literacy levels. The effect of reading words out of context can be lasting.

“It is crucial that the WCED ensure a good standard is kept,” Rustin said.

In the past, grammatical errors had crept into national matric papers and the FAT 1 errors were not a first, Rustin said.

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Cape Times

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