The Department of Basic Education is investigating how a question on television soap opera characters landed up in a Grade 9 exam paper.
An irate parent wrote to a newspaper accusing the department of discriminating against children who did not have access to television.
“Angry Parent” said that a question in her daughter’s CTA arts and culture exam paper had asked pupils to “name two soapies that you enjoy watching and name three characters from each”. The question was worth eight marks.
Pupils also scored an extra two marks if they were able to say who their favourite soap opera character was and why.
The parent, who chose to remain anonymous because she did not want her daughter to be teased, argued that the family did not have a television, and even if they had, her children would not be allowed to watch the soapies. She did not indicate how her daughter had answered the question
Ministry spokeswoman Hope Mokgatlhe said the matter had been brought to the attention of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
“Our curriculum and examinations (units) are currently looking into it,” she said.
Mokgatlhe said that Grade 9 exams were set and moderated by the provincial departments, and sometimes they were set at district level.
She said the question was an oversight and the department would investigate it.
Mokgatlhe said that in cases where it was found that an exam question has disadvantaged pupils through no fault of their own, their marks would be adjusted. - The Star