Leanne Jansen
DURBAN: The raising of the pass mark for pupils in grades 7, 8 and 9 this year has put so many at risk of failing that the Basic Education Department has instructed schools across the country to adjust pupils’ scores and award extra marks.
In an effort to improve the quality of education in the public school system, the department upped the standard required to pass these grades – but with unforeseen consequences.
Yesterday, teachers’ unions were either strongly for or strongly opposed to adjusting scores.
Last year, pupils in grades 7, 8 and 9 would only have had to pass seven of their nine subjects, and earn 40 percent in one official language and 30 percent in a second official language, to be promoted to the next grade. But with the introduction of the new Caps curriculum, this year’s crop have had to pass eight of their nine subjects, score at least 50 percent in their home language, and a minimum of 40 percent for their first additional language.
And whereas last year pupils may have been granted a condoned pass in one of their subjects, that allowance fell away this year.
The department said that intensive teacher training, and the provision of learning and teaching support material had preceded the introduction of the new curriculum.
Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga argued it was the case elsewhere in the world too that changes to the curriculum resulted in some degree of “instability”.
From this year’s June exam results, it had become apparent that the new pass requirements had caused a dip in pupils’ marks. Reports from provincial education departments were that the impact was worse than they had expected.
“It would therefore be unfair to the 2014 cohort of pupils to bear the brunt of a systemic change, and there is a need for the department to manage the transition and the possible depressed pupil performance,” Mhlanga said.
The national department has opted to issue provincial education departments with guidelines on how pupils’ marks should be adjusted, so that this year’s scores do not differ too drastically from the average performance of previous years.
“Where there is a substantial drop in the school performance, the
district manager will make adjustments to the results within clearly defined parameters,” Mhlanga said.
Even with the tweaking of the marks, the overall academic performance of the pupils is expected to be lower this year than in previous years.
“This is the outcome of a high-skills, high-knowledge curriculum, and improved assessment standards,” Mhlanga said.
Basil Manuel, president of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa), said the change in the pass requirements had simply been too drastic – even for some of the country’s top schools.
A survey of Naptosa’s top schools in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Joburg had revealed that 40 percent of pupils would fail this year according to the new pass mark. While Naptosa was in support of upping standards, this had to be done gradually.
Allen Thompson, deputy head of the National Teachers Union, said his members were not keen on adjusting marks.
He also did not believe that the change in the pass requirements had been too drastic.
“People must meet standards. It can’t be that standards must meet people.
“We are otherwise confining children to becoming low achievers. It is a mistake for the department to adjust the marks.
“A culture of meeting pass requirements must be inculcated at a young age.”
Thompson questioned the confidence that the department had in its teachers, and that any sort of intervention directed at pupils’ performance needed to take place during the year, and to better pupils’ understanding of their work.