Pretoria - With only three years until they write matric, only 14 percent of South African grade 9 pupils passed maths in their Annual National Assessments, a situation which Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said required “dramatic” action.
This dismal figure has alarmed Motshekga who now wants the examinations to be introduced to grades 7 and 8. Currently, the exams are written by grades 1 to 6 and Grade 9.
Only 3 percent of the 138 706 grade 9 pupils achieved above 50 percent in the maths examination.
In Tshwane district, the picture is not far removed from the national one. The Tshwane West district achieved below the national average with 12.4 percent, down from last year’s 12.5 percent.
The Tshwane North district achieved 15.9, up two percent from last year and Tshwane South got 21.8 percent, a slight improvement from last year’s 21.2 percent.
Releasing the results at Mahlahle Primary School in Atteridgeville yesterday, Motshekga said: “I am upbeat about the results. There has been steady improvement in the junior and intermediate phases.
“There are problems in the senior phase and they are a serious concern. Grade 9 is a transitional phase and that is where students starts to choose their subjects. Something dramatic has to be done.”
She said the senior phase was neglected. “The problem is teacher competency and attention. More attention is given to Grade 11 and 12.”
Motshekga said she had held a special meeting with the maths, science and technology task team to investigate whether the poor Grade 9 test results were fair and reliable.
“The task team said the results are a genuine and credible reflection of the learning achievements in grade 9 maths.
“The report further indicated that Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (Caps) provides comprehensive guidelines on curriculum content and assessment and should be considered a primary vehicle for addressing low performance in Grade 9 maths.”
She said other than introducing the assessments in grades 7 and 8, maximum energy should be focused on the senior phase and the system should, in the next three years, prepare for externally set examinations for the senior phase.
University of South Africa education expert Professor Vuyisile Msila said attention should be given to teacher training.
“The intervention might or might not help. The issues are complex. Various things that should be looked at are teacher education and developing a strong early childhood development (ECD).
“If you lose the learners in the ECD, it is hard to recover them later. If teachers are not equipped with skills and resources then there will be problems throughout the system.”
The examinations, which started three years ago, were this year written by 7 million pupils in public and state-funded independent schools in literacy and numeracy.
The Grade 9 pupils achieved 43 percent in home language, the same figure as last year, and 33 percent in first additional language – a decrease by two percent from last year’s results. Forty-eight percent of pupils in Limpopo and 41 percent in the Eastern Cape failed their home language.
“In both language and mathematics, Grade 9 learners demonstrated a fairly limited repertoire of necessary basic skills and knowledge.
“This is a signal warranting particular attention given that this is a critical transition grade in further education and training band of the school system,” Motshekga said.
DA education spokeswoman Annette Lovemore said it was disheartening that “only 37 percent of our Grade 9 learners are literate in their home languages, a decrease of two (percent) from last year’s 39 percent”.
Msila said language results will improve if there are dedicated courses for teachers in African languages.
“There should be classes where teachers are trained 100 percent in indigenous languages, otherwise learners will continue failing.”
Lovemore said the education system cannot “lurch from one intervention to another”.
“The only sustainable solutions will be systemic ones – learners must have textbooks and they must have teachers who are fully capable of teaching in every classroom. Those teachers must indeed teach for the full school day, with action taken when they deliberately do not. A culture of learning and consistent curriculum coverage must be developed.
“Learner outcomes must form the basis of every measurement of performance – at the teacher level, department level, school level, district level, provincial level and national level.”
The deputy president of the National Professional Teachers Union of South Africa Allen Thompson said: “I do not agree that attention should be given to the senior phase. The entire education system needs attention. Teachers need to be on board. There should be teacher training. We can’t glorify 14 percent, we need to take a strong look at curriculum.”
The National Professional Teachers Association’s executive director Henry Hendricks agrees that the entire system has to be improved.
“I am concerned that the Grade 9s are going to be in Grade 10 next year and Grade 12 in 2016. There should be targeted interventions for Grade 9. The system also needs to be jacked up from Grade 1.” - Pretoria News