DURBAN - THE decision by the Department of Basic Education to cancel the 2021 mid-year examinations for Grade 12 pupils was met with mixed reaction by education stakeholders yesterday.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga made the announcement during a presentation to the portfolio committee on Tuesday. The meeting was to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on teaching and learning. Motshekga justified the decision by saying the department wanted to give pupils time to cover the curriculum.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, department spokesperson Hope Mokgatlhe confirmed the decision and said more time was needed for teaching.
Mokgatlhe said since pupils were attending school on a rotational basis, there was less contact teaching and learning time.
“So in order to try to catch up, and for them to have more time to learn and be able to write the exams, we are taking away the June exams. The department also believes that there isn’t much that the pupils have learnt to be able to write an exam,” she said.
The Grade 12 mid-year examination report, together with the Grade 11 report, is used by tertiary institutions to decide on applications.
Regarding this issue, Mokgatlhe said there were ongoing discussions with the Department of Higher Education and Training.
“The discussions are about what changes can be made in terms of the requirements to higher institutions,” she said, adding there were a couple of things expected to change regarding the mid-year examination marks required by universities and colleges.
She added that the changes would include the formation of the new entrance mark calculation system in order for pupils to gain access to higher education.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation SA (Naptosa) chief executive in KwaZulu-Natal, Thirona Moodley, commended the department for the decision.
Moodley said they believed that the 50% attendance had a negative impact on the Grade 12 curriculum.
She said that currently, pupils were a bit behind and needed more time in classrooms to prepare for the final exams.
The priority was to cover the curriculum content and for educators to find gaps in curriculum knowledge, Moodley said, adding they would keep tabs on the engagements between the two education departments regarding university and college admissions.
The Congress of South African Students’ Douglas Ngobeni said they were opposed to the decision, adding the move was a clear indication that the department had failed to plan properly for the 2021 academic year programme.
General secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, Matakanye Matakanye, said they were aware of the decision and they were still going to engage with the department about it.
He said that the organisation would be satisfied once it got more details regarding the reasons for the decision.
THE MERCURY