On Wednesday 8 January, the Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille wrote: "Matric markers are not tested for their competence, their subject knowledge or for their ability to interpret answers which are phrased differently from the exam memorandum."
On Wednesday 8 January, the Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille wrote: "Matric markers are not tested for their competence, their subject knowledge or for their ability to interpret answers which are phrased differently from the exam memorandum."
"The Western Cape is the only provincial government that conducts rigorous competence tests for its matric markers… it is clear that many schools try to work weaker students out of the system before they have a chance to write their final exams."
"This practice of 'culling' academically weak students is reflected in the extraordinarily high drop-out rates between Grade 10 and Grade 12 in some provinces."
The implications of this statement for the country’s education system are dire.
If the credibility of the assessment process and, by extension the credibility of the results themselves is questionable then what of the credibility of the national senior certificate (NSC)?
What assurances do taxpayers, employers and institutions of higher learning have that matriculants are equipped with the tools they need?
The Premier has called for an investigation into the credibility of the marking process, competence of markers and the degree of standardisation across the provinces.
Zille announced her intention to demand that the investigation also probe whether or not there is evidence to support the belief that weak learners in some provinces are forced out of the education system.
High learner dropout rates in South African public schools are increasingly becoming commonplace.
The Eastern Cape is a prime example of a province exhibiting disquieting dropout trends in the years preceding Grade 12.
In 2012, the dropout rate between Grade 11 and 12 was 11.5% according to the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE).
The province also has high repetition rates and the percentages of learners that are over-age within the system should be of concern.
While the problems inherent to the provincial (and national) education systems are all too apparent, the question of credibility regarding the quality of marking and standardisation is further cause for concern.
Whether this discussion can happen outside of the realms of politically-driven discourse is somewhat doubtful.
Does it matter where the call for the independent audit has come from?
In the current political clime: yes it does.
In the current educational crisis: no – it really should not.
This is likely an opportunity to either depoliticise education in South Africa and build the nation’s confidence in the system or to do the exact opposite.
Instead of resulting in effective change; the tug of war around issues of education is akin to a game in which learners are always the losers.
Civil society organisations have often lamented the poor working relationships between the ECDoE and teachers' unions in the Eastern Cape.
Sadly, the pattern is mirrored at the national level even when it comes to the selection of exam markers, it would seem.
Amongst the issues in contention here is the claim that the appointment of markers in some provinces is not free of political influence.
This implies that criteria other than eligibility influence who gets to mark matric exam scripts in provinces other than the Western Cape.
It is lamentable that the pleas by the quality assurance body, Umalusi, to test the competence of all markers for NSC examinations appear to have gone unheeded.
It is also lamentable that the Premier has waited until South African learners have completed their exams and received their results to raise such grave concerns.
This is reflective of a larger problem in the approach to all things education in South Africa – waiting until the last exam is written before pulling out the soap box and loud hailer.
Grade 12 is the end of several years of educational development.
It is the point at which years of instruction and nurturing should become tools with which matriculants grapple with the demands of further education or the working world.
It is the point at which much of the damage that can be done in terms of learners’ education has likely already been done.
It is not the point at which corrective action will result in any meaningful change.
Enter early childhood development (ECD) and foundation phase education.
This is surely where the focus of scrutiny should be: at the commencement of the formal education story.
How is it that deficiencies in the approach to ECD in South Africa do not receive as much attention as the vagaries of matric results?
How is it that such an important age group is largely marginalised when issues of education quality and provisioning are discussed?
While the matric pass rate is an important indicator of the country’s performance in education, it is only one of many.
Placing such uneven focus on the results does little to shed light on the foundational problems in education.
In order that we can all have the same confidence in the South African education system as the Premier has in the rigour of marker competence testing in the Western Cape, education must become less politicised.
A good start would be the implementation of the suggested audit in all nine provinces.
A second step would be to maintain focus on all the non-razzmatazz issues in education including training and remuneration of ECD educators, ECD provisioning and the implementation of service delivery improvement plans in education on a daily basis.
It would be a pleasant and welcome change for such an audit to be implemented without anyone having to haul anyone else before a court of law. Here’s to hoping!
Zukiswa Kota
Researcher
Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)
P.O. Box 94, Rhodes University
Grahamstown
