Grade Three learners at South African schools have not fared well in a nationwide survey of their ability to read and write — and scored a clear ”F” for numeracy.
Releasing the results of a nationwide study in Cape Town on Tuesday, Education Minister Prof Kader Asmal said the youngsters scored a mean of only 39% for reading and writing, and 30% for numeracy.
He said this bore out the concern he raised when he became minister in 1999 that the curriculum did not explicitly mention the need for students to know how to read and write.
However the trends shown by the study were similar to those in many developed countries.
”Therefore, it would be folly by anyone to suggest that the performance by our students bucks the international trend.
”In fact, given the high rate of participation of children in the foundation phase and the legacy of deprivation bequeathed to us by apartheid, the results are not as alarming as some might want to make out.”
”We should not easily forget what apartheid education sought to achieve when its main architect, HF Verwoerd, asked the question ‘What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics?”’
He said the report, based on tests written by over 52 000 learners from 1 400 schools, was the first major ”baseline” study on the state of schooling in South Africa, and established benchmarks on the performance of the system.
It was the first time in the history of education in South Africa that a report of this nature was being released.
”This demonstrates the confidence the government has in running the affairs of this country. A less self-confident government would not subject itself to such scrutiny,” he commented.
Asmal said another key finding of the evaluation was that the ”national indicator” for the availability of resources at home was about 31%.
The study showed that 57,1% of households had access to television sets, 45,9% to a telephone, 23% to newspapers and magazines, and that 53% had fewer than ten books. Sixty-seven percent had access to a radio.
”I have often asked my department the question ‘How can outcomes-based education be implemented without libraries in our schools?”’ he said.
”The findings of the systemic evaluation justify my concerns.”
The study had also confirmed the importance of the role of the language of instruction in students’ performances.
Students who wrote the tests in their home language performed better than those who wrote in a second or a third language.
His ministry and department had long been considering the role of language as a major barrier to learning, not only in the foundation phase, but in the entire system.
”Very soon, I shall announce the establishment of a ministerial committee to investigate the possibility of advancing towards the use of some indigenous languages as mediums of instruction in higher education.”
The evaluation also found that schools across the country levied significantly different fees.
Almost 69% levied annual fees of R100 or less, while about 18 percent demanded more than R1 000. – Sapa