South Africa’s opposition political party the Democratic Alliance wants the government to do away with the country’s current centralised national matriculation (senior certificate exam) system, according to DA MP and education spokesperson Willem Doman.
The proposal comes after Minister of Education Kader Asmal on December 30 announced a substantially improved national matric pass rate for 2003 — by 4,4% to a total of 73,3%, up from 68,9% in 2002, 61,7% in 2001 and only 48,9% in 1999.
Commenting on the structure of the education system on Tuesday, Doman said the current senior certificate examination system is not delivering the calibre of matriculants needed by universities and the labour sector, and as such should be ”completely revamped” by moving away from a centralised system and introducing assessments and exams at three earlier stages in addition to the exam at grade 12 stage.
”South African schools need to produce pupils who are properly equipped for either the labour or tertiary education sectors — this is, sadly, not happening at present,” observed Doman.
”Learners should be given the option to follow a more technical education earlier during their schooling career, instead of being forced to follow the more academic route currently offered by the senior certificate exam.
”The DA’s policy document on education — released last year — explains how the examination system should be used to diagnose problems in teaching and learning as early as possible, so that they can be rectified before it is too late. National systemic assessments should be conducted at grades 3, 6, and 9 and a national exam at grade 12 level.
”These assessments and exams will test at grade 3 and 6 levels age-appropriate literacy and numeracy. Grade 6 testing will involve standardised tests for first-language capacity and mathematics.
”At Grades 9 and 12, tests will reflect the range of subjects being studied. National exam results at both grade 9 and grade 12 levels will be monitored closely to identify subjects and areas requiring targeted intervention.”
Doman added that the DA proposed that there should be no centralised national matric exam system. Each province must be entitled to set its own exams, with the national certification authority ensuring comparable standards and benchmarks. Provinces may draw up their own exams, or use those of other organisations that meet national standards.
”It is completely unacceptable for national standards to be lowered in order to boost matric pass rates,” the MP noted. ”There must be appropriate minimums, and proper grading according to proper marks — with a clear outcome, unobscured by imprecise euphemisms.
”Random, stratified studies should be carried out on pupils at important points in the education process to ensure that children are mastering required levels of applied literacy, numeracy and information literacy. Where problems are identified, intervention strategies will be customised to solve them.” — I-Net Bridge