Primary school teachers have resorted to the controversial practice of “pass one, pass all” in their classrooms because the steps they have to follow and the paperwork they have to complete to fail a learner are simply too time-consuming and tedious.
Even if a teacher recommends that a learner repeat a year, the decision can be appealed by parents and overturned by the principal or the district education office.
“The result is that teachers simply don’t want to put forward the names of learners who have to repeat the year,” a Western Cape teacher told the Teacher. “Consequently, children are simply put through.” The teacher experienced the pitfalls in the system first hand when a recommendation for a learner to repeat a grade at the end of last year was overturned by the district office.
The concern from teachers comes amid ongoing worries about weaknesses in teaching South African primary children foundational skills such as reading, writing and maths. South African children consistently perform poorly in international studies measuring these skills, a trend which has prompted education authorities to launch a campaign to improve learners’ numeracy and literacy abilities.
The progression and promotion requirements, which are the guidelines that document how and when learners can move from grade to grade, demand that teachers keep regular records on the performance of each learner to determine if he or she qualifies to move to the next grade.
This is based on a government policy that dictates what age a learner should be in a specific grade. It means that no learner should stay in the same primary school phase (foundation, intermediate or senior) for longer than four years. In practice the number of times a learner may fail is limited. The aim is to ensure that learners finish their compulsory schooling at the end of grade nine at the age of 17 or 18.
Nardus Nothnagel, director of assessment, certification and accreditation at North West education department, said it was standard procedure that a teacher should constantly inform parents about the academic progress of each learner and flag those areas where a learner struggles. Similar copies of the assessment report should be filed with the school principal and the district office. This was to update them and to provide evidence in case there is a dispute about progression or retention of a learner, he said.
But teachers contacted, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the burden of paperwork and the age policy encouraged them to try to beat the system.
“We just do not have time to attend to all this. If I were to allocate myself time to help learners with difficulties, I would lag behind with the syllabus. Ultimately, as teachers we are tempted to beat the system and forge marks. In the end it works against the learners because they struggle as they progress to higher-level grades,” said a teacher from North West.
Although the problem is more rife in primary schools, Allison Kito, a retired principal of Pretoria Girls’ High, said high schools were not immune to it. She said there is a perception among learners at high schools that they stand a chance of being pushed through even though they have not put in enough effort.
“They seldom have motivation to take a second chance,” said Kito, adding that this would impact negatively in the end on the overall quality of the education system.
Teachers also warned that when learners do remain behind, they may not necessarily receive the attention to progress in the future. The national department of education failed to comment on teachers’ concerns.