The recent 2011 National release of the full-time public Grade 12 results was well received by the nation. According to the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, last year’s results were 70, 2% and showed an improvement of 2, 4%.
Although as a country we have to celebrate this sustained improvement in our Grade 12 results, there seems to be a gloomy picture behind these promising numbers. Nationally the total number of full-time Grade 12 learners that enrolled was 511038 in 2011. Out of that total enrolment the total number of full-time candidates who actually set for the National Senior Certificate examinations was 496090. Almost 3% of enrolled learners did not write the examination.
The other disturbing trend that should be of great concern is the sustained decline in the total number of full-time candidates who sit for the examinations. According to the Report on the National Senior Certificate Examination 2011, from 2009 to 2010 the total number of full-time candidates who wrote decreased by 3, 8% from 580937 to 558980. The decline from 2010 to 2011 was more pronounced as the total number of full-time candidates who wrote fell by a whopping 8, 6% from 558980 to 511038.
On the other hand the total number of part-time candidates has been showing some tremendous increase over the same period. From 2009 to 2010 the number of part-time candidates swelled by a massive 110% from 39255 to 82553 in those years respectively. The increase can also be observed from figures of 2010 and 2011 as the number of part-time candidates rose by 37% from 82553 to 112780 over the period.
There is a growing perception out there that an increasing number of schools, in an effort to boost their pass rates, register some of their Grade 12 learners as part-time candidates. This practice is believed to have been pioneered by the former Model C schools. Currently a significant number of township schools seem to have followed suit, hence the sudden dwindling in the number of full-time learners since 2009.
The scenario as depicted above does not bode well for the legitimacy of these results. One is left wondering what would have happened to the results had the number of full-time candidates been relatively constant throughout the years. Although the country should celebrate the marginal improvement in the overall results, it would be a mistake if we get puffed-up in the process. A lot is hidden rather than revealed in these numbers.
Dumza, I have started a project, as part of a quest for a qualification, seeking to link the continued failings of the Eastern Cape Department of Education to the extraordinarily high turnover rate at Executive Leadership level. My assertion is that an organsiation draws a lot of its vision and strategic direction from the Executives and that when you chop and change at that level there can be no sustained inculcation of a positive culture and employees have no common purpose to be inspired to adopt and pursue. I hope to gather sufficient data to confirm this assertion.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds to be a interesting project. Please share the findings once you complete it. Good luck to your endeavours. Many thanks
ReplyDeleteSend these to DD not for payment but for publication purposes only. You can send as a Letter to the Editor. See if they publish them nad also mention that they have also been published in your blog.
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