SECTION 3

EVALUATION OF PROVINCES’ PREPAREDNESS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 2000 SENIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS

1. National overview of performance in the 1999 Senior Certificate examinations

The 1999 Senior Certificate examination was the fourth to be run on a non-racial basis by provincial departments of education since 1995. Over the last two years there has been an improvement in the administration of the examinations. Minor problems were encountered during the 1999 Senior Certificate examination:

• The theft of the Mathematics Standard Grade Paper from a school in the Western Cape
• Two ghost candidates arrested at an Adult Learning Centre in KwaZulu-Natal
• Envelopes sent to some of the examination centres without examination papers in the Eastern Cape
• Mathematics Higher Grade Paper attached to the SeSwati paper in Mpumalanga
• Wrong pack of question papers sent to an examination centre in Gauteng
• Business Economics paper found with Braille papers in Northern Province
• Other problems associated with the marking of examination scripts.

All these problems were resolved without any complications that would prejudice the credibility of the examination. Overall the administration of the examinations progressed well through the commitment and dedication of provincial officials assisted where necessary by the officials of the Department of Education.

800 871 candidates wrote the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. 563 893 of these were full-time candidates who registered for six or more subjects and only 511 474 of these actually wrote the examination. The results of the 1999 Senior Certificate examinations for full-time candidates with six or more subjects according to province for the years 1996 – 1999 are in Table 3.1. The 48.9% pass rate in 1999 shows a slight decline from the 49.3% pass rate in 1998. Six of the nine provinces (Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, North-West, Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape) showed a decline in the pass rate in 1999 compared to 1998, while Gauteng, Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal showed a slight increase. A detailed analysis of the results was published in the Report on the 1999 Senior Certificate Examination, 30 December 1999.

The analysis in this report focuses on the performance of schools rather than of candidates. Table 3.2 shows the percentage of schools by province within the different pass rate percentage groupings from 0 – 100%. Figure 1 shows the percentage of schools nationally within different pass rate percentage groupings of 1998 and 1999. There are two peaks in the Figure, one at the pass mark percentage range between 21 to 40% and the other in the pass rate range between 81 – 100%. The analysis of the provincial pass rates focuses largely on the 21 to 40% pass rate grouping, and to a minor extent, on the 81 to 100% grouping, where it exists. The complete data presented first, followed by a discussion of each province.

TABLE 3.2: PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS BY PROVINCE WITHIN DIFFERENT PASS RATE GROUPINGS (0 – 100%) FOR 1998 AND 1999

Suffice at this stage to point out that 46% of the schools nationally obtained a pass rate of less than 40% in 1998, with 28% of the schools obtaining a pass rate between 21 – 40%. In 1999, 48% of the schools obtained a pass rate of less than 40%, an increase of 2% over the pass rate in 1998. In the range 81 to 100% there has been a drop of 1% from 21% in 1998 to 20% in 1999. Detailed analysis of the results by province is outlined in the following sections.

1. Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape, the third largest of the provinces, had 909 schools that presented candidates for the Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 2. 64% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the figure. 32% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. Overall 60% of the schools in the province have pass rates which are less that 40%, a decline compared to 51% in 1998. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province.

Success factors in schools that perform well

Strong and diligent school managers and management teams are strong indicators of our successful schools. Where there is consistent monitoring of learner and teacher attendance of school and classes, school performance is enhanced. Schools that monitor the performance of their learners from Grades 10, 11 and 12 and guide them in terms of grades and subjects they could register for in Grade 12, perform better. School performance is enhanced by structured remedial classes. Educators that guide their learners in choosing correct subject combinations for Matriculation endorsement and for an ordinary pass, contribute to the performance of the schools..

Inhibiting factors in under-performing schools

• Under-performing schools seem to be without syllabi and teachers are struggling with differentiation when teaching Standard Grade and Higher Grade learners. It is a norm in most of these schools not to adhere to promotion procedures as contained in the national document "Resume of Instructional Programmes in Public Schools", which was revised in August 1998. Absence of continuous assessment records in the form of tests, mid-year and trial exams and projects is an inhibiting factor in the monitoring of the progress of learners and timely application of corrective measures. There is a general neglect of recording oral, year and practical marks for learners, and failure, by departmental officials, to moderate these marks and submit them for capturing. Some students write grades, for which they have not registered for and poor monitoring by invigilators creates problems for provincial data capturers. There are learners who register as full-time candidates, but fail to attend school and only emerge to write exams at the end of the year.

Perhaps an additional factor, which is not mentioned above, may have to do with the capacity of school management teams. The strengthening of the management capacity of the school is mentioned in the improvement plans detailed below:

1. Improvement Plans for Senior Certificate Examinations in 2000

2. Free State

The Free State is one of the small provinces with 325 schools that presented candidates for the Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 3. 53% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the figure. 23% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. Overall 50% of the schools in the province had a pass rate of less than 40%, showing a decline compared to 46% in 1998. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Success factors in schools that performed well

Successful schools in the province were identified by means of a critical analysis of the Senior Certificate results. Success factors identified by the province are:

• A common examinations was written in June 1999 to give learners and teachers an opportunity to be exposed to an external examination situation before-hand, in a limited number of subjects.
• All schools that achieved a pass rate above 40% are relatively functional and have mostly dedicated staff.
• adherence to syllabi, pacesetters and subject policies by educators at most schools is significantly improving members of staff.

Inhibiting factors in schools that under-performed in the 1999 Senior Certificate examinations

• Ineffective teaching and learning
• Teachers from Grade 8 to Grade 12 failing to complete the syllabus
• Grade 12 learners being confronted with an examination paper based on the whole syllabus for the first time after a period of four years in secondary school
• School management teams failing to control teaching and learning activities owing to poor school management. As a result of poor management, such schools miss out on the support given by learning facilitators. Guidelines and learning support materials provided are not put into good use and more often than not are lost. Learners miss out on vital information in relation to how they must approach the syllabus and prepare adequately for the examinations.
• Lack of adequate support on the part of the provincial department owing to a critical shortage of learning facilitators and a lack of government vehicles to transport subject advisors already in service in the provincial department. This may improve as preparations to provide subsidised vehicles and an additional 66 government vehicles have been completed.

Improvement plans put in place are as follows:

Benchmarks have again been set for all schools in every district during the visits by Senior Management in early January 2000. Steps have been taken to intensify the monitoring and support of dysfunctional schools in particular. The majority of the schools have received relevant copies of syllabi and pacesetters. Processes with regard to provision of these documents have been explained to all schools. Appropriate tools have been developed to monitor the correct usage of these documents by educators.

Common examinations in Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology, History, Geography and Accounting will again be conducted in June. The appointment of 35 new learning facilitators in the various areas will improve the capacity of the Department to manage oral and practical marks in languages and practical subjects. The timely delivery of materials for practical work in practical subjects will improve the quality of teaching and learning of these subjects.

The provincial Learning and Teaching Committee is to be re-vitalised in early 2000. This Committee will improve collaboration between the provincial department and teacher organisations. The motivational interventions made by both the Free State Premier and the MEC: Education will have a major impact on principals, SGBs, teachers, learners and parents.

Action steps were put in place for the entire Professional Support Service (Learning Facilitators, School Management Developers and other head office and district staff) to intervene at schools with a poor performance and especially at so-called dysfunctional schools. The MEC, Head of Department and several members of Senior Management have developed a programme to meet with school management teams (SMTs) of all dysfunctional schools to discuss the performance of these schools.

Preparedness for Senior Certificate Examinations in 2000

Setting of question papers for November 2000

Of the 116 question papers, 39 have not yet been received from examiners. 58 question papers received are being prepared for submission to external moderators and 19 have already been submitted for external moderation.

Entries

The provincial department has finalised its plans and time frames for the enrolment of candidates for 2000. The closing dated for entries for the November examinations are as follows:

• 31 January for the full-time candidates and 18 February for part-time candidates.
• The probable date for the commencement of the October/November 2000 Senior Certificate examination is 9 October 2000. Marking must commence on 1 December and be completed on 12 December 2000.
• The results will be released on 28 December 2000.

3.3 Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the geographically small provinces with a high-density population. 628 schools presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 4. 40% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the figure. 23% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. The peak in the range 81 –100 is shows that 35% of the schools obtained a pass rate between 81 to 100%. Overall 39% of the schools in Gauteng have a pass rate which less than 40%, an improvement on 41% in 1998. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Successful schools in 1999 and success factors

One informal settlement school attained 100% pass rate. All other schools that attained 100% were either former Model C schools, exclusive independent schools or religious schools – Catholic and Muslim. For all schools except the informal settlement school, there is a tradition, and an expectation, of success. These schools are well prepared, organised and focused on the task of delivering good Senior Certificate results.

A deeply embedded culture of learning and teaching is essential to success – former-Model C schools that are now well integrated still attain above a 90% pass rate because of a culture of learning and teaching in these schools. Learners attend these schools because they want to be part of a culture of learning and teaching. Schools in townships and informal settlements which attained above 90% did so because of a focused dedication to learning and teaching on the part of, firstly, the principal and also educators, learners, parents and the community.

Discipline and attendance are crucial factors in success. Attendance of workshops/training sessions by educators is relevant to success. Principals at successful schools disseminate all relevant circulars, examination guidelines and reports, and these are studied and applied by educators. Teaching methods, other than rote learning, prepare candidates for the examination.

Properly set and marked examinations of the correct standard throughout the FET phase prepare learners for the challenges of the Senior Certificate examination. Formative assessment, including feedback and corrective measures after examinations have been written, is vital to success. Efficient and effective management of the school and of the Senior Certificate examination process is crucial

Analysis of struggling schools in 1999 and inhibiting factors

In Gauteng, many of the struggling schools are independent schools, which often do not have well qualified and well paid teachers. These schools also do not have access to the input and expertise of the Education Department. Many of these schools are set up by business people who underestimate what is needed and what it costs to provide high-quality education.

Many of the public schools that are struggling to produce good results have large classes and while staff may be able to manage small numbers, they find it impossible to manage over 150 Grade 12 learners.

It was encouraging to see that three out of the four Districts servicing the Soweto area showed improved results in 1999, showing that intervention programmes aimed at assisting Grade 12 educators and learners have an effect. A number of poorly performing schools have been affected by negative staffing situations, including acting appointments and dissension amongst the staff, which detracts from focusing on Senior Certificate successes.

Common examinations across several districts were written in June 1999. This was the first indication that learners were completely unprepared for the Senior Certificate examinations. This led the MEC to establish the Matriculation Intervention Programme (MIP). The programme’s success showed that problems in underachieving schools included a lack of educator competence and confidence in teaching high risk subjects such as Mathematics, Physical Science, Biology and Economic Management Sciences. Underachieving schools did not receive the degree of support and assistance they needed from district teaching and learning personnel, because district personnel have to be, but are not always, experts in their learning areas from Grade 1 to Grade 12. This is made more difficult by a changing education system. District personnel were also over-stretched as they supported Grade 1 & 2 educators, trained Grade 3 & 7 educators and attempted to maintain and give guidance to educators following Report 550.

An analysis of Grade 10 and 11 results shows an alarming increase in the failure rate in Grades 10 and 11 in township and informal settlement schools showing good Senior Certificate results. The response to the fact that an easy passage to Grade 12 leads to high failure rates in Grade 12 has led to an over-reaction in some schools and unacceptably high failure rates in Grades 10 and 11.

Improvement plans for Senior Certificate in 2000

The most important response to struggling schools in Gauteng has been the introduction of the Education Action Zones in which special support and assistance is given to the schools which will be closely monitored. The Matriculation Improvement Programme will run in conjunction with the Education Action Zone and focus particularly on those poorly performing schools that have become part of the Education Action Zones.

The Matriculation Improvement Programme intervention in struggling schools will include the following strategies: Emerging policy to develop an examination culture in schools and to give greater clarity on Grade 10-12 internal examinations (June and year end), Grade 12 trial examination and CASS. This activity will be co-ordinated by the Examinations Directorate.

An intensive INSET programme for Grade 10-12 Mathematics teachers will be introduced. Mathematics literacy, teacher and learner, packs will be provided. The Mathematics programme for Grades 10-12 learners will incorporate Maths videos and complementary workbooks with effective syllabi revision coverage. This activity will be co-ordinated by a specially appointed project manager who will be assisted by district Maths teaching and learning facilitators. Videos and workbooks, e.g. Learning Channel will be used in Grades 10-12 classrooms for other high risk subjects such as English second language, Physical Science, Biology, Accounting and Business Economics. Some of these learning support materials for Grade 12 are available in districts and will be shared among schools. This activity will be co-ordinated by district TLS (Teaching & Learning Service) subject facilitators.

The provision of examination technique and study-skills materials to schools and complementary workshops conducted by districts for teachers and co-ordinated by district facilitators will be introduced. Winter and spring weekend and holiday programmes for learners will be held at venues such as NASREC and co-ordinated by district TLS facilitators.

A monthly cluster forum of the ‘Subject Critical Friends Group’ of teachers will be formed. This forum will allow subject teachers to discuss subject-related issues such as engaging in subject content issues, providing clarity, reporting on the effective use of the available learning support material, its impact as an INSET tool and its impact on the learners. Appropriate forms of remedial activities, reporting and recording learner improvement, diagnosing their own problems, classroom management issues, appropriate skills programmes for themselves and their learners will be addressed. This activity will be co-ordinated by the district TLS and EAS facilitators.

Services to learners that entail career guidance, e.g. subject choices (standard and higher grades) that qualify learner access to a chosen career/profession, university and college requirements, etc. will to be infused at Grade 10 level more intensively. The EAS units in the districts will co-ordinate support desks/forums for learners. This could assume various forms, e.g. a telephone link, a help desk, etc.

District Learning Area Committees (LACs) will provide a forum for Matriculation Improvement Programme issues that involves increased teacher participation in discussion and debate on effective intervention strategies and participation in intervention workshops etc. Provincial LACs that inform and interact closely with district LACs will develop intervention strategies to be applied in Senior Secondary schooling.

A teachers’ Classroom Practice Journal will be developed for Senior Secondary teachers to voice teachers’ experiences of intervention practices in their classrooms effectively. Syllabus pacesetters will be developed and made available to learners, parents, governing bodies and community structures.

Monitoring strategies include school visits by district officials and reports by teachers on syllabi completion at three key checkpoint periods: March, June and September. An instrument to detect that the syllabi have been covered effectively at the three checkpoint periods and that remedial programmes are being offered by teachers will be developed for the various subjects. District reports will be monitored at Head Office. This activity will be co-ordinated by the district TLS facilitators.

Preparedness for the administration of the 2000 Senior Certificate Examination

95% of question papers for Oct/Nov 2000 and Feb/March 2001 have been set, internally moderated and submitted to the Department. 60% of question papers have been typed. 90% of papers have been through the first edit and are ready for external moderation.

Senior Certificate registration forms have been printed and sent to all examination centres. The computerised entry disks have been refined and all districts and regions have been trained on the entry program. Circulars detailing entry requirements, regulations and key dates have been sent to all examination centres. The data bank of all Grade 12 educators from whom markers will be appointed is being updated. A draft timetable has been sent to all centres – starting date for the examination is 16 October 2000. Dates have been set for marking and a tentative date for release of results is 29 December 2000.

Interviews have been held and recommendations have been made for the filling of key vacant posts. The procedure manual for the moderation of oral and practical marks is being revised.

3.4 KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal, the second largest of the provinces, had 1240 schools that presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of schools is shown graphically in Figure 6. 43% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the Figure 5. 26% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. Overall the number of schools that attained less that 40% is 43% compared to 44% in 1998. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Analysis of successful and struggling schools with success and inhibiting factors.

Statistical analysis of the results has been done by the provincial department. Regions have done surveys of conditions and other factors which led to success or failure. The provincial department also commissioned studies by the Universities of Natal and Zululand, through its Trust, to determine factors leading to success or failure in the Grade 12 examinations. These have been received and the recommendations thereof form part of the improvement plan.

Improvement plans for Grade 12 examinations

These have been established region by region and a meeting of district managers and superintendents of education, both management and advisory, has created a provincial thrust. Uniform tests and a common trial examination have been initiated in examination troublesome subject areas for all schools that did not achieve a 50% pass rate in 1999. Very poorly performing schools have held meetings with their stakeholders and have had to report to the department on why their senior secondary grades should not be closed.

3.5 Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga has 378 schools that presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 7. 45% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the Figure 6. 32% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. Overall 45% of the schools attained a pass rate that is less than 40% compared to 38% in 1998. An analysis of figures in this province has to take into account the examination debacle in 1998. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province.

Analysis of struggling schools

Schools that obtained less than 20% have been identified. The province has not yet identified inhibiting factors. These schools will be visited on a regular basis by curriculum implementers. Analysis, which will reveal plans to be undertaken, will be conducted together with the teachers.

Analysis of successful schools

An analysis of successful schools has been made but the success factors have not been determined, largely owing to a shortage of human resources and expertise. Successful schools are encouraged to establish relationships with struggling schools.

Improvement plans

The province plans to increase learner performance in the coming examinations by adopting the following activities:

• Encourage and assist schools to re-arrange their timetables and tune into Liberty Life Learning Channel programmes for English, Mathematics, Physical Science and Biology
• Adopt all schools where the overall pass rate is below 20% and assign a Head Office curriculum specialist to work with the schools on the whole improvement programme
• Do a thorough analysis of problem areas per subject according to performance in the 1999 exam and run an intervention programme for Grades 11 and 12
• Compile and supply at least one study guide per subject per school with clear guidelines for teachers on how to improve learner performance
• Cluster schools, identify leader-teachers and train them for sustained support and development
• Setup provincial subject committees to develop guides and strategies for educators on improving teaching of the subject
• Provide learners with summaries of the sylllabi so that they should be aware of examination needs
• Circuit offices will conduct workshop for principals and for management teams so that they are able to manage schools effectively

• Schools will submit quarterly reports to circuit offices reflecting monthly tests of learners. Schools will be motivated to conduct winter schools for Grade 12 learners
• Design a monitoring instrument to monitor progress and performance, and diagnose problems at an early stage.

3.6 Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the geographically the largest the province but is sparsely populated. A total of 107 schools presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 8. 22% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the Figure 3.6. 15% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. The remaining 78% schools obtained a pass rate above 50%. Of the successful schools 44% obtained a pass rate between 81 to 100%. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Success factors

Good management by school management teams and good teaching practice on the part of educators contribute to the success of a school.. Educators that are trained/qualified with good subject administration including the management of subject files, internal moderation, regular testing, examinations, scheme of work, pace setters and syllabi ensure success. Good resources and motivation among learners and educators alike are important.

Inhibiting factors

The absence of the success factors mentioned above inhibits performance. Insufficient guidance regarding subject choices and grades causes schools to perform poorly.

Improvement plans

The provincial department is currently conducting an in-depth study to determine why some schools perform poorly and why learners perform poorly in some subjects. Intervention will include appropriate sections of the department, professional services, top management of schools, educators and learners.

Professional services

A meeting will be held to afford heads of regions, circuit managers and learning area managers the opportunity to discuss and analyse results. The Department will announce its intervention programme for every region at this meeting. Each region will be required to submit its own programme of action. Learning area managers will have to submit reports on poor performance in certain subjects. Every learning area manager will have to develop a programme of action, and regular progress reports will be required. Departmental training of heads of regions, circuit managers and learning area managers will include the following:

• Empowerment of trainers/facilitators;
• Moderation of oral and practical work, and continuous assessment;
• Visits to schools and means of monitoring.

Top management of schools

Trainers/facilitators will each be allocated a school for intervention purposes. They will look at school management, the timetable, training/empowerment of educators and discipline. The school’s results will be analysed in depth and the top management of the school will compile a programme of action in collaboration with the trainer/facilitator.

Educators

Letters of congratulation will be sent to all educators with a pass rate of 80% and higher. Letters will also be written to educators with pass rates of lower than 50%. These educators will be expected to submit quarterly planning and reports, submit all tests, examinations and memoranda, attend a compulsory empowerment session during the March holidays. The department will conduct class visits and regular monitoring.

Learners

The department intends assisting learners by arranging study venues and extra help with studies; improving study methods, arranging feeding programmes and Spring and Winter schools.

3.7 Northern Province

The Northern Province, the largest of the provinces, had 1240 schools that presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 8. 62 % of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40%. 38% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. Overall there has been a significant improvement in the performance of schools in the province, with the number of schools attaining a pass rate of less than 40% decreasing from 66% in 1998 to 61% in 1999. Figure 8 shows an increase in the schools attaining a pass rate above 40% from 34% in 1998 to 39% in 1999. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Analysis of successful schools in 1999 and success factors.

Top schools in the province obtained a pass percentage between 95% to 100%. The majority of them were found to be the historically disadvantaged schools. The situation repeated itself when the province analysed the performance of schools between 84% to 94% pass rates.. This is an indication that it is not only the resources that matter, but also the commitment and dedication of those involved in educational change. Although former model C schools still obtained the most distinctions, they reflect a decline in terms of the quality of results.

Success factors

The success factors include the following:

• the availability of action plans geared to the attainment of the set targets.
• work programmes which interpret the syllabi are available.
• guidance and counselling support for learners.
• evaluation report for both learners and educators.
• strong management teams.
• quality and quantity of written work.
• control systems for both administrative and professional matters.
• commitment of educators, learners and the parent body to achieve excellence. Once high standards have been set, the expectations created drive all stakeholders to enhance their achievements further.
• good discipline is a distinguishing factor at all top schools.
• extra classes offered for enrichment.

Analysis of struggling schools in 1999 and inhibiting factors.

Struggling schools are found all over and not restricted to a particular geographical area. There are schools that operate without plans and which the communities do not own as their projects. As a result the quality of education suffers. The work ethic is low and there is a lack of responsibility and accountability.

The inhibiting factors include the following:

• the principal and some educators are not at school for the most of the time.
• the principal is not doing his responsibilities as agreed in the ELRC.
• the SGB does not contribute anything towards management of the school.
• lack of discipline at the school.
• educators do not finish syllabi, and go to classes unprepared and read the lesson from a textbook.
• quality and quantity of written work is very poor.
• absence of control systems.
• the 7-hour school day is not fully utilised.
• there is no management at all and no benchmarks set to realise the targets.

The improvement plans should address all aspects of whole-school development rather than be confined to a particular grade. Grade 12 is seen as an exit point where efforts accumulated throughout the system could be objectively assessed. The following plans and strategies have been developed so as to improve the past performance of 1999.

Schools have been grouped into categories according to performance so as to provide support relevant to the critical areas, and in a systematic manner. The categories range between 0-20%, which the provincial department views as critical, followed by 21% - 30% and finally 31% - 39%. An analysis has been made of the weaknesses of these categories of schools. Regional and district offices have development intervention strategies ranging from management support to general planning for the schools affected. Clustering or twinning of weaker schools with good performing schools in each circuit has been done and planning of tests and other curricula issues are done jointly.

Subject committees have been resuscitated to provide the necessary support. Principals of schools will submit monthly evaluation reports for both educators and learners. District offices will support principals and assist in building their capacity in the management and control. In addition, provincial head office officials will be deployed to support poorly managed schools with both administrative and professional matters. Schools visits focusing on developed checklists will be conducted by the department as a supporting strategy rather than as routine work.

Each region has a continuous professional development centre (rationalised college of education) which will primarily target the improvement of Grade 12 results in that region. Curriculum support services (subject advisors) are located there to run courses and visit needy schools. Saturday/weekend classes will be conducted in all schools that need support, with an emphasis on Maths, Science, Biology, English, Accounting, Economics and Business Economics. This extra tuition is supported by the PRF.

Work programmes for Grade 12 subjects covering 75% of the syllabi were distributed to schools in January 2000 with the view of writing trial examinations by June 2000. Schools are compelled to finish the scope of the syllabus before writing the trial examination. The department will also arrange winter enrichment classes for Grade 12. The MEC and Superintendent-General will visit schools to motivate learners and educators.

A full scale school management team (SMT) training programme for 2000 has been finalised targeting the poorly performing schools. District offices are offering guidance, to Grade 12 learners, the proper choice of subjects rather than entering unlimited higher grade subjects. Class visits by principals have been restored in the system and preparation of lessons is a prerequisite to effective lesson delivery. Common assessment is a provincial policy in all grades outside Curriculum 2005 guidelines.

State of Preparedness for the administrations of Grade 12 2000 examinations

The management plan has been developed. The Provincial department expects examination registration entries on 17 March 2000.

Grapevine personnel, the personnel agency that won the tender, will capture examination registration data from 21 March 2000. Grapevine Personnel will also capture oral marks, practical marks and mark-sheets. The October/November Senior Certificate examination timetable will be out by August 2000.

3.8 NORTH WEST

The North West is one of the small provinces. It had 356 schools that presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 9. 37% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the figure. 28% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. The remaining 72% schools obtained a pass rate above 40%. Of the successful schools 44% obtained a pass rate between 81 to 100%. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Intervention strategy for Grade 12 trapped schools in the North West province in 2000

The past two years have witnessed overall attempts by the North West Department of Education to assist trapped schools – schools obtaining below 45% pass in the previous year’s matriculation examination. Since 1997, the Directorate of the provincial department has drawn up a detailed analysis of the matriculation results, capturing the necessary data to its fullest and have seeking professional assistance expertise to ensure improvement of the results. These proactive measures during 1998 and 1999 have been all the more meaningful with the intervention strategy for trapped schools.

The reports and data indicate evidence of success where the intervention strategies have been seriously applied and controlled. In 1998, only 30 schools were identified since it was the first year of implementation and the strategy had been developed late in the year. In 1999, a total of 117 schools were identified with a pass rate of below 45%. In the year 2000, the number has increased to 140. One must bear in mind that during 1996 to 1999 there has been a total increase of 59 Grade 12 examination centres in the North West Province.

In addition, the drop of 2,5% pass rate in the province will obviously impact on the number of trapped schools. The North West Education Department must now unite contemplation with observable, concrete action for in the harmony of the two lies the solutions to the problems of trapped schools.

Analysis of the 1999 trapped schools’ performance

Of the 117 trapped schools, 64 (54,7%) improved their results while 53 (45,3%) of the schools did not seem to have benefited from the Intervention Strategy.

Those schools that registered an improvement of approximately 10% must be commended for their promising performance. Provincially, Rustenburg District has emerged as a top-performing district in terms of improvement of results for trapped schools, with Temba District a close second.

From the statistics, it is evident that many schools benefited from the intervention strategies implemented by the North West Education Department during 1999. Of the 117 trapped schools serviced, 38 achieved the target of an increase of 10% + pass rate. Whereas 9 schools showed an increased pass percentage of more than 25%, 3 schools’ pass percentages decreased by more than 25%. Of these, one is an academy, which only entered 5 candidates for the Grade 12 Examination. All five candidates failed.

Evaluation of 1999 results

The reasons why the intervention strategy was successful in the trapped schools in some districts are:

• the advantages of clustering schools
• motivational talks by Provincial and District officials
• appointment of staff in vacant posts (schools with their full staff complement did exceptionally well).
• involvement of principals from non-trapped schools in assisting principals from trapped schools in issues such as management.
• Saturday/winter/spring schools were enthusiastically supported in some districts.
• parental involvement
• the generous contribution of private donors or sponsors in some districts (e.g. Rustenburg) to improve Grade 12 results. Contributions were in the form of financial donations, providing materials for workshops, running workshops themselves etc.
• trial examination papers, which were set by Subject Advisors or experienced educators.

Factors which hampered progress in trapped schools in certain districts

Despite the successes achieved in some districts, some schools in other districts seemed to have benefited only marginally or not al all from the implementation of intervention strategies. A number of reasons were given to explain the lack of success:

The absence of Subject Advisors in some districts was cited. Three of the four worst performing districts in the North West Province are without Subject Advisors. Although trapped schools in these districts have been serviced by Subject Advisors from neighbouring districts, the distances they had to travel and big volumes of work became too big a burden and eventually impacted negatively on the results of certain trapped schools.

New schools are often platooning schools that do not function for the required 5½ hours per day. Many trapped schools only teach for 4 hours per day. Many new schools obtain their numbers by admitting repeaters from neighbouring schools. Some schools still attempt to function with incapable teachers and managers.

Community involvement is very low or non-existent. This is accompanied also by negative attitudes and a lack of co-operation from some of the educational officials. In some districts, the burden of improving results was carried by Subject Advisors alone. The monitoring of trapped schools proved to be inefficient. A new monitoring structure will be put in place for year 2000.

Plan of action for the year 2000

The plan will again be implemented in six phases:

Phase 1: (Identification and Analysis)

Hundred and forty (140) schools with the poorest performances in the Province (below 45% pass rate) have been are identified and an analysis must be done as to why their performances were below expectations (demographic reasons, lack of human resources, shortages of materials, etc. 

Phase 2 (Negotiations and Planning)

Meetings must be called at which all stakeholders (Curriculum Developers, Subject Advisors, Union Representatives, principals, educators, learners and parents) make an input about the real reasons for the poor performance of a specific school, and possible recommendations must be found to establish a workable solution to improve performances (partnership, transparency, ownership).

Phase 3: (Implementation)

The implementation of the plan will rest heavily on the management of human and physical resources. Curriculum Developers and Subject Advisors will provide professional assistance (school visits, workshops, past examination papers, etc.), while physical support will be rendered by Circuit Managers (textbooks, stationery, servicing of typewriters, laboratory equipment, etc.)

Phase 4: (Monitoring)

Monitoring Teams will visit identified schools on a regular basis for quality assurance purposes. Monitoring of progress of trapped schools will be done by two monitoring teams, namely:

• A District Monitoring Team, consisting of the District Co-ordinator, Circuit Manager, members of Auxiliary Service and Subject Advisors. They will, as a team where possible, visit trapped schools on a regular basis to control pacesetters issued by Subject Advisors for each subject (see addendum B) and whether commitments made in the Social Contract by principals is adhered to.

• A Mega-district Monitoring Team will be established. It will comprise senior officials from Subject Advisory Services and Curriculum Developers, which will visit trapped schools to monitor whether District Monitoring Teams are fully functional and that commitment levels remain positive.

Phase 5: (Evaluation)

At the end of the third term, a proper evaluation will be done. After having written preparatory examination papers (controlled by Subject Advisors), a comparison with previous performances will be done.

Phase 6: (Re-structuring the plan)

With evaluation results available, a re-structuring of the plan can be done, involving once again all stakeholders who participated in Phase 2.

Time frames

Phase 1 - Completed
Phase 2 - January 2000
Phase 3 - From the beginning of academic year (ongoing)
Phase 4 - Continuous
Phase 5 - End of August/September
Phase 6 - Beginning of 2001

Considerations

• To establish proper communication channels between Circuit Officers (responsible for the management of physical resources) and Curriculum Developers and Subject Advisory Services (responsible for professional assistance).
• To take into consideration the availability of transport when planning the implementation of the plan of action
• To effect the clustering of schools at the soonest possible opportunity to enhance the management and administrative capacity in schools
• To guard against neglecting professional assistance to the other schools which sit for Grade 12 examinations in the North West Province in November 2000.
• To upgrade the monitoring system to ensure that targets set are realised within set deadlines.

3.9 WESTERN CAPE

The Western Cape had 107 schools that presented candidates for the 1999 Senior Certificate examination. The performance of the schools is shown graphically in Figure 11. 9% of the schools had a pass rate of less than 40% distributed as shown in the figure. 7% of these schools obtained pass rates between 21 and 40%. The remaining 91% schools obtained a pass rate above 40%. Of the successful schools 65% obtained a pass rate between 81 to 100%. There has been no significant change in the performance of the schools in the province. The report of the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Education cites the following factors which influence the pass rates in the province:

Analysis of successful schools in 1999 and success factors

Factors involved in success stories are:

• Good governance and good management at the schools with attendant monitoring of learner achievements and teacher involvement.
• Great interest shown by the parents in the education of their children.
• Often the schools are well-resourced, which by and large flows from interest shown by parents. There are, however, many schools with limited resources which have good results – these limited resources are used effectively. For example, Atlantis is an industrial area with a high unemployment rate and so there are limited resources at the schools, but all four schools in that area had pass rates higher than 80% and two were higher than 90%.
• Teachers take an interest in their learners and make every endeavour to be on top of their subjects and the presentation thereof.

Analysis of struggling schools in 1999 and inhibiting factors.

• Learners at all except three schools with a less than 40% pass rate are Xhosa First Language speakers. At two of these three schools the majority of the candidates are Xhosa First Language speakers (70% and 57%). This raises the problem of the effect on candidates writing their examination in a second language, although some cope well.
• Poor management and little monitoring of both teachers and learners, which show in many disciplinary problems having to be handled.
• High rates of absenteeism of learners and teachers without adequate follow-up procedures.
• The previous point is indicative of the problem of a lack of a culture of learning and teaching.
• Many of the teachers are poorly qualified and hence do not have sufficient subject background knowledge to extend the learning experience of their learners. Incentives to study further need to be enhanced.
• Many of schools are under-resourced.
• In 1999 the Subject Advisory Service was only able to provide support for Grade 12 learners for two months at the beginning of the year. The rest of the year was taken up with training Grade 3 and 7 teachers for C2005.

Improvement plans for Senior Certificate examinations in 2000

The 65 schools that obtained a pass rate of 60% are being especially targeted for intervention. The Subject Advisors held workshops in November 1999 and January 2000 to discuss Generic and Subject strategies and to develop quality indicators for good practice. As a whole-school approach is the ideal, framework strategies that are designed are going to all Area Managers and Circuit managers to manage and monitor the intervention strategies at micro level in collaboration with Subject Advisors and schools.

There is to be continual reporting. Reporting must be accurate so that a true reflection of the state of affairs can be reported to the WCED. In this work, the approach must be developmental and not judgmental. Guidelines have been drawn up for continuous assessment. It must be ensured that these guidelines are clear, for example mark allocations are specific, and that educators are trained in their implementation. Guides relating to grade selection (remembering endorsement requirements) and examination skills required in each subject on the lines of the Mathematics guide produced by the Subject Advisory service, are being drawn up.

Subject Advisors are to give schools guidance with respect to trial examinations and common examinations amongst schools in Grades 10 and 11. This must be done especially for the 65 underachieving schools. Programmes are being recorded daily from the Learning Support Channel and Subject Advisors are investigating the best ways to introduce this material in classroom practice. The Cape Argus has drawn up a year planner in collaboration with the Subject Advisory Service. Subject Advisors will be monitoring its dissemination in schools and advocating its use. Regular meetings are being held by the Principal Subject Advisors to monitor progress with the above-mentioned ideas.

The national Department of Education established a National Monitoring Forum (NMF) comprising representatives from the Interprovincial Examinations Committee (IPEC), Teacher Unions and the provincial co-ordinators. Two monitoring teams from the Department of Education visited all nine provinces during February/March 2000. The visit included interviews/discussions with provincial officials; district officials and visits to a small sample of the under-performing schools i.e. schools that obtained a pass rate of below 20% in the 1999 examination. The objective of this first round of visits was to establish whether the improvement plans of the Senior Certificates are getting off the ground.

The preliminary findings of the Monitoring Team based on visits to a small sample of schools, approximately 45, are as follows)

The supplementary examinations are administered by all provincial examining bodies to allow candidates that were unable to write the November examination, due to ill- health, other unforeseen circumstances or candidates that require either one or two subjects to obtain a Senior Certificate or a matriculation exemption an opportunity to write the examination. This examination will be written by approximately 60 000 candidates.

In eight of the nine provinces, KwaZulu-Natal excluded, the supplementary examination commenced towards the end of February and concluded towards the end of March, with the results being released in April 2000. However, in KwaZulu-Natal, the supplementary examination will commence on 15 May 2000 and will conclude on 6 June 2000 and the results will be released on 28 July 2000. In all the provinces the results are released too late to allow candidates entry into Higher Education, based on their revised results except in cases where Higher Education institutions provisionally accept candidates pending the outcome of the supplementary examination. The future of the supplementary examinations will be reviewed by the Inter-provincial Examinations Committee and the following three options will be considered:

• Reduce the supplementary examination by imposing further restrictions on admission to the supplementary examination.
• Administer a supplementary examination only for those candidates who are unable to write the November examination due to illness or some other unforeseen circumstances.
• Abolish the supplementary examination and use the year mark to assess candidates that are unable to write the November examination.

In the eight provinces that have already completed the 2000 supplementary examination, the examination has been successfully administered, except for the disruption caused by the flooding in the Northern Province. 483 candidates were not able to write the supplementary examination in three papers. A special dispensation is being allowed for these candidates to write these papers in May 2000. Question papers for these candidates will be obtained from the KwaZulu Natal Education Department.

In all provinces the action plan for the administration of the 2000 Senior Certificate examination is in place. Question papers are currently being finalised by the examiners and the internal moderators and some of these papers have already been externally moderated. All question papers will be finalised and ready for printing by June 2000. The tentative programme for the 2000 Senior Certificate examination is outlined in Table 3.3.

Table 3.3 Tentative programme for the 2000 Senior Certificate Examinations