THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 1999 SENIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION

The provincial education departments are responsible for matters related to the implementation of policy in the General and Further Education bands. Conducting examinations is therefore a provincial responsibility. The national Department of Education is not directly involved in the administration of examinations but is responsible for the formulation of policy and the maintenance of national standards in the implementation of these policies.

This report focuses on the administration of the 1999 Senior Certificate examinations detailing the following:

• Staff Establishment in the Examination Directorates
• Senior Certificate Enrollment Statistics
• Preparation for the Administration of the Senior Certificate examinations
• Conduct of the Examinations
• The Marking Process
• Capture and Processing of Marks
• Standardisation Process and Release of Results
• Continuous Assessment/Year Mark
• Supplementary Examinations
• Cost of Examinations
• Evaluation of the Examination System

In the last three years the national and provincial departments have implemented various strategies to improve the administration of the Senior Certificate Examinations. These include:

• The establishment of the Inter-provincial Examinations Committee (IPEC)
• The development of the National Policy on the Conduct of the Senior Certificate Examinations.
• Regular monitoring of the implementation of the senior certificate examinations by the national Department of Education.

2. STAFF ESTABLISHMENT IN THE EXAMINATION DIRECTORATES/SUB-DIRECTORATES

2.1. STAFF COMPOSITION

Table 1 represents a summary of the staff composition in the examination units of the provincial education departments.

There appears to be a serious shortage of staff in the provincial education departments. Only two of the provincial education departments, i.e. the Western Cape and the Northern Cape have their full staff complement. At least three of the provincial education departments, i.e. Northern Province, Mpumalanga and North West are working with half their staff complement. The other provinces are working with between 60% and 80% of their staff.

Table 1: Summary of the Staff Composition in the Examination Units of the Provincial Education Departments.

Departments

* The staff complement in the North West province includes the Curriculum and Examination Units.

The shortage of staff creates tremendous strain on existing staff who in certain cases are expected to work long hours in order to meet deadlines. In KwaZulu-Natal, although they have almost 96% of their staff complement, 57% of their staff are seconded. This situation is not suitable for an Examination Directorate where stability is vital. Most of the provinces have quoted financial constraints as the reason for not filling the vacant posts.

3. SENIOR CERTIFICATE ENROLMENT STATISTICS

3.1. SENIOR CERTIFICATE ENROLMENTS

Table 2 represents the full-time and part-time enrolments of all nine provinces for the 1998 and 1999 Senior Certificate examinations respectively.

Table 2: Full-time and part-time enrolments of all nine provinces for the 1998 and 1999 Senior Certificate examinations respectively

In seven of the nine provinces there has been a decrease in the 1999 full-time enrollment when compared to 1998. In the Eastern and Western Cape there has been an increase in the enrollment of full-time candidates. In all the provinces, except Mpumalanga there is a decrease in the enrollment of part-time candidates when compared to 1998. Nationally there has been a 4,9% decrease in the full-time enrollment i.e. 28 247 fewer candidates sat for the senior certificate this year.

In terms of subject and grade changes, five of the provinces have indicated that there is a decrease in the number of candidates entering certain key subjects, i.e. Mathematics, Physical science, Biology, History and Accounting. The following is an example of some of the changes:

Gauteng

• decrease of 28% in the Higher Grade enrollments in Mathematics
• decrease of 40% in the Higher Grade Biology enrollment
• decrease of 30% in the History Higher Grade enrollment

Western Cape

• decrease of 7% in the History Higher Grade enrollment
• decrease of 6% in the Biology Higher-Grade enrollment.

The above changes relate in the main to a change from Higher to Standard Grade and in most cases it implies an increase in the standard grade enrollments in these subjects. In at least three provinces, i.e. Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, and Western Cape there has been a decrease in the number of candidates enrolling for Biblical Studies. This could mean that learners are beginning to make more meaningful subject choices and are more realistic about the Grade on which the subject is written.

4. PREPARATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SENIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS

Table 3 below represents the responses of the provincial education departments to the management of certain key processes in the examination cycle. The responses of the provincial education departments are recorded on a three-point scale, i.e. poorly managed (i.e. a number of problems were experienced); fairly managed (a few minor problems were experienced) or well managed (no problems experienced). The figures in the columns below represent the number of provincial departments that responded to the particular statement in terms of the above scale.

Table 3: Responses of provincial education departments to the management of certain key processes in the examination cycle

Most of the provinces managed the majority of the key processes in the examination cycle well. Over the last three years there has been a progressive improvement in the administration of the Senior Certificate examinations.

However, two of the provinces (EC, NW) indicated that they experienced problems with the typing and editing of question papers. The lack of appointed editors in these provinces has contributed to this problem. Provinces experienced minor problems in the following areas:

• Timely submission of question papers to the internal and external moderators.
• Quality of the training of invigilators
• Authenticity of information submitted by prospective markers.
• Condition of marking centres.
• Timely capture of oral, practical and year marks.
• Security at examination centres.

The details of some of the problems experienced by the provincial education departments and the remedial measures adopted are listed below:

Northern Province

• A few question papers, i.e. Biology HG, Additional Mathematics and Afrikaans Second Language HG were rejected by the External Moderators because of the unacceptable standard of the question papers.
• Question papers had too many errata. The Department will have to attend to the poor typing and proofreading by appointing qualified editors.
• Some of the Colleges of Education that are to be used as marking centres were in a bad state and required extensive repair. Funds had to be found to attend to these repairs before the marking commenced.

North West Province

• Editor/Translator posts have been vacant since 1996 because of a moratorium on the filling of vacancies placed by the Provincial Government.
• Short supply of question papers to particular examination centres.

Gauteng

• Private candidates do not register on time. Due to the lack of guidance they register for wrong subjects and on incorrect grades.
• Changes of grade, especially by full-time candidates, as late as September meant that printing and packing figures for question papers could be incorrect.

Free State

• Distance Education institutions register students for the examination throughout the course of the year. Wrong registration closing dates are given to students.
• A number of full-time candidates were not registered for the examination due to errors committed by school managers.

KwaZulu-Natal

• Problems encountered with the typing of question papers arising from the vacant typing posts. Typists had to be seconded to the Examinations Unit.
• Poor infrastructure in the province e.g. roads, creates problems for the delivery of question papers particularly during inclement weather.
• The condition of school buildings particularly in the rural areas and the lack of adequate strong room facilities makes it impossible to store scripts at schools prior to them being collected by the District Office.

Eastern Cape

• Delay in the adjudication by the Tender Board resulted in a delay in the provision of answer books. As a result higher-grade answer books had to be used for some of the standard grade question papers.
• The capture of oral and practical marks was delayed because of logistical problems in districts.

Northern Cape

• Some examiners and moderators were appointed without signing a contract with the Department.
• Late registration by Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) centres was the major problem experienced.
• Late submission of question papers by examiners and moderators has been a problem.
• Principals were not satisfied with teachers invigilating. Invigilators must be trained properly. School Governing Bodies (SGBs) appointed private invigilators where schools could not cope because of the shortage of personnel.

Western Cape

• Examiners submitted question papers without moderators having seen them. Procedures for the new cycle will be changed.
• Adequate storage space for examination question papers is not available at schools.
• There is still a need for additional training of invigilators as mistakes are still picked up at examination venues.

The above problems are not major problems and will be attended to as part of the ongoing refinement and improvement of the examinations. The Inter-provincial Examinations Committee (IPEC) will convene early next year to discuss these problems and to put remedial measures in place. In the interim the provincial departments will be monitored by the national Department to ensure that these problems are given proper attention.

5. CONDUCT OF THE EXAMINATIONS

5.1. Examination Centres

Five of the provinces i.e. Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West and the Northern Province indicated that not all their institutions are fully equipped to conduct the examinations. Special mention was made of schools in the rural areas that lack proper facilities. In the Free State, it was indicated that in certain cases dilapidated buildings are used as examination venues.

However, provincial departments have authorised schools to use community facilities, e.g. community halls if the facilities at the schools are not appropriate. There was also the problem of ABET centres in the North West province that did not have adequate furniture.

Direct communication with examination centres is a problem in certain provinces, especially with those located in the rural areas where telecommunication facilities are inadequate. Provincial departments have overcome these communication problems through a network system established, via the regional, district and area offices.

5.2. Invigilation

In all the provinces, except the Western Cape, educators at school are responsible for invigilation as part of their teaching responsibilities. In the Western Cape, private invigilators are appointed to conduct the examinations at schools. In the other provinces private invigilators are appointed to assist with private candidates. In Gauteng, due to the poor standard of invigilation at some of the inner city independent schools, private invigilators are appointed.

5.3. Monitoring of the Examinations

All provinces have monitoring teams in place to monitor the writing of the examination and the marking process. These teams are operational at provincial, regional and district level. There are also monitoring teams from the national Department of Education and from the South African Certification Council (SAFCERT).

5.4. Irregularities encountered with the writing of the Examination

The problems encountered by most provinces were of a minor nature relating to shortages of question papers at certain centres, change of grades by candidates, errata to questions, etc. Most of these problems were of such a nature that they could be resolved at school level.

The serious problems included the following:

• The theft of the Mathematics Standard Grade paper from Hector Peterson High School in Kraaifontein in the Western Cape. This matter was immediately reported to the police and two arrests were made shortly thereafter. One of the persons arrested is the principal of the school.
• Two "ghost candidates" were arrested at an Adult Learning Centre in KwaZulu Natal. The matter is being investigated further.
• In the Eastern Cape there was a problem with the packaging of the Fitting and Turning question paper. Empty envelopes were sent to certain centres. This problem was solved by the question papers being faxed and photocopies made.
• The invigilation team at Bolofo Adult Centre in the Eastern Cape refused to invigilate as they had not been remunerated for their services in 1998.
• At the Jericho West circuit office in the North West province the strong room could not be opened. The papers arrived late at the schools and the examination began at 11:30.
• In the Mpumalanga province the Mathematics Higher-Grade paper was attached to the seesaw paper. The Mathematics paper was not compromised.
• In Gauteng a wrong pack of papers was delivered to the examination center. This was returned to the district office, without being opened.
• In the Northern Province the Business Economics question paper was found with the Braille papers. The Business Economics paper was replaced.

A comprehensive list of all the irregularities reported to the national Department of Education is as follows:

WESTERN CAPE

• On 27 October 1999 one school received a bomb threat which was dealt with as per departmental contingency plan. The examination was not compromised in any way.
• On 2 November 1999 it was reported that the Mathematics SG paper that had been written on 1 November 1999 had been offered for sale to some of the candidates at the Hector Peterson High School in Kraaifontein. The matter was reported to the police for investigation. On 11 November 1999 the seller handed himself over to the police and later that afternoon the principal of the school was arrested. All indications thus far confirm that the leakage was confined to only the school mentioned.
• Minor errata were reported in the Business Economics HG and SG papers.

NORTHERN CAPE

• The Principal at the Pabello Secondary, Upington, was replaced as Chief Invigilator with a Circuit Manager. The Principal failed to execute his responsibilities as prescribed by the provincial department.
• On 2 November two candidates were caught copying. This was dealt with according to the National Policy on Examinations.
• Minor errata were reported in some of the question papers, e.g. Travel and Tourism. Steps will be taken to eradicate this.
• During the writing of History (Paper 2) two pupils, who were under the influence of alcohol, were disruptive. One was calmed down and he completed the paper and the other pupil was not allowed to write any further as a disciplinary measure.

FREE STATE

• Accommodation at some of the schools was a problem. Facilities were being shared.
• At Oranje Girls´ School one of the candidates did not submit her script for Physical Science HG (Paper 2) at the end of the examination session. The candidate´s mother found the script and returned it to the school. The District Manager is investigating this incident.
• An error was found in the Mathematics HG paper written on 20 October 1999. Markers will accommodate this problem without disadvantaging the candidates.

EASTERN CAPE

• Two youths were arrested for breaking into the Port Elizabeth regional office. Fortunately no question papers were stolen since all the papers were locked up in the safe.
• At Mount Fletcher the invigilators arrived late for an examination. Reports have been requested.
• At a school in the rural area of the western region the Physical Science Paper 1 arrived nearly two hours late. Officials who were responsible for transporting the papers had erroneously not included the question papers of this school. As no contact had been made with other candidates who had started on time, the examination was not compromised. Candidates were allowed the full duration of the paper.
• A teacher in the central region assisted candidates during examinations. The incident has been reported to the relevant officials. Reports have been requested and thereafter a full investigation into the irregularity will take place.

KWAZULU-NATAL

• Due to inclement weather, some areas experienced problems with the delivery of papers. With the assistance of the Defence Force and the Police Services examinations proceeded as planned.

MPUMALANGA

• On Friday, 15 October 1999 a Mathematics HG paper, (Afrikaans version) was found in the siSwati pack. The District Official was informed and this was brought to the attention of the provincial office. It would appear that this matter is restricted to the one school only.
• There have been problems with private candidates who fail to submit positive identification.

NORTHERN PROVINCE

• The lack of appointed editors resulted in errata in some of the question papers
• At the Lehlabile High School, the principal withdrew 18 candidates, without consultation, from the schedule of entries. On the day of the examination, he provided these candidates with photocopied question papers and kept their scripts at the school. Eventually candidates became suspicious and disrupted the Sepedi examinations causing all 119 candidates not to write. The Regional Director visited the school and after investigations and consultation with the regional office, registered the 18 candidates and allowed them to write the rest of the examination. Question papers have also been sent to the school. The Regional Director has recommended that the principal be charged with misconduct.
• The Business Economics SG paper was withdrawn and a new question paperprinted and delivered to the regions. This was after a copy of the question paper was found amongst the Braille English Second Language P2 question papers. Reports also indicate that the paper did not leak.

GAUTENG

• A few minor typographical errors which were detected on a few papers, will be dealt with by the markers ensuring that no candidate is disadvantaged.
• Two reports were received alleging that schools were in possession of papers before the examinations. Investigations proved this untrue. In both cases they were the November 1998 papers.
• One typographical error was reported on the Mathematics HG paper. This will be dealt with by markers, ensuring that no candidate is disadvantaged.
• On Wednesday 03 November 1999 a seTswana 2nd Language paper, which was to be written the next day, was found amongst the Physical Science papers at an Afrikaans medium school. Invigilators discovered this error before papers had been handed out to the candidates. It was sealed and sent back to the district office.
• A district delivered a box of papers for Wednesday's examination on Monday. The box was immediately returned.
• On Monday 22 November 1999 a candidate who was not writing that day confronted a fellow candidate before the examination. This resulted in the candidate fatally shooting a fellow learner. The District Director was called to the school to assist. He gave the candidates the option of writing or sitting for the supplementary examination. Although, initially, only two or three candidates opted to write the supplementary examination other candidates have since indicated that they would like the opportunity to write the supplementary examination. Arrangements will be made for these candidates to write the supplementary examination.

NORTH WEST

• There is a problem with the identification of candidates at the ABET centres. Candidates do not arrive with their ID documents which is prescribed.
• Some ABET centres have employed invigilators with only a Senior Certificate qualification instead of unemployed teachers or proven community leaders as directed.
• One paper had one mistake which was attended to without disadvantaging the candidates.
• There seems to be a problem with candidates arriving late to sit for their examination.

All the irregularities will be handled by the Irregularities Committee established in each province for this purpose. The National Policy on the Conduct of the Senior Certificate examinations provides clear guidelines to provincial education departments on the handling of these irregularities.

It however needs to be noted that due to the swift response of the provincial officials, the above irregularities have not compromised the integrity of the examination as a whole.

5.5. Security at Regional Offices, District Offices and Examination Centres.

The security at the examination centres is poor and therefore all provinces except the Western Cape store question papers at Regional and District offices. Question papers are delivered to the examination centres on a daily basis. In the Western Cape schools have adequate strong room facilities for the storage of question papers are stored at schools. The Western Cape also delivers question papers to certain examination centres, where there are no strong room facilities, on the morning of the examination.

In the other provinces security at the regional and district offices have been improved by employing security guards on 24-hour duty. In some of the provinces the SAPS have inspected the security at these offices. Two of the provinces, i.e. Eastern Cape and North West province, have indicated that there is room for improvement in this area.

5.6. Return of Scripts

Except in the case of the Western Cape, scripts are returned to the district office or a storage point on a daily basis. From the district office or the storage point each province has its own programme for the collection of scripts. In the Western Cape scripts are collected from the schools at least three times per week.

6. MARKING PROCESS

Table 4 provides some information on the marking process in each of the nine provinces.

Table 4: Information on the marking process in each of the nine provinces

Gauteng uses the staggered marking approach, where marking commences immediately after the paper is written. Each marking centre is therefore used for four marking sessions. The duration of each marking session in Gauteng is reduced to an average of four days (compared to ten days in the other provinces) and therefore a larger number of markers are used in this province

6.1. Appointment of Markers

Prospective markers complete application forms which are verified by the school principal and the district office in certain provinces. A panel constituted in terms of the national policy on examinations then selects the markers. The criteria used for the selection of these markers are also prescribed in the national policy on examinations. Provision is made for novice markers and for representivity (i.e. gender and race).

6.2. Training of Markers

In all the provinces the Chief Markers trains the markers. This is normally done a day before the marking process begins. The training session includes a detailed discussion of the marking memorandum, a discussion of the application of the marking memorandum and other marking procedures.

6.3. Quality Control Measures

In order to ensure the quality of marking, a team of seven markers work under the supervision of a senior marker. Seven senior markers work under the supervision of a chief marker. If the number of senior markers exceeds seven, then Deputy Chief Markers are appointed to supervise the work of the Senior Markers. Senior markers, Deputy Chief Markers and Chief Markers must moderate 10% of the scripts of the markers they supervise. The internal moderator then moderates 10% of the scripts per question paper. In addition examination assistants are appointed to check each script to ensure that the entire script is marked and to check the addition of the marks.

7. CAPTURE AND PROCESSING OF MARKS

In all the provinces the marks are captured in-house, except in the case of the Eastern Cape where the oral and practical marks are captured in-house but the examination marks are out-sourced to a reputable data-capture company.

In all provinces the double capture method is used i.e. the marks are captured by the first Data Capturer and then re-captured by a second Data-Capturer. Any difference between the first and second capture is highlighted by the computer system. In some of the provinces e.g. Gauteng an audit of a sample of the scripts, mark sheets, and computer printouts is done.

8. STANDARDISATION PROCESS AND THE RELEASE OF RESULTS

All 9 provinces are confident about the provincial capacity to handle the processing and the standardisation of results.

The Council of Education Ministers has decided that the senior certificate results should be released between 28 December 1999 and 30 December 1999. This is a precautionary measure to avoid any Y2K related complications. No problems are anticipated with the early release of the results. However, contingency plans are in place to take care of unexpected problems that may occur. These contingency plans include:

• ensuring that all staff members are on stand by to work overtime if necessary
• ensuring that the data is also stored on computers in other buildings to overcome power or system failures
• to provision for the possible downtime of the Information Technology System satellite dishes were installed in Gauteng

Only three provinces are satisfied with the current SAFCERT standardisation process. Comments on the process are as follows:

• Historical statistics have a negative effect on resulting.
• Year-marks are statistically moderated to effect the same mean as attained in the written examination. The less stressful nature of the year mark assessment and its impact on the culture of learning and teaching justifies a difference of 5% above the written mark.
• Too much emphasis is placed on statistical moderation.
• The process is based on historical data and not on performance of learners.

The entire standardisation of the senior certificate examination will be a part of an investigation to be carried out by the Department of Education in 2000.

9. CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT/ YEAR MARK

Five of the nine provinces are currently implementing continuous assessment in some form or the other. These provinces include Western Cape, Gauteng, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. Table 5 below provides additional information on the implementation of the year mark in the above five provinces:

Table 5: Additional information on the implementation of the year mark in the above five provinces

In the case of the Western Cape the year mark could be higher in practical subjects e.g. Art (50%); Technical subjects (42%) and Music (50%). The oral component in the languages constitutes 33% of the final mark.

Three of the provinces have indicated that they intend implementing the year mark in 2000. These provinces are NorthWest, Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal. These provinces have already drafted plans and are on schedule to implement continuous assessment in the year 2000. KwaZulu Natal has run pilot projects as part of their planning for the implementation of the year mark in 2000. Only one province viz. Free State does not have any strategy in place to implement continuous assessment in the year 2000.

Problems experienced by the provincial education departments in the implementation of the year mark include:

• Insufficient teaching and learning support by district officials to schools.
• Year mark assessment involves too many activities, which increases the volume of work.
• Implementation of year mark is too expensive.
• Shortage of vehicles for subject advisors to travel to schools for purpose of moderation.
• Shortage of subject advisors.

The national Department of Education is in the process of drafting a national guideline document which will provide a clear framework for the implementation of continuous assessment in Grade 12. This document will ensure uniformity in the implementation of continuous assessment across the nine provincial education departments. The document has been presented to the Inter-provincial Examinations Committee (IPEC) for their comment and thereafter it will be submitted to HEDCOM for approval and to be implemented in the year 2000.

10. SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATIONS

Current practice in South Africa is to hold supplementary examinations early in the year following the final examination in October/November of the previous year. Supplementary examinations are conducted to give a second opportunity to learners who lack one or two requirements to obtain a senior certificate pass or a senior certificate with endorsement. Statistics for the 1999 supplementary examination are summarised in table 6 below:

Table 6: Statistics relating to the 1999 supplementary examination

All nine provinces have already commenced with preparations for the 2000 supplementary examinations. The following forms part of their plans:

• Timetables have been finalised.
• Marking centres have been booked.
• Circulars have been sent to examination centres.
• Examination centres have been registered.
• Some have completed printing papers while others are in the process of printing.

10.1. Future of supplementary examinations

Seven out of nine provinces feel that the supplementary examinations should be phased out. The reasons cited are as follows:

• Too expensive for such small numbers. The approximate unit cost for the supplementary examination could be as high as three times the final examination cost
• A large percentage of candidates who enter are absent.
• A small percentage of the candidates who enter pass.
• Supplementary results are finalised too late to allow for entry to higher education in that year.

Only the Western Cape and Free State feel that it should not be phased out. The problem with the supplementary examination being scrapped would be that candidates who qualify for the supplementary examination due to valid reasons would be disadvantaged.

11. COST OF EXAMINATIONS

Allocated budget for the Senior Certificate examinations

Examinations are fully funded by provincial education departments of education. The budget allocations per province are listed in table 7 below:

Table 7: Budget allocations per province for Senior Certificate examinations

The examination budget of the nine provincial education departments varies from 8 million in the Northern Cape to 73 million in KwaZulu-Natal. The total budget for all nine provincial education departments amounts to R303 million. Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape have indicated that their current budget is adequate. The other 6 provinces have indicated that their budgets are inadequate. Problems relating to the budget include:

• A large percentage of the budget is spent on consultants which are generally for computer related activities.
• Another major part of the budget goes towards the marking of question papers.
• The inclusion of the supplementary examination costs in the budget makes it difficult to make ends meet. It would be more suitable if these costs were excluded from the budget.

There is general consensus among the provinces that an examination fee should be instituted to offset the high examination costs. This matter will receive full consideration by the Council of Education Ministers early in the year 2000.

12. EVALUATION OF THE EXAMINATION SYSYEM

Review of the Senior Certificate Examinations by the Cambridge International Examinations

As part of the Ministry's ongoing review of the Senior Certificate Examinations, the Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, requested the Cambridge International Examinations to conduct an international review and benchmarking of all procedures relating to the conduct of the South African Senior Certificate Examinations.

The following is a summary of the findings of this review:

• The initiatives since 1997 by the Provincial Boards to establish an Inter-Provincial Examinations Committee (IPEC) have contributed to a tighter and stronger examination system. The support by the National Examinations and Assessment Directorate in the Ministry of Education especially in assisting provinces, which need assistance, has reinforced capacity to handle the examination process.
• Provincial examining bodies have in place systems which ought to guarantee the delivery and integrity of the Senior Certificate examinations in 1999, but quality may vary according to staffing levels.
• If any problems arise with the examination, that will not be due to any lack of commitment by the staff and management in the provinces. Many are overstretched to deal with such a large-scale logistical exercise on current staffing levels. It is recommend that job evaluations of those who work in sensitive environments in examination bodies should be carried out so that hard work and efficiency are properly recognised and rewarded.
• High level security has been given special attention in the plans of each province at the critical stages of setting, typing, printing, packaging, storage and distribution of examination papers.
• Provincial examining authorities need to develop professional capacity (subject expertise) in-house as well as administrative capacities if quality controls are to be carried out effectively. There is too much reliance on moderators and examiners at present, although they are employed on a part-time basis. Ad hoc arrangements for examining bodies to borrow expertise from curriculum departments should be put on an established footing rather than rely on goodwill. Subject panels could be formed, serviced by a subject expert in the provincial authority, who could draw upon expertise of teachers, examiners and moderators to control setting, marking, moderation.
• The 1999 Senior Certificate represents a dual examination system: those provinces that will include the year mark (CASS) in the final score for a subject and those that will not. SAFCERT policy to standardise year marks against externally assessed marks at a centre may be the only option in the short term but a more "intelligent" form of statistical moderation, using judgements of moderators on centre performance alongside statistical information, needs to be explored.
• SAFCERT faces a difficult task in trying to ensure that the rigour of the question papers and the standards of the examination are consistent across nine provincial examining bodies. There was no consensus across the nine provinces on the desired effects of SAFCERT´s actions.
• As regards administration there is scope for a rationalisation of provincial examinations boards, with a reduction through amalgamation. In liaison with the National Department of Education provincial departments of education could draw on national banks of questions, to which each province will contribute, as well as administer CASS.

The recommendations of the review by the Cambridge International Examinations were discussed extensively at the meeting of the Heads of Education Departments (HEDCOM) and this will be further discussed at the meeting of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) early in the new year. Emanating from these discussions a clear plan of action will be put in place to implement the important recommendations.

As a follow up to this review the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) has already approved the international benchmarking of the standards of the Senior Certificate examinations. As a first step the Senior Certificate will be benchmarked with the Scottish Higher Examination Authorities and this process is scheduled to commence in the year 2000.

13. CONCLUSION

The provincial education departments administered the first Senior Certificate examination in 1996. In this examination the disparate practices and procedures of the ex-departments had to be amalgamated and the exercise was fraught with serious problems. However, over the last four years, through the intervention of the national Department of Education and the closer collaboration between provincial education departments, a remarkable improvement in the examination process has resulted. The focused approach to the administration of the examinations and the exceptional commitment of all officials have contributed to this improvement.

Despite the fact that certain areas are still in need of refinement, the examination system in the country is currently of a high standard. The following are some of the areas that are in need of refinement or change:

• The filling of all vacant posts especially those of professionals.
• Appointment of editors to assist in the improvement of the quality of the question papers.
• One building to house all examination staff in the provincial education departments.
• Security in certain provincial education departments.
• Standardisation of provincial question papers.
• Procedures for the moderation and standardisation of school based assessment.
• Review in the number of subjects offered for the senior certificate examination.
• Private/part-time candidates who are unable to present practical/oral marks.
• Late change in the subject and grade entries by candidates.
• Review of the need for supplementary examinations.
• Financing of examinations.

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