The country’s worst-performing province in last year’s matric exams, Limpopo, has budgeted R101m for grade 12 “learner enrichment” programmes this year.
This follows an admission by the KwaZulu-Natal education department that channelling resources over a number of years to improve matric results “may have compromised” other grades in the province, especially grades 7 to 9.
The national senior certificate (NSC) exams are just over a month away and provincial education departments are gearing up for the spring revision camps starting in a week’s time.
In a circular dated August 3, Godfrey Ngcobo, head of the KwaZulu-Natal education department, said that in grades 7 to 9 “a better, solid foundation needs to be laid for better future performance even beyond grade 12”.
“It is also observed that, more often than not, schools allocate the best-performing teachers to the senior grades at the expense of the lower grades. The practice is more common in the secondary schools where grades 8 and 9 receive less attention.”
He said the circular was “a call to action to place more emphasis on the lower grades” and “capacitate and support” grade 7 to 9 teachers in at least five key subjects.
Estimates of provincial revenue and expenditure for 2022/2023 reveal that the Free State set aside R75m for the secondary school support programme to provide “focused assistance to underperforming schools to improve grade 12 results and ensure best-performing schools continue doing well”.
The Gauteng education department planned 30 residential camps for 15,000 pupils as part of its secondary school improvement programme.
According to the estimates, the North West education department set aside R122.4m for its learner attainment improvement programme, which was intended “to ensure performance for all grades in the system”.
The Eastern Cape education department indicated in the estimates that its focus on the NSC exam outcomes “remains a key indicator of overall departmental academic success”.
Last year the province budgeted R264m for services rendered by Jenn Training and Consultancy, the company contracted to improve matric results. Between April 2017 and March, the company was paid almost R794m.
Grades 8 and 9 are often neglected, which is short-sighted. Success in the NSC is built on the solid foundation of learning in earlier grades
— Mary Metcalfe, University of Johannesburg
Professor Chika Sehoole, dean of the education faculty at the University of Pretoria, said an “obsession” with matric results “has really compromised the quality of our education system in general”.
He said a principal recently told him they were put under pressure by circuit and district officials “to make sure the matric passes were good”.
“This goes to the extent of pushing principals to drop enrolment in gateway subjects [maths, physical science and accounting], which are normally difficult to pass, to ensure that the overall performance is good.”
Sehoole said it appeared to be true that education departments were deploying their best teachers to matric classes.
“It is actually worse, teachers are advised to ignore lower grades and concentrate not only on grades 10 to 12, but on grade 12. This is tragic.”
Professor Mary Metcalfe, senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg, said the prominence given to NSC results and the competition to be the “top province” had a major impact on priorities across provinces.
“Grades 8 and 9 are often neglected, which is short-sighted. Success in the NSC is built on the solid foundation of learning in earlier grades.”
She said the introduction of a benchmark common exam at the end of grade 9, which is on the agenda, would help focus attention on these grades, which are critical years in adolescent development.
“The focus should be on early-grade reading and maths, the grade 4 transition in language of instruction and providing more ‘for pleasure’ reading material through grades 1 to 7.”
Professor Asheena Singh-Pillay, academic leader for the bachelor of education programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said it was necessary to support grade 12 pupils to address the legacy of fiscal inequalities and infrastructure backlogs.
“It is important to remember that learners’ outcomes in grade 12 are linked to economic growth.”
But she said the focus of provincial education departments should lie across all grades “as learners of all grades are equally important and should receive teaching that facilitates effective learning”.
Limpopo education department spokesperson Mike Maringa said 80% out of the R101m was earmarked for payments to teachers for extra classes, 10% for transport and the balance for catering in the residential camps.
The province recorded a 66.7% matric pass rate last year.
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