MARTIN GUSTAFSON

SOUTH Africans place huge emphasis on the Matric examination results from the final year of secondary school – Grade 12. A school leaver’s chances of further education or a job depend heavily on skills reflected in the Matric certificate.

Every year, national trends in these results stimulate debate about the nature and quality of education in the country, and the issues that shape it.

The release of the 2020 examination results in February 2021 could prompt an especially heated debate, given the backdrop of COVID-19 and school closures.

Investments in data and research over the last decade have provided a better sense of the educational quality trends below Grade 12 which underpin Matric. The evidence is clear that not only are more young people “matriculating”, what children learn is improving and is less unequally distributed, though the challenges remain stark.

But the evidence needs to be better disseminated. What would also help is better access to, and analysis of, the raw examinations data by a wider range of researchers. It may be true that examinations data are ill-suited for gauging trends, but without intensive analysis of this data, key questions remain around matters such as subject choices, subject difficulty, and examination standards.

Matric trends viewed in context

In recent years, a little over half of youths have obtained a Matric certificate, in part because many leave school before Grade 12. This is often portrayed as a crisis. But is it?

International comparisons suggest this is not among the country’s largest problems. South Africa’s rate of successful completion of secondary schooling is in fact not unusual among middle income countries. What is somewhat unusual is that there is no national qualification below Grade 12 serving as a fallback for those not reaching Grade 12. The fact that a Grade 9 certificate should now be on the policy agenda seems a step in the right direction.

What is easily forgotten is how painfully slow educational progress is, be it in terms of quality or highest grade completed. Here again, use of international data sets can assist in gauging what the “speed limits” of progress might be, and hence realistic national targets.

The completion rate of Grade 12 should of course continue to increase. One way of doing this is to pay more attention to what second-chance Matric opportunities exist for young people. This is largely off the radar and poorly understood.

At any point there are around a quarter of a million youths engaged in some form of second-chance Matric activity. Yet success rates are low. How to improve these, through educational support and clearer online information, should feature strongly in the debates.

Turning to trends in the quality of Grade 12 learning outcomes, analysis of Matric achievement statistics in specific subjects in isolation from other data can be deceptive. To illustrate, reliable evidence of over decade of improvements in mathematics in Grade 9 should make one wary of Matric statistics suggesting the quality of mathematics in Grade 12 has declined. This is where interrogation of the raw Matric data becomes important.

On this matter, my own analysis points to the Grade 12 mathematics examinations having become more difficult over the years. While mark adjustments occur each year to improve comparability over time, these are never perfect. This is true for South Africa’s Matric system, and examination systems across the world.

Hopefully, recent streamlining of the Department of Basic Education’s data request procedures, and efforts by organisations such as DataFirst, the University of Cape Town’s data sharing facility, will allow more researchers to analyse the raw Matric data. The scope for this work is immense.

How the pandemic changes things

An exceptional upward adjustment of the 2020 examination marks will in all likelihood be necessary to avoid distorting flows into higher education institutions. This would not compromise standards in the long run, or result in sub-standard professionals in future. Universities understand that Matriculants are the product of twelve years of schooling. Few new skills are acquired in the very final year.

What is more concerning is that disruptions to schooling at the lower grades will not be remedied, and that deficits in the reading and numeracy foundations will be carried through into future years. This could have a serious impact on the quality of Matriculants a decade or more from now, and compromise their future prospects.

I’ve estimated the magnitudes of these risks. It is vital that recently designed catch-up strategies succeed.

Sustaining improvements seen in recent years

Before the pandemic, the quality improvement trajectory seen for over a decade in South Africa suggested that by 2030 the country could find itself where an average middle income country such as Malaysia is today. Even then, it was clear this could not be taken for granted, and that innovations were necessary to sustain the trend. The 2020 disruptions, and associated learning losses, have made the task even harder.

What is needed to improve learning outcomes is not really a mystery. There’s an abundance of evidence on what works. But I would highlight two things.

One is the need for more comparable data on learning outcomes, including reading, for all primary schools. Without good data at this level, it is virtually impossible for the authorities and for communities to hold principals accountable, in a fair and meaningful manner. It also becomes difficult to target support to those schools needing it most.

Secondly, analysis I did on the impacts of provincial boundary changes on Matric results demonstrates that the province you are in matters a lot. Learning outcomes should feature more integrally in the annual plans and reports of all the provincial education departments.

(Martin Gustafsson is an Education economist, Stellenbosch University)

(SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION)

HEAD Coach of Tuks Rowing (TuksSport) Mpumi Geza recently touched on his love for winning and also the love for the colour gold.

In 2018, Geza was crowned as Coach of the Year in the individual sports category at the TuksSport Colours and Awards.

Before he came to UP-Tuks in 2014, he was a head rowing coach at Holy Rosary school from 2012 to 2014. At a point, he also served as a coach for South Africa at the u.23 level.

“Before I joined TuksSport in 2014, I was a head rowing coach at the Holy Rosary school for girls in Johannesburg, where I was also active as a junior national assistant coach for two years and a South African schools development coach for three years,” he said.

Geza said winning bronze with the Tuks team back in 2018 in China was one of his many highlights.

“Almost every year at Tuks has been a highlight. We have grown from strength to strength as a club reaching the very top of the senior club scene, but if I have to narrow it down to a few specific ones it would have to be Student World Championships in Shanghai 2018.”

“We won two bronze medals with Tuks rowers in the lightweight 2x (Ryan Delaney and Chris Mittendorf) and the heavyweight 2x (Bradley Betts and Mzwandile Sotsaka). That year was a testament to the quality TuksRowing is producing,” he said.

Geza said his ability to want to win comes from SA rowing champions of Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith, Matthew Brittain and James Thompson.

The four won gold at the London Olympics in 2012.

“They put us on the map and inspired us to believe that winning gold is possible. And, that it can be done from right here in Pretoria,” Geza added.

“That culture and mentality are what Roger Barrow [national rowing head coach] drives with his team. I have been fortunate to spend time with him and the national team, learning and instilling that same culture and belief into the TuksRowing Club over the years.”

He said high school rowers who are keen on joining the TuksRowing Club next year should have big ambitions and, most importantly, be patient.

“The young bucks always roll in here with stars in their eyes and big ambitions, which is good. But they need to understand it takes time to become a champion. Invest the time into settling into varsity and build yourself up. Tuks has all the tools to get you there. You just need patience and persistence, and believe it will happen,” said Geza.

(SOURCE: REKORD)

BY PROFESSOR CYRIL JULIE

IN the modern world of work, most computations are done using technology. In contrast, in South Africa, school maths computations and other kinds of mathematical work such as graph sketching and construction of geometric figures are done with pencil and paper despite the availability of computer software to perform these tasks.

What’s taught in schools – and how it’s taught – is at odds with equipping pupils with skills needed in the post-school world.

Our research explored what maths education should aim for in preparing students for the digital age, given that maths’ role in society is increasingly done by machines.

Establishing this will have an impact on future job requirements and the mathematics people will need to understand their world.

Teaching maths is dominated by a focus on development of computational fluency. This is at the expense of the developing competencies such as posing and solving problems, mathematical argumentation, reasoning and creativity. These competencies are stated as goals in the school mathematics curriculum.

But examinations such as the National Senior Certificate – the national exam pupils write in their final year of schooling – give priority to the computational aspects of mathematics.

The mathematics curriculum shows that only 16.25% of the combined school-based mark and the final maths exam focuses on these skills and competencies for the world of today.

Based on our research, we recommend that pen-and-paper calculations be minimised.

This would open the way for introducing more relevant topics in the maths curriculum.

Relevant topics include but are not limited to the distribution of resources, decision making maths, complexity theory, risk analysis and cryptology.

Although these can be done with pencil and paper, available computer software offers an opportunity for deeper exploration of these topics.

It’s thus not an issue whether machines can or can’t deal with these topics. The issue is about the maths curriculum dealing with topics relevant for today’s world and teaching the competencies that cannot be done by technology.

What pupils need is critical thinking and a grasp of the key ideas underlying the mathematics that computers use.

Making maths education relevant

Mathematical modelling and the applications of mathematics should also receive more attention in the school curriculum. Applications should steer clear of the popular “word problems” which dress up mathematical manipulations in story formats. This is not to suggest that problems shouldn’t be presented in story formats. Rather, “word problems” that merely require learners to identify which mathematical operation to use should be minimised.

An example is: “A school organises a visit to a museum for 208 learners. The learners will be transported by bus. How many buses must they order if a bus takes 52 learners?”

Modelling should ideally deal with authentic phenomena such as the accumulation of plastic bags against a school fence over time.

The descriptive, predictive and prescriptive purposes of mathematical models should be made clear. An example of the descriptive purpose of a mathematical model is the depiction of the shape of a leaf of a plant as triangular.

Weather forecasting is an example of the use of mathematical models for predictive purposes.

The prescriptive purpose of mathematical models is their use for decision-making for certain actions to be taken.

For example, an automatic teller machine needs to identify whether a personal identification number is the correct one to proceed with performing a transaction.

The modelling done with COVID-19 data provides a sense of the interplay of the descriptive, predictive and prescriptive purposes and how it was used to determine lockdown levels.

Free software is available for mathematical model development. Through mathematical modelling learners can build various simulations of a situation and make decisions based on different scenarios.

A way forward

Mathematical terminology and constructs are used to convey information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Models, curve flattening, moving averages, rate of infection, forms of growth (doubling and exponential) and various forms of graphical and pictorial representations are just some of these terms and concepts.

The calculations performed with the data are done with software, not pen and paper.

The mathematical techniques are fairly general and some of them are part of the school curriculum. But we suggest a shift away from competencies that compete with what computers can do towards competencies that complement computers.

(Cyril Julie is NRF/FrF Professor of Mathematics, University of the Western Cape)

(SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION)

NYAKALLO TEFU

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has called for calm and restraint at the Brackenfell High School in Cape Town following a violent confrontation between a group of parents and members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Monday. 

The EFF members were protesting against alleged racism after a group of students organized a ‘whites only’ matric dance party at the school.

“At this most important and difficult time for matriculants not only at Brackenfell High School but around the country, the spectacle of parents and protestors coming to blows at the school gate is deeply unfortunate,” said Ramaphosa on Tuesday.

“It is the right of every South African to engage in peaceful protest, and any actions to suppress the right to freedom of expression, particularly through violence and intimidation, must be roundly condemned. What happened today brings back hurtful memories of a past we should never seek to return to.”

Several videos surfaced on social media on Monday when the violence broke out between the EFF members and parents.

Ramaphosa described the confrontation outside the school as deeply regrettable.

“At this most important and difficult time for matriculants not only at Brackenfell High School but around the country, the spectacle of parents and protestors coming to blows at the school gate is deeply unfortunate,” added Ramaphosa.

The school has come out to say this was a private event and it was not involved as the department has cancelled all matric dances this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We should be ever mindful of the extent to which our actions, both publicly and in private, undermine the cherished principle of non-racialism upon which our democracy was founded,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said that the country should not allow what has transpired at Brackenfell High School to be used by any groupings who want to cause racial polarisation. 

The EFF, however, has argued that the learners approached the party after allegation of racism surfaced at the school.

(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)

NYAKALLO TEFU

TEACHERS’ union SADTU has condemned the decision by the Department of Basic education and the Department of Health to allow learners who might have tested positive during exams to write in isolation but in the same schools or examination centres where other learners are writing.

SADTU argued on Monday that schools and exam centres were not quarantine sites.

The union said the decision by Department of Basic Education and the Department of Health was not in line with safety guidelines.

Over one million matrics are sitting for their final Grade 12 exams, which started last Thursday.

“The unfortunate and unilateral decision is in violation of the isolation protocols of the Department of Health which state that once tested positive, an individual must isolate. The isolation means not to move from an area to the other until the end of the prescribed duration,” SADTU said in a statement.

 Last week, Department of Basic Education announced that it would allow learners who might have tested positive during the writing of examinations to write in isolation but in the same schools or examination centres where other learners are writing.

On Monday, the teacher’s union called on the Department of Basic Education and Department of Health to convene an urgent meeting on what it claims is the unilateral decision that violates the isolation protocols during the writing of final exams.

“SADTU, as a stakeholder in education was not consulted about this decision which violates the COVID 19 Standard Operating Procedures. We therefore call upon the DBE and DOH to convene an urgent meeting to address this matter as it affects both external and internal examinations”, the teacher union said.

The union has also called on Department of Basic Education not to force teachers to invigilate in facilities where learners may have tested positive, but to use health professionals.

“We fully understand that isolation can increase anxiety levels amongst learners and we therefore call on the department to ensure the provision of psychosocial services and health facilities to these learners,” according to SADTU.

(SOURCE: INSIDE EDUCATION)

NYAKALLO TEFU

“Wait until we respond, all fools will have an opinion,” EFF leader Julius Malema ominously tweeted on Monday night after his party’s protest outside Brackenfell High School turned violent when demonstrators clashed with a group of residents.

This comes after various videos posted online by reporters and residents showed fighting and chaos outside the school.

Public order police units tried to calm tensions in the area, firing stun grenades in an attempt to separate the groups.

At the weekend, EFF protested outside Brackenfell High School, which came under heavy criticism on social media after it emerged that white parents of students at the school allegedly hosted a high school matric dance without inviting black students.

A group of EFF supporters gathered outside the school and were met by a contingent of parents, armed security and police.

Veronica Mente, the Chairperson of the EFF in the Cape Town metro area, entered the school in order to talk to the principal of the school and has called for the firing of the two teachers who attended the event.

While the principal and Mente held their meeting, there were heated confrontations outside the school when EFF members started singing “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” which is classed as hate speech in South Africa.

The EFF provincial leadership in the Western Cape said the party will immediately write to the Department of Basic Education to investigate racism at Brackenfell High School, according to EFF’s Western Cape’s Deputy Chairperson Nosipho Makamba-Botya.

“We received complaints from some parents of learners at the school about an organized matric dance which only included white students,” said Makamba-Botya.

According to various eye witness accounts, parents organized a matric dance, which is not allowed after the Western Cape Education Department announced that no matric dance or balls should take place at schools this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The parents said they wanted us to intervene in the matter because they failed to understand why their children were excluded and so we went there on Friday first and to our surprise it was revealed that two other teachers from the school were involved in the event,” said Makamba-Botya.

Makamba-Botya said when they visited the school on Friday they were only allowed to speak to a school governing body’s chairperson because the principal was nowhere to be found.

“On Monday, we wanted to speak directly to the principal. However, we were received by a mob of white people carrying heavy guns with a lot of private security and the police who attacked us on our way there,” said Makamba-Botya.

Videos have surfaced on social media where parents and EFF members can be seen throwing punches at each other and running amok.

“Four of our fighters were injured during the clashes and on Friday. One of the EFF’s cars was damaged,” added Makamba-Botya.

Western Cape Education Department Minister Debbie Schäfer has condemned the chaos outside Brackenfell High School, saying the behaviour of the EFF and some parents was unacceptable.

“I strongly condemn both the actions of the EFF members and those parents outside the school, who used violence to address their concerns. Violent attacks are simply not acceptable and will in no way benefit our learners. Violence is also not the solution to solving disagreements,” said Schäfer.

The violent clashes come as learners are currently writing their exams and Schäfer said this will disturb the learners.

“Our learners are currently writing matric exams after a stressful and difficult year, and the EFF knows full well that this kind of confrontation will disrupt learning and cause unnecessary distress to our learners,” added Schäfer.

Schäfer has urged all parties to engage with one another in a responsible and adult manner and for SAPS to ensure that learners are protected from violence.

The EFF is calling for the suspension of the two teachers who attended the private matric dance party.

“We will write to the DBE to suspend the two teachers and the principal, we will also go back to the school,” added Makamba-Botya.

The South African Human Rights Commission spokesperson Gushwell Brooks the SAHRC condemned the scenes of violence that erupted outside of Brackenfell High School, in the Western Cape on Monday.

“We have seen on news media the eruption of a violent confrontation between people said to be parents of learners at the school and members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) outside the school premises. These unfortunate events follow reports that two teachers from the school attended a private matric function, which only included white learners and their parents,” said Brooks.

“The Commission is deeply disappointed by the violence as well as the allegations that preceded it. The SAHRC is shocked to learn that in this day and age a racially segregated private event was held for matric learners from the school. More disappointingly, is the fact that this event was attended by their parents and two teachers from the school.”

The commission said the alleged holding of a “whites only” event, if true, is also strongly condemned.

“No one should be allowed to bring back racial segregation to this country,” said Brooks.

“The deep racial divisions of South Africa’s apartheid and colonial past cannot be healed whilst children are socialised separately on the basis of race and thus, as a nation, we will never be able to forge a South Africa where all are equal, free and are treated with dignity.”

He added: “The conduct seen on television of one of the men repeatedly beating with a stick a Black woman in EFF uniform, is beyond shocking and we urge the police to trace the man and charge him, among others, with assault.”

(SOURCE: INSIDE EDUCATION)