The Eastern Cape Department of Education has issued assessment instruction 42 of 2010 to all schools and district offices which serve to inform them of the Re-scheduled and Compressed Grade 12 Trial Examination Programme scheduled to start today, 13 to 23 September 2010.
This programme will focus on selected subjects due to serious time constraints, all the examination papers have been delivered to the 23 districts for schools to collect and thus far received reports confirm that schools are collecting these papers for writing.Of the 23 departmental districts only two have been reported as areas of concern and these are Fort Beaufort and Lady Frere.
Although proper reports about irregularities andother issues pertaining to these exams will be obtained after the first set of paper has been finished this afternoon, thus far it’s all systems go.
According to the instruction all schools that have conducted and administered internally set trial examinations are advised and encouraged to continue with the internal programmes and are not obliged to observe the Provincial revised and compressed trial time table.However, if such schools wish to utilise the provincially set question papers that will be written between 13 to 23 September 2010, then such school managers must comply with and adhere to the provincial revised and compressed trial examination time table.
Internally set trial examination question papers written by functional schools and administered during the strike period will be fully recognised and accepted by the Department of Education.
The instruction also states that all schools that did not conduct and administer trial examinations are compelled to follow and observe the provincial revised and compressed trial examination time table.
The provincially set trial examination question papers are available for collection from district offices or nodal points but marking memoranda will be available from District Offices after the completion of the examination.
The decision to compress the provincial trial examination is intended to enable schools to focus on Teaching and Learning Recovery Plans, especially curriculum coverage per subject. Provincial question papers that have been set in subjects not covered in the revised and compressed trial examination time table shall be released shortly for use as part of the Intensive Revision and Remedial Programme at school and district levels.
During the conduct, administration and implementation of the provincial revised and compressed time table, school principals are urged not to suspend teaching and learning catch-up programmes in the school. Whenever it is possible after each examination session, serious and intensive teaching and learning must continue in the interests of learners being adequately prepared for the final examination commencing on 15 October 2010.
For more enquiries:
Malibongwe Mtima
Cell: 082 0884 599
