in 2008
31 August 2006
Yesterday journalists were briefed at Sol Plaatjie House on the preparations
under way for the national senior certificate to be held for the first time in
2008.
âWe must ensure that the system is prepared for the new examination system,â
Penny Vinjevold, Deputy Director-General told assembled members of the
press.
To recap the story so far the new curriculum, known as the National
Curriculum Statement (grades R â 12), was introduced into South African schools
incrementally from 2004. The implementation dates are shown in the table
below.
Year: 2004
Grades R â 3
Year: 2005
Grades 4 - 6
Year: 2006
Grades 7 and 10
Year: 2007
Grades 8, 9 and 11
Year: 2008
Grade 12
The new curriculum for grades R â 9 has been available for teachers since
2002 and teachers have been encouraged to work towards the new higher standards
in preparation for full-scale implementation in 2006 and 2007.
In the same way the new curriculum for grades 10 â 12 has been available for
teachers since 2003 and teachers were encouraged to prepare for 2006.
âPreparations for the national senior certificate in 2008 commenced as early
as 2005 and will continue over the next two years,â said Vinjevold.
The details of exemplar papers, pilots and mock exams over the next two
years are as follows.
Examiners and moderators for the national senior certificate have set
exemplar question papers for the current grade 10s, which will serve as an
example of what the final grade 10 examination paper set by schools should look
like.
âThe grade 10 exemplar question paper should not to be used as an
examination paper but as an example for the setting of the final internal
question paper by the school,â said Vinjevold.
The exemplar question papers were sent to Provincial Education Departments
(PEDs) on 5 August 2006. The Department of Education (DoE) printed one master
copy of each question paper for each of the PEDs. The PEDs will in turn print
copies for each of the schools offering that subject in the province.
âSchools will set their own question papers for the end of the year
examination based on the exemplars provided,â Vinjevold pointed out. âPEDs will
moderate/monitor the question papers set at school level to ensure that they
comply with the standard and format of the exemplar question papers.â
In order to facilitate the writing of the exemplar question paper under
examination conditions, a pilot project will be conducted. The pilot will be
conducted in selected schools (8 - 12 schools) per province.
The pilot examination will begin in the last week of October and run through
to the end of November 2006. The DoE will provide the question paper to be used
in the pilot project. The pilot question paper will be made available to PEDs
by the end of August 2006. The DoE will make one master copy available per
province and the PEDs will print copies for each of the selected pilot
schools.
A common timetable drafted by the DoE will be provided to PEDs so as to
ensure that the pilot examination is written at the same time. The teachers at
school will mark the pilot examination. A sample of 20 scripts per province,
per subject will be submitted to the DoE for moderation. Members of the
examining panel will do this moderation.
Accompanying the pilot question papers will be a structured questionnaire
for teachers and subject advisors. This questionnaire will collect information
on the responses of teachers and subject advisors to the question papers.
The examining panel will prepare a consolidated report on the pilot project,
based on their moderation of the sample scripts and the responses from the
questionnaire. The findings and recommendations of the pilot project will
provide valuable feedback for the setting of the Grade 11 and Grade 12 question
papers.
âA formal, fully fledged examination for grade 11 will be conducted at the
end of 2007,â said Vinjevold. It will provide the system with an opportunity to
test all aspects of the examination system ahead of 2008 and to identify
potential problem areas and to correct them.
A common grade 11 examination timetable will be drafted by DoE. This
timetable will accommodate the administration of two fully-fledged examinations
(grade 11 and grade 12).
In addition to the national examination paper, an exemplar question paper
will be drafted by the national panel and distributed to schools by March 2007.
This exemplar question paper will serve as an example of what the Grade 11
national examination paper will look like.
Marking of the grade 11 examination will be done at school level, under the
supervision of the Head of Department (HOD) or senior teacher and where
possible cluster marking can be organised. Moderation of marking will be done
at provincial level on a sample of five subjectsâ i.e. English first additional
language, mathematical literacy, mathematics, physical science, history and
accounting.
Provincial moderation will be organised either as part of the centralised
marking of the grade 12 examinations or as a separate moderation session. A
sample of 5 â 10% of the total number of learners offering the selected
subjects per province will be moderated focussing on the specific schools.
Moderatorsâ reports will be submitted to the schools as feedback. The purpose
of this moderation is to assess the standard and quality of marking.
A second level of moderation will be conducted by the DoE, on the selected
sample of five subjects. This will be done by the national examining panel.
The PEDs will be requested to consolidate the responses of teachers and
subject advisors from the questionnaires and submit a single report, per
subject to the DoE. The examining panel will review the reports from each of
the PEDs and together with their findings from the moderation of the scripts,
will draft a comprehensive report for their subject. These reports will provide
valuable feedback for the setting and administration of the grade 12 paper.
Contact:
Lunga Ngqengelele
Tel: (012) 312 5538
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: ngqengelele.l@doe.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education
31 August 2006
