Schools re-opened for the third quarter on 13 July 2010 after an extended five week winter vacation as a result of the staging of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. This has impacted heavily on schooling in the province but more especially on the grade 12 programme.
This was further exacerbated by the industrial action that saw most township schools rendered completely dysfunctional from 10 August 2010 as a result of disruption to teaching and learning, affecting 65 percent of schools in the province. Learners have at best had four weeks of teaching for the third quarter in these schools.
We are dealing with a difficult situation where there is little time left and we have to do everything to prepare learners for the final matric examination. Time, at this point is a precious commodity which, unfortunately, we do not have.
There are 46 days left before the start of the matric examinations, including Saturdays and Sundays. All is not lost. What is important is for all of us, learners, parents, educators, school governing bodies, and communities to support and rally behind the matric class of 2010.
The objective is to SAVE OUR 2010 MATRICS. This means, inter alia, that we must ensure maximum time for syllabus completion and at the same time allow learners the opportunity to write the preliminary examination, August, realising that conditions were not optimal for the writing of preliminary examinations, we took a decision to postpone the exams in the centres that were not ready.
Schools that were ready were allowed to proceed with preliminary examinations. The importance of writing preliminary examinations is that they contribute to the school based assessment (SBA) mark, assist universities with admissions, and also expose learners to the rigours of the final examination.
We have scheduled preliminary examinations to be written from 13 September to 23 September 2010. Learners will write two examinations in the morning, a three hour paper in the morning and a two hour paper at noon. In the afternoons, they will attend lessons to prepare them for the next day's examination papers.
The condensed provincial timetable is for the schools that have not been able to write their preliminary examination as yet and is to allow for more time for classroom work to take place.
Schools are expected to schedule their school set papers around the provincial one in order to accommodate the curriculum offerings of the individual school. It is important that every parent provide support to learners during this stressful time of exam preparation, the writing of the examination and release of results.
There is still hope and all of us need to work together to prioritise support to our matriculates.
During the September holidays, we will run study camps for grade 12s that will focus on completing the curriculum and revision. In October, learners will go through past examination papers. The department will also run camps early in 2011 to prepare learners for supplementary examinations.
During the public sector strike the Gauteng Department of Education called on parents and learners to form voluntary study groups for grade 12s to make productive use of their time and prepare for preliminary examinations.
To support the groups, the department printed study guides, organised venues and provides catering at some venues. We also received a private donation of 40 copies of learning DVDs in seven main subjects that we are distributing to schools.
These nascent study groups had challenges including safety, distribution of materials, organisation and consistency. Nevertheless, they took root in communities. I visited some of these sites and was overwhelmed by the passion and dedication of the class of 2010. By the first week of September, there were over 70 verified sites with between 100 and 300 learners each, operating in the province.
The significance of this development is to be found in the fact that ordinary learners themselves are taking responsibility for their own learning on a wide scale at a local level. Equally significant have been the number of parents and individual school governing body (SGB) members who have taken on the responsibility of supervising these groups.
This leadership initiative must not be lost in the aftermath of the strike as it can play a significant role in learners' ongoing preparations for the 2010 matric examinations and offers a valuable model for future generations of learners. A positive end to a difficult situation!
I thank you.
For more information contact:
Charles Phahlane
Tel: 011 355 1530
Cell: 071 860 4496
Source: Department of Education, Gauteng Provincial Government
Media statement by the Gauteng MEC for Education, B Creecy, on the support for grade 12 learners
Province
