Question no: 1352
Dr J C Kloppers-Lourens (DA) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) What is the state of readiness of her department for the National Senior
Certificate Examinations (NSCEs) for 2009;
(2) whether any problems are foreseen for the upcoming NSCEs; if so, what problems;
(3) whether any plans are in place to avoid the problems which occurred with the 2008 NSCEs; if not, why not; if so, what plans?
Reply:
(1) The Department of Education is ready and confident that the 2009 National
Senior Certificate examination will be successfully administered. The Department of Education supports and monitors the provincial education departments on an ongoing basis through on-site audits of examination systems and processes, regular reporting and feedback, inter-provincial meetings and teleconferences. This approach has assisted in identifying the shortcomings as they occur, and rectifying them immediately.
(2) There are no problems that are foreseen at this stage. All possible problems have been identified and plans have been put in place to address them effectively.
(3) Clear plans have been put in place to ensure that all candidates received their results timeously. The problem of not releasing the results all the candidates on the scheduled release date, in 2008, emanated from the new emphasis being placed on school based assessment (SBA) by the Department of Education.
Improved control systems were put in place to ensure that candidates are not resulted if the SBA is outstanding, a process that was not in place in previous years. This year all Provincial Education Departments have established quarterly monitoring systems that will ensure that schools are assessing their learners on a continuous basis and defaulting schools will be identified and remedial measures will be initiated, to ensure that moderated SBA marks are collected.
The computer system that was implemented for the first time, in the 2008 examination, has successfully processed the 2009 supplementary examination results and is being further enhanced and improved to ensure that there are no glitches in the 2009 NSC examination. The results of the 2009 examination will be released on 7 January 2010 an this will allow school principals and the officials in the Provincial Education Departments more time to verify and check all results before they are released.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
18 September 2009
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za)
