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Education to strengthen National Senior Certificate - Newsroom - 11-11-2014
A Task Team, established by Education Minister Angie Motshekga, has recommended medium to long term improvements to the standard National Senior Certificate (NSC).
The Department of Basic Education presented the Task Team’s findings and recommendations to the Portfolio Committee on the report looking into the promotion requirements for the NSC, on Tuesday.
Deputy Minister Surty told the Committee that the Minister broadly supported the recommendations, adding that the department had already commenced with the implementation of a few recommendations and others will be implemented in the short to medium term.
Some of the recommendations included the retention of Mathematics Literacy and Mathematics following concerns around the NSC.
The department said communication campaigns need to be done to explain the difference between the two subjects.
The presentation of the report also responded to proposed changes to the department.
The Chief Director for Public Examinations and Assessments, Dr Rufus Poliah, said the certificate has become the most important qualification, as it captures the performance of a learner over a 12-year period.
"The 30% pass requirement was one of a small component of the pass requirements and it does not encapsulate the standard of NSC. No learner can pass NSC if you pass all your subjects at 30%. You need at least three 30s and three 40s in order to pass. We have tried to explain this but the criticism continued which lead the Minister to establish the Task Team comprising eminent persons," he said.
Dr Poliah said that the NSC reflected an equivalent if not higher standard in certain aspects to the old Senior Certificate and that the requirements for admission to Bachelor studies were higher in the NSC than the old SC given that a candidate has to obtain a pass in four subjects at 50%.
The department said the report of the Task Team would be discussed at the meeting of Council of Education Ministers (CEM) where a way forward would be decided.
Acting Deputy Director General for Curriculum Policy and Implementation Matanzima Mweli said the department has been providing science kits to schools with no science laboratories.
“… This to ensure that concepts are not only dealt with in theory but also in practice,†he said.
Mweli said, in terms of providing libraries, the department had moved from centralized libraries to classrooms.
He said the country should focus on the objectives of the curriculum and not the numbers as a way of assessing the performance of the education system.
“The department is currently in the process of planning the policy and organizational changes that must happen before recommendations with far reaching implications are implemented,†the department said. - SAnews.gov.za