Government’s new plan to let learners finish school at Grade 9

[R13...]

Hope government remembers to change the laws in relation to child labour too. Most of these children will be left unemployable if they do not lower the age of child labour. Best would be to do it once and for all and bring the age down to 4 years old.

They're not supposed to earn certificates that allow them to enter employment. Not that any of you have bothered to read what the intention of this is. You've all just adopted a position and are running with it regardless

 

[Jopie Fourie]

They're not supposed to earn certificates that allow them to enter employment. Not that any of you have bothered to read what the intention of this is. You've all just adopted a position and are running with it regardless

Yeah no, they want these kids to leave school at the age of 14/15/16 and then go to some college or trademanship where they can learn specific skills and then start a job in a few months or years. This is nothing but getting rid of those who eventually disappear from the system, to make the matric results look better. Nothing good can or will ever come from this. This has to be one of the most stupid ideas, if not the most stupid idea the ANC have ever come up with. In short, this is nothing else but rigging the education system once again and dumbing people down even more.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Pragmatically, that is the best thing I have heard in a while.

Rather have the kids who can't cut it to drop out and try to find a job than to push them through and lower the standards.

But they also need to get rid of things like the minimum wage such that when the dropouts happen, they can still find a job.

Came here to say this. Seems they have learned something useful from the bad old days. Now to promote technical colleges with international grade certifications and come up with a standard for many more trades from hairdressing to bricklaying and plastering. It makes perfect sense.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Yeah no, they want these kids to leave school at the age of 14/15/16 and then go to some college or trademanship where they can learn specific skills and then start a job in a few months or years. This is nothing but getting rid of those who eventually disappear from the system, to make the matric results look better. Nothing good can or will ever come from this. This has to be one of the most stupid ideas, if not the most stupid idea the ANC have ever come up with. In short, this is nothing else but rigging the education system once again and dumbing people down even more.

Are you kidding me? What would you have these kids do? Hang around in school till they're 23 years old and be gifted a matric certificate to get them out??

 

[ɹǝuuᴉM]

An IQ test doesn't indicate someones intelligence, it just indicates someone knows how to do an IQ test.

Absolute bs. Patterns can not be learned! If you are reeeealy dumb, it will take you even longer on the first few tests. Afterall, you can not even figure out what the test wants from you but even so the improvements will be minimal. The tests are designed that way. The patterns are progressively more and more difficult to figure out. The only think proven is to use some stimulating drug. But that has its own side effects.
Pattern computing is the future. Encoding information in entire patterns instead of bits and bytes, is the "holy grail" of AI. All big companies have recognized that and are working on it at an ever increasing pace. There is a reason why 1st world countries put so much weight on this tests. Their entire school system is based on them. IQ tests are a sensitive issue though and are disguised under some other name.

 

[ɹǝuuᴉM]

Maybe so, but they do not measure intelligence. Also, plenty thick turds have career success and wealth - ask Julius and Floyd, and innumerable others.

Of course. Higher Intelligence gives you an advantage but it is not absolute! Ramaphoza is a multi billionaire and so is Bill Gates but the way how they got their billions is very much different.

 

[ɹǝuuᴉM]

Not really, a dog will never be able to predict the motion of a planet using a first principle like Newtonian gravity.


Because the theory of multiple intelligences is BS. There isn't cooking intelligence or feminist-belly-button-lint-picking intelligence.

As I have repeatedly told you, intelligence, as measured by the IQ test, measures how quickly you can learn a complex task. The evidence for this, is that people we consider to be highly intelligent have good understanding of multiple unrelated fields.


The question is why do we regard them as intelligent? It is because they are able to be highly effective at learning across very different domains of knowledge and skill. Normal computers are not intelligent in this regard as they are only ridiculously effective at solving problems that are set about in a very specific way.


Most of psychology is rubbish.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/11/psychologys-replication-crisis-real/576223/

IQ is one of the few spots where it is possible to replicate results.

Good post but don't waste time with Rwenzori. Certain people will never learn. Live with it.

 

[Mystic Twilight]

Yeah no, they want these kids to leave school at the age of 14/15/16 and then go to some college or trademanship where they can learn specific skills and then start a job in a few months or years. This is nothing but getting rid of those who eventually disappear from the system, to make the matric results look better. Nothing good can or will ever come from this. This has to be one of the most stupid ideas, if not the most stupid idea the ANC have ever come up with. In short, this is nothing else but rigging the education system once again and dumbing people down even more.

Forcing them out is one thing, but providing an optional alternative path is reasonable. Semantics and metrics aside for the matric pass rate, allowing students who are not cut out for university level oriented academics to go into a meaningful path of skills development and employment is useful for themselves and society. The current problem is that, the government has no functional mechanism and path way for these learners to go towards trade schools or similar once they leave at grade 9. This problem still persists even if they don't have the grade 9 alternative exit, you just end up with matric level leavers who still can't go to university, instead of grade 9 leavers who cant go to university. So the missing key component is the further education and training to absorb the grade 9 learner who exits formal school education.

 

[ForceFate]

Yeah no, they want these kids to leave school at the age of 14/15/16 and then go to some college or trademanship where they can learn specific skills and then start a job in a few months or years. This is nothing but getting rid of those who eventually disappear from the system, to make the matric results look better. Nothing good can or will ever come from this. This has to be one of the most stupid ideas, if not the most stupid idea the ANC have ever come up with. In short, this is nothing else but rigging the education system once again and dumbing people down even more.

What would be the point of keeping them in school? They don't learn much and would rather be elsewhere learning something else.

 

[ForceFate]

Of course. Higher Intelligence gives you an advantage but it is not absolute! Ramaphoza is a multi billionaire and so is Bill Gates but the way how they got their billions is very much different.

Paris Hilton is a multimillionaire as well. Kim Kardashian? What's your point? Money doesn't define intelligence.

 

[ForceFate]

Absolute bs. Patterns can not be learned! If you are reeeealy dumb, it will take you even longer on the first few tests. Afterall, you can not even figure out what the test wants from you but even so the improvements will be minimal. The tests are designed that way. The patterns are progressively more and more difficult to figure out. The only think proven is to use some stimulating drug. But that has its own side effects.
Pattern computing is the future. Encoding information in entire patterns instead of bits and bytes, is the "holy grail" of AI. All big companies have recognized that and are working on it at an ever increasing pace. There is a reason why 1st world countries put so much weight on this tests. Their entire school system is based on them. IQ tests are a sensitive issue though and are disguised under some other name.

Patterns can be learned. Even animals have ability to learn patterns and solve simple puzzles.

 

[ɹǝuuᴉM]

Ok. I was too short in my explanation and obviously you did not get it. Yes, patterns can be learned thru training. But the amount of time it takes to learn a new pattern is inversely proportional to the level of innate intelligence a system has.
In even simpler words: The more intelligent you are, the less time will take you to "figure out" and learn a new pattern. But it is impossible to train on a pattern you have never seen before. And it is impossible to learn all the patterns in the world beforehand because their number is infinite and your intelligence is finite. Hence you can not train beforehand for a properly designed test. Keep in mind, patterns are all over in nature. I am not talking about number and shapes only. If someone says that Intelligence tests can be learned, he is in fact telling you that he has no clue what he is talking about. Same goes for the people saying that faster than light travel is possible.
I hope I am clear enough.

 

[doubletrouble]

Mamphela Ramphele: Not a Grade 9 certificate, but these 5 things will empower our children

What society in a modern knowledge driven global community sets 30% and 40% as pass rates for its children and then sends them on their way with a Grade 9 certificate, asks Mamphela Ramphele.

Wisdom teaches us that one cannot address a problem without asking the tough uncomfortable questions. As health professionals, we were constantly challenged by our teachers to spend more time diagnosing the problem being presented by patients instead of jumping to conclusions that are likely to lead to wrong if not dangerous prescriptions.

The proposed Grade 9 certificate by Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, is a prescription for problems with dimensions and root causes she seems resolute in avoiding confronting. The question we should be asking ourselves as a society is why after 25 years of poor quality education outcomes we are still struggling to confront the root causes of this tragedy? Is there perhaps a mindset that propels us to have low expectations of our children, our teachers and ourselves?

What society sets 30% and 40% as pass rates for its children in a modern knowledge driven global community? What society tolerates 20% absenteeism of teachers on Mondays and Fridays, rising to 33% at every month-end? What society tolerates the culture that has normalised the practice that in schools serving predominantly poor black children only an average 3.5 hours per school day is spent teaching compared to 6.5 hours in the middle and upper-class schools?

Mamphela Ramphele: Not a Grade 9 certificate, but these 5 things will empower our children

What society in a modern knowledge driven global community sets 30% and 40% as pass rates for its children and then sends them on their way with a Grade 9 certificate, asks Mamphela Ramphele.

www.news24.com

 

[CT_Biker]

Good idea, the technical colleges are still not adequate because their technical streams still expect people who struggled at school to do mathematics.

Not trying to sound like a dick. I taught myself Maths recently up to Matric level and I chose to do it because it aligned with some of my other interests. I do not use or need it everyday, but I am grateful I have a better understanding of it now and it has given me the confidence to go back to Uni and study something that involves Math.

Apparently the education system does not understand that a child, and an adult can be "primed" to learn something out of their own volition if you or said the said person can find what they are really interested or what they show aptitude for.

 

[LazyLion]

Keep them dumb so they keep voting ANC!