Grade Nine a 'weak link' in system: Motshekga

LazyLion

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Grade Nine is the weak link in the education system, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Thursday.

Grade Nine showed no movement from the 43 percent scored in language last year, with a drop of two percent for the first additional language, she said in Pretoria.

"In mathematics, the national average is 14 percent, compared to 13 percent in 2012."

Motshekga was speaking at the release of the annual national assessment (ANA) results for 2013.

According to the ANA, the national average performance for literacy in Grade One improved by two percent to 60 percent, but the numeracy level dropped by eight percent to 60 percent.

The Grade Two average performance was up two percent to 57 percent as was the numeracy level, at 59 percent.

Grade Three literacy was down by one percent at 51 percent, but numeracy was up by 12 percent to 53 percent. The Grade Four numeracy level was unchanged at 37 percent.

In Grade Five, numeracy increased by three percent to 33 percent, home language by six percent to 46 percent, first additional language by seven percent to 37 percent, and numeracy by three percent to 33 percent.

The biggest improvement was shown in Grade Six, where the home language level was up 16 percent to 59 percent, first additional language 10 percent to 46 percent, and mathematics 12 percent to 39 percent.

Motshekga said the process was influencing and driving improvements in performance.

The National Teachers' Union welcomed the results, but expressed disappointment that not all individual marks were considered.

Deputy president Allen Thompson said this was because some provincial departments of education had failed to submit marks on time.

"This shows that the provincial education department might not be considering the ANA assessment as seriously as all of us do."

He called on the department to take the ANA seriously and to grant it the same status as the matric examination.

This was the only available instrument to determine the failure or success of the education system.

"This will alleviate the unnecessary surprises during the final year of the schooling of learners," he said.


Source : Sapa /kn/hdw/jje/cls
Date : 05 Dec 2013 14:02
 
you are confused, they get to grade nine then they figure out that the pupils can't read... The problem is earlier on.

( Just had to assist 2 grade 9 kids through it)

They can't read.

If you can't read you can't read the test.

In Primary School they cruze through. High school catches them out.
 
Uhm, no. Our entire public education is a "weak link" in the system. Teach to old lower grade standards and then set the bar so low you could just about fall over it...

People that want to learn, will still learn and succeed. The other 90% get a worthless piece of paper.
 
The issue is that kids in grade 8 are pushed through, as they do not have the requisite skills to get through on their own. The issue is compounded as they go through the grades. It disappears thereafter because they drop out in grade 10 and onwards. The basic education in primary school is failing kids, dismally...
 
national mathematics average = 14% ?

that is surely not the average mark kids are getting for mathematics, cant be !
 
Motshekga is certainly the missing link in the delivery of textbooks.
 
"if they can show were the toilet is, it means they are not stupid and you must pass them" an education inspector told after instructing the teachers at my mothers school to pass every child that failed in that primary school
 
The only frecking weak links I can see is the stupid moronic ANC MP's responsible for the great failed education experiments! Probably because they were failures themselves!
 
Grade Nine is the weak link in the education system, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Thursday.

Erm...NO
If you need to put the blame somewhere, it is grade 7, for 2 main reasons, one is they push everyone through knowing that their is no fallout and that the high school can't send the kids back to primary school.
The second is that there are various grade 7 standards depending on the school, so not everyone that so called "passed" grade 7, is at the same level.

My solution would be to have entry level exams for high school in English and Maths and a new gap year introduced for those who fail and they get brought up to standard. If all that these kids need to focus on in the gap year is just two subjects, then they should all be able to get up to speed for the high school requirements.

What is happening now is that you have kids who have so called passed primary school and are in grade 8 and do not know the difference between odd and even numbers.
 
Teach our kids to read not recognize words.

And reading is a parents responsibility as well. Make them read. My parents forced me to go to the library and read at least one book a week. I hated it at first. I thank them for it everyday.

I'm not saying they should be book worms, but at least they will be able to understand what they are reading and not just recognize the words.
 
First a question.

Are you going to give me a chance to tell you what the real problem is?
 
I would lay the blame, firstly at the quality of teachers coming out of colleges and universities. Some of them are amazing people who only want to touch the lives of children and deserve the mantle of educator. The majority are dropouts of formal education who fell back to teaching as a last resort.

Secondly, I would blame the education department removing the power from schools to actually discipline children who perform badly. You would not believe the rigmarole of a full disciplinary process and how much paperwork it generates. Along with the education department I would lump in the parents who can't seem to fathom that their child is a lazy piece of **** that isn't even doing the basic minimum required by the department to actually pass.

The system is the last failure in the chain in that it promotes a bare minimum approach. The syllabus is full of propaganda and ever lowering standards. Most high school educators are floored at just how unprepared the grade 8's are for a high school curriculum and the lack of general knowledge, especially from the underprivileged or previously disadvantaged pupils. Of course I don't expect them to have the resources of their counter parts, but there is NO thirst to seek out this missing knowledge and the attitude of the parents towards teachers goes a long way in this regard.
 
My solution would be to have entry level exams for high school in English and Maths and a new gap year introduced for those who fail and they get brought up to standard. If all that these kids need to focus on in the gap year is just two subjects, then they should all be able to get up to speed for the high school requirements.

Lol, a gap year before high school. You're treating the symptoms, not the problem.

Obviously if you can only fail once per phase there is going to a huge problem at some point. The fact that things have deteriorated to the point where large numbers of pupils are failing at school should be a pretty serious warning sign though, it's not as if passing is particularly difficult.
 
The kids got their marks on Wednesday... One failed grade 8. They just put him through.

He failed more than 4 subjects.
What angers me just as much as this dismal education system is that parents can not be parents and tell him he will redo the grrade.

YOU ARE THE BLOODY PARENT.


// rant over

oh well this just makes me more employable. Carry on ANC carry on. I like the security.( I don"t have kids I just, I just Keep an eye over 3 during working hours, Make them sit in front of the books. Yes I'm not stupid they pretend to learn but hey.)
 
The ANC does not want educated people they might just vote them out.
 
The ANC does not want educated people they might just vote them out.

Well yes, that is the master plan right there. Stupid people are easier to control, and are vulnerable to manipulation via the media and the propaganda they spew
 
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