Matric marking: 'Change needed'

[semiautomatix]

Durban - The process of marking matric papers is unfair as it fails to recognise English is not the mother tongue of most pupils, teachers' union Sadtu in KwaZulu-Natal said on Monday.

SA Democratic Teachers' Union provincial secretary Mbuyiseni Mathonsi told a press briefing in Durban: "The current marking system is old. It was designed by the apartheid government to fail our learners.

Now I've read this because it has come from the teachers' union, but I have to ask myself if there are any history teachers in this group. Was the 1976 Soweto Riots not about being taught in Afrikaans? Would these unions have children illiterate in English?

Afrikaans is the domain of South Africa, but having a strong English understanding, especially taught from Grade 1, gives learners a very big advantage not only in this country, but the entire world.

"We have a situation where markers in every subject mark English before they mark content. Many learners fail because of that."

Unfortunately the two are part and parcel. If the markers don't understand the grammar they will never be able to understand the context.

Markers were also not allowed to mark answers which were not in the memorandum, even if they were correct or they made sense, he said

If this is the truth then I would begin to question the system; yet the problem may be that the people marking the exams might not be well versed in the subject matter. For example, an accounting teacher marking a science paper. This could prove problematic is markers were given carte blanche.

http://www.news24.com/Content/South...13-07-2009 09-07/Matric_marking_Change_needed

I think the question that needs to be asked is why aren't these children stronger in the English language? It only serves to benefit there future. Yes, perhaps the teachers are not fluent enough, but that is where the government needs to educate the educators. If the educators have good English skills then why are they not being passed on.

Sadtu, unfortunately, wants to treat the symptom and not the cause; something that seems to be the norm in this country these days.

 

[UltimateWarez]

if you grammar sucks then you shouldn't expect getting an A in science nor biology...how ironic will it be if someone gets 90% but can't even spell properly?

this new government just trying to make a way so more people pass who actually shouldn't pass ... whats the point? cause evidently they are going to fail at the greater scheme of things...

sucks being caught up in all this is my final year of school...matric 2009

 

[semiautomatix]

if you grammar sucks then you shouldn't expect getting an A in science nor biology...how ironic will it be if someone gets 90% but can't even spell properly?

this new government just trying to make a way so more people pass who actually shouldn't pass ... whats the point? cause evidently they are going to fail at the greater scheme of things...

sucks being caught up in all this is my final year of school...matric 2009

Could you imagine what will happen if these guys have to remember the Latin names in biology?

Sucks to hear man, good luck with your exams though. Get into a decent uni and you'll be sorted!

 

[Inertia]

if you grammar sucks then you shouldn't expect getting an A in science nor biology...how ironic will it be if someone gets 90% but can't even spell properly?

this new government just trying to make a way so more people pass who actually shouldn't pass ... whats the point? cause evidently they are going to fail at the greater scheme of things...

sucks being caught up in all this is my final year of school...matric 2009

Suppose you're not expecting an A in either then...

 

[Drake2007]

It was designed by the apartheid government to fail our learners.

Or maybe it was designed to have a high education system and get some sort of knowledge into your little brain?

 

[RetroBok]

You do have to ask the question though... Why would the apartheid government spend millions on building schools and setting up a separate education system just so pupils could fail?

 

[Drake2007]

First it was a problem that the Bantu education system was holding them all back and now Mathonsi wants to blame apartheid for what exactly? Being too higher grade for 2nd language learners to pass?

Mathonsi needs to rethink that strategy.