Uproar over new school pass marks

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Sly21C

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By Ilse Fredericks
Education Writer

Teacher unions are up in arms over new pass requirements for grades 1 to 9, which they say will result in large numbers of pupils failing this year.

According to a circular sent to schools this week:


•To pass in the foundation phase (grades 1 to 3), pupils will have to obtain a rating of at least 3, on a scale of 1 to 4, for literacy and numeracy.


•To pass in the intermediate phase (grades 4 to 6) a rating of at least 3 (50 to 69%) must be achieved for any three subjects, one of which must be either the home language or the language of instruction. Pupils will also have to get a rating code of 2 (35 to 49%) for any of the three remaining subjects, one of which must be maths.


•To pass in Grades 7 and 8 and to be promoted in Grade 9, a rating of 4 (50 to 59%), on a rating scale of 1 to 7, has to be achieved for any three subjects, one of which must be the home language or the language of instructions. Pupils will also have to achieve a rating of 3 (40 to 49%) for any three of the remaining subjects, one of which must be maths.

David Millar, provincial chairperson of teachers union Naptosa, said he could not understand why the requirements were being implemented in the middle of the year and without consultation.
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The Star

I think this is a step in the right direction by the Department to let pupils achieve higher marks if they want to pass, teacher unions are crazy if they always want pass marks lowered in order to let many pupils to pass.
 
Agreed. If you lower the pass rate and basically 'put' pupils through school, they WILL struggle at university, where they will NOT lower the pass marks because they have to keep up to international standards for degrees and doctrates.
 
Sly21C said:
The Star

I think this is a step in the right direction by the Department to let pupils achieve higher marks if they want to pass, teacher unions are crazy if they always want pass marks lowered in order to let many pupils to pass.
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+1

If this is actually done I will be very happy and impressed.
 
Not cool if you move the goal post mid year.
 
They've moved the goal post from complete retard to... "oh i will have to actually study to pass"
 
KillerX said:
They've moved the goal post from complete retard to... "oh i will have to actually study to pass"
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not really... more like moving it from complete retard to able to read a bit, and add single digits
 
While I think it's mostly positive, I still reckon there is absolutely no point in increasing the pass mark while at the same time, lowering the standard of education...
 
DJK said:
While I think it's mostly positive, I still reckon there is absolutely no point in increasing the pass mark while at the same time, lowering the standard of education...
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Exactly.

And doing it midway through the year is not fair either.
 
I doubt if this'll do much to raise the marks soon.

The whole system needs an overhaul and anouncing this now goes to show how disorganised things are.

Its wrong to blame it all on the kids. We as parents have a duty to educate our kids to the best of their abillity whether they like it or not.

Face it, since abolishing corporal punishment we have no discipline in schools and this has made it much more difficult te educate kids. Add onto this overcrowded classrooms and poorly motivated teachers and what do you expect?

Raise the standard of discipline and improve/increase facillities and teachers.:D
 
well at the moment the required % to pass is between 29 and 35% depending on subjects - you need half a braincell to get that.
 
Morgoth said:
well at the moment the required % to pass is between 29 and 35% depending on subjects - you need half a braincell to get that.
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+1
ja ... sad situation that kids think a "matric pass" with those kind of results is going to get them anywhere.
I don't think what you achieve at school is the be-all and end-all indicator of one's success (or lack thereof) in life, but hell ... who expects to be taken seriously when you don't know 70% -odd of what you're supposed to
 
David Millar, provincial chairperson of teachers union Naptosa, said he could not understand why the requirements were being implemented in the middle of the year and without consultation.
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Did this guy notice the election, and the fact that he has a new minister?
 
new minister new policy
+1 for the minister.
I agree - increase the requirements. If you can't read when you leave school you should not leave school. I define reading as better than Zuma's 2 words at a time.
 
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