Progressed learners won’t hold back FS

… As Premier Magashule and MEC Makgoe urge matric candidates to have courage and aim higher 

Free State education MEC Tate Makgoe says the issue of progressed learners was not likely to affect the province’s pass rate as the selection was more stringent to ensure that only the best students were allowed into grade 12.

The MEC said there were no wholesale promotions into grade 12 and students writing their final high school exams this year had proved that they were ready to move forward following the rigorous selection process.

Makgoe said this when he launched the 2016 Grade 12 Radio Revision Programme on Tuesday last week at the University of Free State, South Campus.

The Free State came out tops in 2013 with an 87.4 percent pass rate but was placed third last year with a pass rate of 81.6 percent.

“What happened this year is that there was a criteria followed. It was not just pass one, pass all,” said Makgoe in an interview.

“You had to at least pass English and you had to pass at least four subjects. So the quality of learners that we have this year is the same as the quality that we had last year,” he added.
The MEC said the drop in last year year’s pass rate was somehow expected following a decision by basic education minister Angie Motshekga to allow students that had done well in the lower grades to proceed to grade 12.

He said the selection criteria had since been refined and better results were expected from the class of 2016.

“What happened about three years ago was that there was a group of learners who did not pass grade 11 were pushed to grade 12 based on the policy of the minister… but despite those challenges of last year, we were able to achieve a pass rate of almost 82 percent and that’s why I’m so confident that this year we must get the 90 percent,” said Makgoe.

The intensive revision programme forms part of the departmental interventions programmes to improve scholastic performance in this year’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations which will be set from October 24 to November 29.

About 32 091 students have registered for the exams in the province. At least 29 000 of them are full time while 3 716 are part-time students.

Programme which was launched under the theme “Preparing Learners For Exams Through Airwaves” includes 20 lessons on 10 community radio stations in the province for 45 minutes. The community radio programmes started yesterday (October 13) and will end on November 18.

The SABC’s Lesedi FM Radio Revision Programme which focuses exclusively on Sesotho started on September 19 and will run until October 27. The lessons on this programme focus mainly on common errors in summary writing, grammar, poetry and on how to answer essay questions in literature.

Other subjects to be broadcast on community radio stations include: accounting, mathematics, geography, economics, life science, business studies, physical science, Sesotho, history, and English.
The province is also implementing the Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) as another intervention programme to improve the academic performance of learners.
The IBP which is presented from the UFS South Campus, makes use of the best teachers to broadcast lessons to 90 schools and reaching more than 70 000 Grade 8-12 learners throughout the province.
It is anticipated that the radio revision and IBP programmes will ensure that the department has a wider reach beyond the classroom and at the same time reach parents and the community at large and encourage them to give support to learners and afford them a chance to study.

Makgoe believes that the revision programmes will help instil confidence in the learners and push them to do well in the examinations at the end of the year.
The MEC will announce the outcome of the 2016 provincial Grade 12 examinations on January 5, 2017 at the annual Well Done Function to be held at the Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein campus.

The province has set a target of 90 percent pass rate and 40 percent bachelor passes for this year.

Meanwhile, Magashule and Makgoe last week led the matric candidates in signing pledges to uphold examination rules.

In a pledge singing event attended by Makgoe last Friday, the MEC led about 1 200 of the grade 12 learners in signing pledges to conduct themselves in accordance with rules and regulations governing the conduct of candidates during the all-important school leaving exam.

During the event which took place at Kagisho Comprehensive Secondary School in Bloemfontein, Makgoe encouraged learners to stay focused on their work so that they can achieve good results to enable them to further their studies.

He advised the learners not to be involved in any form of cheating as it could compromise their academic future.

Grade 12 pledge signing ceremonies also took place at other schools in the province as well as throughout the country.

The signing of the pledge is not compulsory but learners are encouraged to sign the pledge.

“It is a right thing to do as it will go a long way in enhancing the credibility of our National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examinations,” said Makgoe.

In the pledge, the learners promised to uphold the principles of honesty and integrity in this examination by complying with all the rules and regulations relevant to the National Senior Certificate examination

“We pledge to not participating in any wrongdoing which includes, but not limited to copying, being in possession of unauthorised material or electronic devices such as cell-phones, accepting or providing assistance to another candidate, writing on behalf of another candidate or any other unauthorised action,” read part of the pledge.

“We will also be supportive of our peers as we prepare in earnest for this examination. We will also not be deterred by personal or other circumstances as we strive to achieve our National Senior Certificate qualification,” continues the pledge.

At another pledge signing ceremony held at Lenyora La Thuto Comprehensive School in Botshabelo, Premier Ace Magashule, who was accompanied by Mangaung Metropolitan executive mayor Olly Mlamleli, also urged matriculants to remain positive and dedicated ahead of their final exams which start on October 24 and will end on November 29.

The decision to encourage learners to sign the pledge was taken by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) in 2013 in a bid to curb any examination irregularities. The CEM is a forum comprising of all the provincial MECs and chaired by basic education minister Angie Motshekga.