Scored 20% for maths? You still pass

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Durban – Pupils in grades 7, 8 and 9 who got below 40% for maths and, consequently, failed this year are being thrown a lifeline. The Department of Basic Education has announced that they can be progressed to the next grade as long as they have achieved a minimum mark of 20%. In a circular this month, the department said the current set of promotion requirements “may impact negatively on a high number of learners in the phase (grades 7 to 9)”. It said a special condonation dispensation had been approved, so pupils who had failed the year – because they had achieved less than 40% for maths – could be promoted as long as they had achieved at least 20% for the subject and met all other promotional requirements. Notes that their maths marks had been condoned had to appear on the mark schedules and on reports. Grade 9 pupils who achieved below 30% would not be allowed to take maths in Grade 10; they would have to instead take maths literacy. Professor Wayne Hugo, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s school of education and development, said some might feel that standards were dropping and that pupils who should be kept behind were getting through. “And this is true on an individual level,” he said, “but systemically speaking, an increased failure rate and keeping students back is very damaging and should be prevented.”

Hugo said, as a rule, it was important in an education system to prevent failure. “It results in massive disruptions in the system and the failed students mostly do not improve from their repeat year,” he said. “So anything that can be done to ensure that students pass makes sense to me, in the bigger scheme of things.”

Hugo said it was important to keep track of what had been done to assist pupils in passing, by using condoned passes, and then forcing very poorly performing pupils to do maths literacy.

Leann Roos, of the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie, said the number of pupils being retained in the senior phase as a result of failing maths was problematic. “This condonation assists in reducing the number of pupils who need to be retained in a phase,” she said.

Roos was concerned with the timing of the department’s announcement. “This circular was released at a time when schools had completed mark schedules and had had them signed off by the provincial department officials.”

Roos also said that, as of yesterday, not all districts had distributed the circular to schools. “They are finding out from the unions,” she said.

“In many cases, schools have already informed parents of pupils who were not promoted that their children had to repeat the grade.”

Roos said this was a traumatic experience for a child and that schools were now having to contact these parents to inform them that their children were now promoted to the next grade.

Education spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said the department anticipated that the provinces would be able to communicate any confusion that could arise and ensure that parents and pupils alike were informed about any changes that could affect their progression.

The Mercury