WEAK MATRIC PUPILS PUSHED TO DROP SUBJECTS 18 Oct 2013 Bongani Nkosi Pressure is being put on failing matrics to forgo writing to massage the pass rate, say educators. With matric exams due to start in less than two weeks, pupils at three Gauteng schools have told the Mail & Guardian that their schools are forcing them not to write papers in their weaker ¬subjects. This appears to be a bid by the schools to massage their pass rates, because pupils who do not write exams in all their grade 12 subjects are classified as part time. The results of part-timers are not used to calculate matric pass rates at any level – school, provincial or national – even when the pupils concerned have attended school full time in grade 12. They have forced me to drop three subjects I didnt pass during the trial examination, said a pupil at Siyaphambili High School in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg. I might not have done well in the trial exams, but that is no guarantee Ill fail them in the final. Its only fair to give me a chance. Pupils at the nearby Vutomi and Isikhumbuzo high schools, who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisal, had similar stories to tell. All three are low-cost independent schools that elect to write the public matric exam. Five enraged Vutomi pupils said 44 of the schools 96 full-time matrics were now part-time candidates. A Siyaphambili pupil said 16 or 17 in her class of 25 were being treated in this way, and Isikhumbuzo pupils estimated that more than 20 of 58 pupils were similarly affected. They want us to make it look as if we were sick [on the day of an exam]. They have forced our parents to agree to it, said a Siyaphambili pupil. With tears in her eyes, a girl from Isikhumbuzo said she was told on Wednesday last week that she would not write two subjects. Theyll make you [produce] a doctors note that you were sick, she said. Another Isikhumbuzo pupil said the schools management had told selected matrics it could not risk allowing non-performers to tarnish the schools pass rate. Of the 35 who wrote last year, 83% passed. They are fighting to achieve 100%, she said. They must give us a chance because they dont know how well perform in the final. Matrics at Vutomi said the schools management threatened that they would not be allowed to write at all if they refused to register as part-timers. Ive been in school the whole year and also passed all subjects in grade 11, but now Im told Im part-time. Is that fair? asked a Vutomi pupil. Registering pupils who have been attending school the entire year as part-time candidates is illegal, said Mafu Rakometsi, the chief executive of Umalusi, the states matric exam quality assurer. Even in independent schools, the government is paying subsidies for those learners to be full-time. Where provincial education departments detect this kind of anomaly, they are supposed to deal with it accordingly, he said. The Orange Farm schools are not members of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, whose director, Jane Hofmeyr, condemned such practices as unethical and illegal. But the countrys very low-fee, independent schools serving significantly disadvantaged learners are under enormous pressure to … meet the average provincial pass rate every year to continue to receive a subsidy, she said. Last year, Gautengs overall pass rate was 83%, but only 17% of Vutomi Highs 87 matrics passed. However, the schools principal, Nicholas Hama, and its manager, Alpheus Mokhalabane, denied any pupils were being forced to write part time. Mokhalabane said the school would not resort to such desperate measures to ensure a dramatically improved pass rate. But he went on to say that some pupils had, indeed, been registered as part-timers because of poor performance: They passed with low marks in grade 11. What are we going to do with learners who cant pass matric? The pupils and their parents had consented to this, Mokhalabane said. The education department contradicted this account. Following receipt of the M&Gs questions, senior officials in the department had visited all three schools, said Gauteng education department spokesperson Gershwin Chuenyane. The school [Vutomi] alleges that 47 learners have chosen to write five subjects despite departmental records indicating that all 47 of them are registered to write all seven subjects, Chuenyane said.The department has instructed the school to ensure that all 47 candidates write all subjects as per registration and according to their timetables. Mduduzi Tshuma, the principal of Isikhumbuzo, said it was news to him that some of his pupils would not write all papers. Maybe what caused panic [among pupils] is that I called learners who were not performing well to come to my office with their parents after the trial exams [in October]. I do this all the time, [and] I dont mince my words that you need to work hard in this or that subject. Here, the department found a picture different to the one painted by pupils. All learners are registered as full-time candidates, except for seven who are repeaters and are to write between two and three subjects, Chuenyane said. Siyaphambili principal Sibusiso Makhanya did not answer phone calls or respond to the M&Gs hand-delivered request at the school this week to communicate with the paper. Of this school, the department claimed: All learners are registered as full-time candidates except for one repeater candidate. Analysing last years matric results, rights organisation Equal Education said the 73.9% pass rate did not account for thousands lost to education. Some schools resort to gaming the system by pushing poor performing learners out of the system in order to protect their schools pass rate. Learners may also be moved from full-time to part-time candidates, it said. But Chuenyane said: No learners or parents [at the Orange Farm schools] have reported such a problem to the district office since the beginning of the year. The M&G reported in December 2011 concern in Parliaments basic education portfolio committee about the large year-on-year increase in part-time candidates. The number shot up from 39 351 in 2009 to 108 237 in 2011. The number increased to 130 000 this year, Umalusi announced at a press conference on Tuesday. A total of 707 136 candidates have registered for the 2013 matric exams. Low-fee schools serving disadvantaged learners are under pressure to meet the provincial pass average ________________________________________ Bongani is an education reporter at the Mail & Guardian.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:00:36 +0000
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