THOUSANDS of Eastern Cape pupils’ ability to read, write and count will be put to the test next week with the Annual National Assessments (ANA).
The assessments will see pupils from Grades 1 to 6 and 9 tested on language and mathematics skills.
The exams start on September 10 and run to September 13. For the past two years, the province’s pupils have underperformed in ANA.
Education expert Dr Ken Alston was not optimistic on how pupils would fare this year. “It’s either the standard of those exams is too high or the standard of teaching is bad,” Alston said.
“Either way, this is something that needs to be looked into. And most importantly, I’d really like to know what purpose these exams serve.
“Unless the department to do something to turn the dismal results around then we’re making these kids these exams for nothing.”
But education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani was upbeat and said pupils were well prepared.
“Full training has been given to all ANA coordinators and 25 officials have been released from head office and have visited all schools,” he said.
Schools were also provided with guidelines, Pulumani said.
Delivery of exam papers to schools will take place this week. In an effort to regulate standardisation and performance, papers from 188 schools in the province will be assessed by an independent authority.
“Those are the steps the department has taken to ensure ANA kicks off on the right note and that all systems are in place to ensure the exams run smoothly,” Pulumani said.
A number of schools said they were well prepared for the exams.
Aqua Vista Primary School principal Victor Schmidlin yesterday said the question papers arrived at the school, which was an issue in the past.
“We started preparing a while ago and we received old scripts, which the pupils have been working with to ensure they know what to expect and how to answer questions,” he said.
Nomonde Mda, principal of Nompumelelo Public School in Duncan Village, said the revision papers had greatly assisted. “The old papers allowed us to show children how to work in an exam situation where they have limited time to answer questions, which is important, especially for grade ones.”
Parents were also roped in, she said, and were tasked with ensuring children studied when they arrived home.
Last year’s results, which had been issued by the Department of Basic Education, indicated that Grade 5 maths had shown the least improvement with a percentage of 28.1%, with only 12% of the province’s pupils managing a pass of 50% and above.
Grade 2 pupils had achieved 55.2% in maths, as compared to 58% in 2011, which showed a noticeable drop in performance. The Eastern Cape showed the least improvement with Grade 2 language across-the-board with a 52.8% pass rate.
Pupils to be put to the test in maths and language assessments nationally
The assessments will see pupils from Grades 1 to 6 and 9 tested on language and mathematics skills.
The exams start on September 10 and run to September 13. For the past two years, the province’s pupils have underperformed in ANA.
Education expert Dr Ken Alston was not optimistic on how pupils would fare this year. “It’s either the standard of those exams is too high or the standard of teaching is bad,” Alston said.
“Either way, this is something that needs to be looked into. And most importantly, I’d really like to know what purpose these exams serve.
“Unless the department to do something to turn the dismal results around then we’re making these kids these exams for nothing.”
But education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani was upbeat and said pupils were well prepared.
“Full training has been given to all ANA coordinators and 25 officials have been released from head office and have visited all schools,” he said.
Schools were also provided with guidelines, Pulumani said.
Delivery of exam papers to schools will take place this week. In an effort to regulate standardisation and performance, papers from 188 schools in the province will be assessed by an independent authority.
“Those are the steps the department has taken to ensure ANA kicks off on the right note and that all systems are in place to ensure the exams run smoothly,” Pulumani said.
A number of schools said they were well prepared for the exams.
Aqua Vista Primary School principal Victor Schmidlin yesterday said the question papers arrived at the school, which was an issue in the past.
“We started preparing a while ago and we received old scripts, which the pupils have been working with to ensure they know what to expect and how to answer questions,” he said.
Nomonde Mda, principal of Nompumelelo Public School in Duncan Village, said the revision papers had greatly assisted. “The old papers allowed us to show children how to work in an exam situation where they have limited time to answer questions, which is important, especially for grade ones.”
Parents were also roped in, she said, and were tasked with ensuring children studied when they arrived home.
Last year’s results, which had been issued by the Department of Basic Education, indicated that Grade 5 maths had shown the least improvement with a percentage of 28.1%, with only 12% of the province’s pupils managing a pass of 50% and above.
Grade 2 pupils had achieved 55.2% in maths, as compared to 58% in 2011, which showed a noticeable drop in performance. The Eastern Cape showed the least improvement with Grade 2 language across-the-board with a 52.8% pass rate.
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