Task force to jack up matric results

As pecial task team will be appointed by the Department of Basic Education to bolster pupil performance in maths, physical science, accounting and English.

The establishment of the unit, which will assist each province according to its needs, was confirmed by Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga this week.

Its objective will be to increase the number of pupils passing maths by 55000 and physical science by 50000 over the next four years.

The plan comes amid another round of dismal results in maths, physical science and accounting.

Although the pass rate in maths increased by 1.4% and in physical science by 11% from 2009, only 124749 out of 263034 candidates passed maths, while 98260 out of 205364 pupils scraped a pass in physical science. Accounting increased by 1.3% with 101093 out of 160991 pupils passing.

Just under one out of three maths and physical science pupils achieved a pass of 40% and upwards.

Only 30.9% of maths pupils and 29.7% of physical science pupils achieved 40%, while in agricultural science, generally perceived to be an easy subject to pass, only 32.1% of candidates achieved 40%.

In accounting, 35.3% of pupils scraped a 40% pass, while 40.6% of pupils in geography managed to pass at 40%.

The task team will also be responsible for ensuring that the number of pupils qualifying for a bachelor's pass increases by 65000 by 2014.

To qualify for a matric pass, pupils need to score at least 40% in three subjects, including their home language, and 30% in three others. They are allowed to fail one subject.

The national matric pass rate, which has plummeted since 2004, increased by 7.2%, from 60.6% in 2009 to 67.8%. A total of 126371 of the 364513 who passed the exams qualified for university admission.

Director-general of basic education Bobby Soobrayan said a chief director, as well as three directors and other staff, would be appointed to the unit by next month.

"The unit will be working with provinces to monitor progress and intervene where necessary. The unit will also focus on ensuring that targets ... are met," he said.

The unit would work closely with him and other officials of the department . "We are looking at appointing quality people who have a flair and taste for implementation."

He said the department was aiming at replicating the successes of the 500 Dinaledi schools - dedicated maths and science schools - at other schools.

Although the 67.8% pass rate has been welcomed by President Jacob Zuma, teacher unions and political parties, some principals have questioned it.

"How is this possible in a year when schooling was disrupted by the World Cup and a prolonged teachers' strike?" asked one.

He said although his school had performed well, he was taking the results "with a pinch of salt".

Umalusi, the assessment body responsible for quality assurance and approving the matric results, has declined to disclose the nine out of 58 subjects in which marks were adjusted upwards during the standardisation process.

The body, which has the power to make upwards or downwards adjustments to marks in a subject by a maximum of 10%, said it did not make a full 10% adjustment in any subject.

The raw marks of 39 subjects were left unchanged, while marks in 10 subjects were adjusted downwards.

Umalusi's chief executive, Mafu Rakometsi, said the standardisation process was confidential. "Disclosing standardisation decisions in respect of particular subjects will be prejudicial to pupils. It is important that pupils who pass the exams are not made to feel any less capable in their subjects because their subjects were adjusted," he said.

Among those who expressed surprise at the sudden jump in the pass rate was Alfred Mpontshane, a member of parliament's education portfolio committee.

"Until I analyse the results, I will remain sceptical. It's not that we didn't expect our kids to do better, but we didn't expect to have such a high jump," he said.

The Human Sciences Research Council said in a statement that it was also surprised "at first glance" by the "fairly dramatic increase".

"Given that a large number of candidates wrote the exam, we generally expected changes of 2% to 3%. We definitely need to search for reasons for the dramatic increases in 2010."

But Motshekga said Umalusi did not have anything to gain from "any manipulation of the results".

"This upwards and downwards adjustment is a yearly thing. It's a technical exercise to maintain the quality of passes, and people should not read anything into it."

Education analyst Graeme Bloch said he felt the results were credible, but cautioned: "We haven't miraculously improved our literacy and numeracy levels at the foundation phase, so let's not lose focus now."