Department tells schools to give pupils extra marks to help them progress

Pupils in grades 4 to 9 will again be awarded up to 5% in extra marks in any three subjects that they fail at the end of the year. 

In addition to this “special mark adjustment”, they will also be condoned or “passed” in maths if they fail to get 40% in the subject but meet all the other promotion or progression requirements to the next grade. 

And pupils in grades 4 to 6 who still don’t meet the progression guidelines after the mark adjustments are applied in three subjects and condonation is applied for maths, “may still be progressed with support based on the professional judgment of the principal and educators at the school”.

The extra boost is linked to the disruptions caused to teaching and learning by the Covid pandemic in 2020.

A circular dated October 21, issued by the department of basic education provides clarity on the application of the special mark adjustment and condonation dispensation for these grades in 2023 and subsequent years.

These mark adjustments and condonation dispensation will be applied until the national policy relating to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) that have been published in two government notices are reviewed. 

Another circular dated October 5 2022, spells out in more detail the special mark adjustments and condonation dispensation that was also applied in grades 4 to 9 at the end of last year. 

According to the latest circular, a mark adjustment, not exceeding 5%, will be allowed in a maximum of any three subjects taken by pupils in grades 4 to 9.

The 5% adjustment will only apply where the pass requirements of 40% and 50% are not met. 

The document states that various research initiatives confirmed that learning losses that emanated from the disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic “are still prevalent in the system and, therefore, special mark adjustments and condonation dispensations for learners in grades 4 to 9 need to be applied”. 

There had to be a realistic adjustment of expectations of pupils by teachers who had not been able to teach all the content that they would normally have been able to.

—  Mary Metcalfe, professor of practice at the University of Johannesburg

Meanwhile, though pupils experienced severe learning losses in 2020 after disruptions to schooling caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the pass rates in grades R to 11 were better than 2019, according to statistics in a recently-released document by the department titled, “grade promotion, repetition and dropping out 2018 to 2021”.   

The highest jump in the pass percentage was recorded in grade 10 where 75% of pupils passed in 2020 compared to 60% in 2019.

Grade 11 pupils also fared very well in the 2020 assessments after 80% passed in contrast to 67% the year before.

The only grade that did not show an improvement in the pass rate was grade 12, after 76.2% of matrics passed the national senior certificate exams in 2020 compared to 81.3% in 2019.

The report stated that when the 2019 to 2020 transition is compared to 2020 and 2021, “it is clear that grade repetition declined by about 2% at the primary level and to an even greater extent at the secondary level”.

It indicated that dropping out declined in grades 9 and 10.

“While 67% of grade 11 pupils moved to grade 12 between 2019 and 2020, this figure rose to 80% between 2020 and 2021.”

Education experts told TimesLIVE Premium that condoning or passing pupil in a subject they failed has been applied for decades.    

Prof Labby Ramrathan, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the increased pass in 2020 “is related to the trimmed curriculum and teaching to assessment”.

“It is not attributed to any issues of quality teaching or learning. It was largely responsive to the learning loss experienced during Covid.   

“Grades 10 and 11 are crucial years in preparation for grade 12 exams. Hence more emphasis was given to these pupils in preparing them for grade 12.”

He said he could not comment on the circular and mark adjustments being offered to pupils who fail, adding: “My gut response is [it is] to facilitate pupil progression so as not to clog the school system with high numbers of failures.”

Mary Metcalfe, professor of practice at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), said very few pupils were at school for more than a few months in 2020 and “there had to be a realistic adjustment of expectations of pupils by teachers who had not been able to teach all the content that they would normally have been able to”.

She said the grade 10 of 2020 was the 2022 NSC [National Senior Certificate] cohort that did reasonably well.

Commenting on the circular, she said the professional judgment of teachers in relation to the best interests of the pupil (socially and emotionally as well as in terms of levels of performance) must be paramount in the promotion process.

“This professional judgment is best exercised in professional conversations with colleagues. Small adjustments such as these give some latitude to teachers in exercising this judgment.”

Her colleague, Prof Elbie Henning from UJ’s Soweto campus, said the improved 2020 pass rate could be because teachers were more lenient when marking tests and exams or because the children had to rely on themselves more and there was “increased self-direction”.

Prof Chika Sehoole, dean of the education faculty at the University of Pretoria, said it was because of the “relaxation” in assessments and “lenience in the ways pupils were examined and awarded marks”.

“The years 2020 and 2021 were difficult years for all education systems in terms of how they save the academic year. This was a global problem so there is not much that can be read in terms of the credibility of the passes pupils obtained during that period, given the learning losses that were suffered.”

He said last month’s circular was a way the department “could mitigate the impact of learning losses”.

“Unusual times call for unusual measures to be applied.”

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga did not respond to media enquiries.