(Archive photo: Christel Cornelissen)
Learning backlogs due to the Covid-19 pandemic have largely been caught up, but reading comprehension and mathematics that require concrete work is still a problem, Solidarity’s School Support Center (SOS) announced in its fifth report after the end of the Standardized Examination (GSE).
A total of 25,285 learners in 50 schools took the exam last year, which is labeled as a leading assessment tool that schools can use to measure their academic goals and plan curriculum presentation and intervention accordingly.
Learners of gr. 4 to gr. 11 could take the mathematics or Afrikaans home language exam and learners in gr. 10 and -11 could take the mathematical literacy exam.
The GSE showed that learners struggle with the same sections every year and that there is little time to review challenging topics thoroughly.
According to the report gr. 9-learners clearly still with Afrikaans (home language) and reading skills are still a problem in most grades. “Reading comprehension has a significant effect on learners’ results – and across all subjects. Several factors can contribute to this and include social and personal issues, as well as factors within the education system,” according to the report.
As far as mathematics is concerned, the results dropped significantly in the section “Numbers, Operations and Relationships” in the gr. 9 group. The results for “Space and Form” are also lower. This section requires skills that must be developed in the earlier phases.
Mathematics results of gr. 4 to gr. 9 did improve overall. The gr. 7 group boosted their results by almost 8%.
Intervene earlier
The SOS says in its report that it is important that learning problems and dropouts – to ensure academic success – are identified much earlier. (Photo: Christel Cornelissen)
The SOS says in its report that it is important that learning problems and dropouts – to ensure academic success – are identified much earlier.
“Assessments that are given at the end of the school year do not provide the opportunity for teachers to address the dropouts of learners before they move on to the next grade.”
As part of efforts to tackle this problem, the SOS will also introduce baseline assessments next year.
“This instrument will initially be used as a pilot project in gr. 7, 8 and 10 are introduced to enable schools to identify and deal with problem areas at an early stage.”
And while learning backlogs may have been caught up, the effects of the pandemic on academia are still very clear.
“Several grades have underperformed alarmingly. According to the SOS’s control processes, the papers were of a good, but not too high, standard. Schools must certainly guard against systematically relaxing their standards to comply with departmental standards and demands,” says Hugo Vermeulen, head of training at the SOS.
SOS is of the opinion that the standard of the papers is average to above average and that this gives schools a good indication of their own averages. There was stricter moderation last year and this could have contributed to the better performance of learners in, among other things, the intermediate phase.
Learners are ‘reading lazy’
“A possible explanation for the poorer performance of learners in general could be that the GSE paper is not written as the primary paper and that learners are therefore not serious about preparing and/or answering it,” says the report.
“The SOS is of the opinion that the poorer reading comprehension performance can be partly attributed to the past two years’ reduced curriculum and little to no time spent on reading comprehension. In other words, it was not rehearsed and learners became lazy to read.”
According to the report, one of the biggest factors contributing to poor reading comprehension is a lack of opportunity to practice reading comprehension. This may be the result of the reduced curriculum, a shortage of suitable reading material and a lack of time that can be spent on reading activities.
“The use of suitable learning aids and technologies, the encouragement of a reading culture within schools and communities, and the use of differential reading instruction that is focused on each learner’s individual needs and skills can improve reading comprehension.”
The SOS says its annual matric report also shows that learners achieve more difficult distinctions or high marks in Afrikaans home language than learners achieve in the other native mother tongues of South Africa. This means that the level of difficulty and standard of Afrikaans home language is higher than that of other mother tongues.
“Unfortunately, Afrikaans native speakers do not always realize this and assume that they do not need to learn Afrikaans as a home language as a subject.
“Another possible reason for the poorer performance in, among other things, “Language structures and conventions” is that the curriculum is overcrowded and teachers don’t really get around to capturing language and spelling rules. Furthermore, reading and language skills are inseparable parts of each other and it is logical that when one component is weak, the other is necessarily also negatively affected.”
