Introduction
• Maturing system with aspects that are being improved
annually.
The areas of good practice …… are a clear indication of marked improvement in the manner
in which all the assessments, as well as the final examination, were administered. The PEDs
have continued to demonstrate their remarkable ability to administer and manage this high
stakes examination with fervour” (Umalusi, 2010)
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Sound legislative framework.
National Guidelines.
Development of national norms and standard.
Nationally set question papers.
National examination computer system.
National Co-ordination
Introduction
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Intensive national monitoring.
National moderation of SBA.
Electronic archiving of certification data – since 1914.
Extended mandate of Examination Units – NSC, SC, ABET
and Common tests.
Monitoring Approach
• Broader mandate of building a national examination
and assessment system
• Differentiated approach (4:1:4 model).
• Audit of examination and assessment systems
• Self-evaluation instrument preceded the on-site
verification by DBE.
• Improvement plans.
• Follow-up evaluation/support visits
Scope and Size of 2011 NSC Exams
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Candidates:
Question Papers:
Printed Question Papers:
Scripts:
Examination Centres:
Invigilators:
Markers:
Marking Centres:
620 000
325
6.8 million
6.2 million
6540
65 000
35 000
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NSC Enrolments for 2010 and 2011
2010
2011
Difference
Province
Full Time
Part time
Total
Full Time
Part time
Total
2011- 2010
Eastern Cape
68 294
11 323
79 617
68 253
16 183
84 436
4 819
Free State
28 448
2 068
30 516
26 792
2 184
28 976
1 540
Gauteng
94 642
23 518
118 160
88 048
34 740
122 788
4 628
KwaZulu Natal
130 302
20 626
150 928
126 874
22 556
149 430
-1 498
Limpopo
95 869
9 909
105 778
74 605
12 678
87 283
- 18 495
Mpumalanga
54 542
5 088
59 630
49 630
5 980
55 610
- 4 020
North West
29 601
2 708
32 309
25 934
3 125
29 059
-3 250
Northern Cape
10 406
1 381
11 787
10 547
1 630
12 177
390
Western Cape
47 062
6 214
53 276
41 346
9 161
50 507
-2 769
Total
559 166
82 835
642 001
512 029
108 237
620 266
-21 735
6
NSC Full-Time Enrolments 2008-2011
7
NSC Part-Time Enrolments 2008-2011
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Enrolment comparison between Grade 11 and Grade 12
1,000,000
902,752
880,515
900,000
841,815
800,000
700,000
580,363
559,166
600,000
512,029
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
Grade 11 - 2008
Grade 12 - 2009
Grade 11 - 2009
Grade 12 - 2010
Grade 11 - 2010
Grade 12 - 2011
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Target Success Indicators
a) High quality question papers are set and moderated
b) Examination centre and candidates are accurately registered on
the examination computer system.
c)
Question papers are accurately printed.
d) Question papers are distributed in time to all schools and
candidates and strict security measures adhered to in the
distribution process
e) All candidates including learners with special needs are catered
for.
Target Success Indicators
e) Answer scripts accurately marked and moderated.
(f) All examination marks are accurately captured on the examination
computer system.
g) SBA is completed in accordance with policy prescripts and
moderated.
h) All examination and SBA marks are accurately captured.
i)
All examination irregularities are appropriately managed.
j)
All candidates are accurately and timeously resulted.
Target Success Indicators
k) Effective feedback provided to schools.
l)
All eligible candidates receive certificates.
Registration of Candidates/Centres
a) All candidates have been registered on the Examination Computer
System .
b) Registration data has been audited by the DBE.
c) Two schedule of entries have been sent to all schools to ensure
accurate registration of all candidates.
d) Mark sheets have been printed.
e) Letters of admission to the examination will be sent to schools by
30 September 2011.
f) All enhancements on the examination computer system will be
completed by 30 September 2011.
g) Examination computer system maintained and supported by the
State Information Technology Agency (SITA)
Registration of Candidates/Centres
h) All independent centres have been evaluated to ensure that they
satisfy the criteria for registration.
h) Independent centres that have a history of examination irregularities
have been de-registered.
j)
In cases where there is doubt about the integrity of the centre, the
examination will be administered by the PED at these centres, or
will be closely monitored.
Question Papers
a) All question papers are set by the Department of Basic Education to
ensure a national standard.
b) All 2010 question papers have been reviewed and the comments
from the review process have been incorporated into the 2011
setting process.
c) Certain examining panels have been re-constituted on the basis of
the review process.
d) 258 question papers have been set by panels of examiners and
moderated by subject specialists.
Question Papers
f) The question papers have been moderated by Umalusi to ensure
appropriate standard.
g) Pre-testing of selected question papers.
h) Question papers have been handed over to PEDs for printing.
i)
Question papers for the blind and deaf have been adapted.
ii)
Question papers are being brailled for blind candidates.
j)
DBE monitors the printing and packing of question papers by
PEDs.
Printing, Packing and Distribution
a) All staff working in the printing and packing sections have security
clearance and have signed confidentiality agreements.
b) Five of the PEDs have developed excellent in-house printing
facilities. Three of the PEDs utilise the services of GPW and SITA,
and the last province outsources printing to a reputable service
provider.
c) All PEDs that had packing problems in 2010 have been supported
in the correction of these challenges.
d) Storage facilities across all PEDs have been inspected and there is
concern about the large number of distribution points where
question papers are stored
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Printing, Packing and Distribution
e) Question papers will be distributed to examination centres on the
morning of the examination, except in the Western Cape, question
papers are stored at school, and in the Northern Cape, where due
to extreme distances, question papers are stored at certain schools.
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Preparation for the examination
a) Invigilators who supervise the writing of exams have been
trained across all PEDs.
b) The principal is the Chief Invigilator, except in cases where
he/she has a son or daughter writing Grade 12.
c) Detailed regulations govern the conduct of exams and the
managing of irregularities – DBE has issued a Guideline
document to assist this process.
d) All chief invigilators and invigilators are officially appointed
for the duration of the examination and are made aware of
the responsibility.
e) The writing of the examinations will be monitored by DBE,
PEDs and Umalusi.
f) Schools with previous irregularities will be closely
monitored.
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Collection of Answer Scripts
a)
b)
c)
a)
d)
e)
f)
All scripts to be returned to the district office the same day.
Scripts to enjoy the same attention and security as the question
paper.
All scripts must be correctly labelled with centre number, subject
and must be sealed at the school level.
Scanning of scripts to be introduced by all PEDs by 2012.
All scripts to be controlled and checked at each stage of the
process.
DBE has introduced norm times for the return of scripts between
the different collection points.
Implementation of sanctions where Chief Invigilators do not
manage the return of scripts correctly.
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Marking
a) The quality of marking will enjoy priority in 2011.
b) Marking centres have been established across all PEDs based on
the prescripts contained in the Policy.
c) Markers have been appointed based on the PAM criteria. Some
PEDs have introduced additional criteria. Competency test is being
tabled at the ELRC for implementation in 2012.
d) Training of markers is ongoing and specialised training sessions
will be organised prior to the marking sessions.
e) National Marking Guideline discussions will be hosted in Pretoria for
all subjects, to ensure standardisation of marking across all PEDs
f) Internal moderators to be appointed for each subject at each
marking centre.
g) DBE will appoint external moderators to evaluate the marking at
each centre.
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School Based Assessment (SBA)
a)
b)
c)
d)
School based assessment constitutes 25% of the final promotion mark.
SBA is moderated at school, district and provincial level.
Common assessment tasks are set by PEDs.
DBE established a team of 67 moderators who were deployed to the
districts in August 2011. They will conduct a follow-up moderation in
October 2011.
e) Life Orientation has been closely monitored and moderated by PEDs
and DBE. DBE conducted moderation of LO in August 2011 and will
conduct follow-up moderation in October 2011.
f) Final SBA moderation by PEDs will be completed by 31 October 2011,
and capture will be completed by 15 November.
g) DBE will release common assessment tasks for LO in November 2011,
for use by schools in 2012.
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Processing and Release 2011
a) Marking will be completed by 15 December across all PEDs.
b) Mark Capture will be completed by 18 December 2011.
c) A technical team will prepare proposals in respect of adjustments
for the pre-standardization meeting – 20 December 2011.
d) Pre-standardization meetings will be held on 21 & 22 December.
e) Umalusi standardisation meeting to be held on 23 December 2011.
f) Results will be thoroughly checked by DBE, PEDs and Umalusi
from 26 – 30 December.
g) Umalusi approval meeting to be held on 30 December 2011.
h) Results will be released on 5 January 2011.
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Analysis and Feedback
a) Detailed analysis of results per school, per district, per
province, per subject will be made available.
b) Qualitative analytical reports from chief markers/internal
moderators will be consolidated for distribution to schools.
c) Outcomes of the Umalusi standardisation meetings will be
made available to curriculum specialists and examining
panels.
d) Workshops will be conducted with teachers and subject
advisors.
e) Under-performing schools will be brought to account and
improvement plans will be designed.
f) Curriculum specialists to develop subject improvement plans.
Certification
a) The issue of the certificate signifies the culmination of the
examination cycle.
b) The certificates for candidates that wrote the examination
in 2010 was distributed to candidates at the end of May
2011.
c) The 2011 certificates are also scheduled to be released to
candidates by end May 2012.
Current Examination Processes
• SBA, Practical and Oral assessment is ongoing
• Practical examinations in Visual Art and Design began on 20 July
2011.
• Practical examinations in Computer Applications Technology and
Information Technology to be conducted from 17 to 19 October
2011
• The first written examinations on 24 October 2011:
– English HL, FAL, SAL (Paper 1)
• The last examinations to be written on 1 December 2011:
– Religion Studies Paper 2
– Design
Concerns
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Drop out rate : Grade 11 to Grade 12.
Application of promotion requirements – Grades 10 and 11.
Subject Changes.
Human Resource Capacity.
Storage of question papers outside the provincial or district
office.
Competency levels of markers.
Large number of marking centres.
Security of scripts.
Moderation of SBA.
Conclusion
• All PEDs are ready to administer the 2011 NSC
examination.
• The areas of concern will be addressed prior to the
commencement of the examinations.
• The DBE will continue with its agenda of building a
credible, national examination and assessment
system.