The 2020 academic year will have overarching implications and consequences for generations to come, according to leading educational expert Prof Jonathan Jansen
Jansen has come out guns blazing over the restructuring of the academic year after the Covid-19 lockdown, which saw academic activities at many schools stopped for four months.
Jansen’s argument is that the quality of education afforded pupils in 2020 will be substandard, with dire consequences for those not fortunate enough to have access to online teaching methods.
Jansen said that before the pandemic, year marks had been determined by a weighted scale in which 25% of a pupil’s final mark was attributed to school-based assessments while 75% would come from year-end exams.
But since the department had tweaked this, final marks were to be calculated on 60% from school-based assessments and 40% from end-of-year exam contributions.
He argued that this left teachers themselves deciding if a pupil passed or not, as opposed to being assessed through testing and examinations to determine their understanding of the curriculum.
“There is very little quality control [and] no capacity to moderate these marks [awarded by individual teachers],” Jansen said.
He said some of the consequences of this, instead of a more vigorous marking system, was that the gap between pupils at the underprivileged schools and the privileged would widen.
“The department is trying to make the best of what they have [but] this will reinforce inequality and have an impact on generations to come.
“This is major. Just don’t do the exams now.
“We will forever be playing catch-up,” Jansen said.
“When you reduce the content covered, you reduce the quality of the exams, thereby reducing the quality of education.”
Equal Education Law Centre (EECL) executive director Tshego Phala said various issues related to the current academic year still needed to be considered to determine what would be in the best interest of pupils.
“This is a very important issue which we are considering alongside expert advice to land at a position which clearly has the best interests of learners at the heart of it,” Phala said.
He said Covid-19 had brought with it a “magnitude of implications on the right to education” especially with regard to pupils from previously disadvantaged schools.
“It is important to clearly consider the implications of the trimmed curriculum and adjusted requirements for progression of these learners.
“We are still considering these very important issues,” Phala said.
Education expert prof Susan van Rensburg said the 2020 academic year had been lost and the adjusted curriculum would have far-reaching effects.
“The real test will start next year — if you start your problems from primary school it will eventually reach high school.
“The consequences of that will be felt next year. There are pupils who have reading problems, issues with maths, those are subjects that need a foundation from the previous year,” Van Rensburg said.
National Association of School Governing Bodies general secretary Matakanye Matakanya said it would be futile to push pupils through to the next grade and the department had failed to provide equal education for all public schools in SA.
“I believe the department needs to sit with us to craft a plan on how we will assist the schools. If the department doesn’t call all stakeholders, this will damage generations to come,” Matakanya said.
While experts collectively agree that this year should be scrapped, the department of basic education remains adamant that it should be all systems go.
Department of basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said he believed Jansen did not have the proper knowledge of how the department’s systems worked, and plans were in place to ensure a smooth end to the academic year.
“More work is under way. It is a work in progress.
“The year has not ended yet and work is still being done.
“It would be unwise to make conclusions while [we are] busy with the work.
“Gaps between the privileged and underprivileged have always been part of the SA story. It is a historical matter,” Mhlanga said.
According to Mhlanga, who did not specify exactly what the department’s plans were to ensure an equally fair system of education, content in the 2020 curriculum would flow over into 2021.
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