‘Only 52.9% grade 10s failed at Norkem High’ – department
Of the 363 grade 10 learners enrolled at Norkem Park High, 146 met the promotional requirements as set out in the policy, 25 progressed and 191 failed
THE Gauteng Department of Education has dismissed the allegation that 90% of grade 10 learners at Norkem Park High School failed this year as previously reported by EXPRESS.
The department’s acting spokesman, Oupa Bodibe, said they acknowledged the fact that most of the grade 10s did not meet the promotional requirements as set out by the policy, but only 52.9% had failed to meet promotional requirements and not 90%.
“According to the original statistics, of the 363 grade 10 learners enrolled at Norkem Park High, 146 met the promotional requirements as set out in the policy, 25 progressed and 191 failed. Following the ratification process by the district, 47.1% of learners have met the promotional requirements, leaving only 52.9% failing to meet the promotional requirements,” explained Bodibe.
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Bodibe also pointed out that most of the learners who did not meet the promotional requirements failed English, which is a home language, whilst others failed more than two subjects.
“A lot of them performed poorly in the exam, and the exam counts 75%. This unfortunately is the reality that we are faced with. Some do not qualify for progression due to the number of subjects failed, incomplete school-based assessment and practical tasks assessment, including the number of days absent,” he added.
On the issue of learners bribing the deputy principal to change their reports from fail to pass and learners receiving wrong marks on their reports, Bodibe said they had not received any information about this.
He pointed out that the issue of wrong marks might be as a result of problems that stem from the misunderstanding of the grade 7-9 adjustment for mathematics.
“It must be noted that the rule does not apply in grade 10 as thought by the parents. With regards to incorrect capturing of marks, there are no incorrect reports captured and capturing of marks is done by the school administrators under the supervision of the HODs. The information is quality assured by the deputies and the principal before submitting to district assessment officials, who also quality assure the whole process.”
An inside source at Norkem Park High School who wishes to remain anonymous alleged that the principal and two deputy principals are incompetent and were appointed fraudulently.
“According to our records, both the principal and the two deputies qualify and are competent,” said Bodibe.
The source also pointed out that no bonuses were paid out to teachers this year and there has been no reason given to teachers.
“The school was requested to make corrections in certain documents before payment could be done. As soon as the district receives these corrections, the payment process will resume,” was Bodibe’s response.
“As a department, we are committed to quality assuring the promotional schedules and report cards that we give to our learners. This ensures credibility in our education system.”
