MBOMBELA – The 8,6-million learners, who were scheduled to be assessed in 2015, will no longer have to complete the annual national assessment (ANA) this year.
This announcement was made on Friday.
Although reaction was diverse at first, most institutions, including the South African Teachers’ Union (SAOU), welcomed the decision.
This assessment was introduced by the Department of Basic Education in 2011 to assess the level of performance of pupils in the two key areas of the school curriculum – literacy and numeracy. Although the assessment has indicated a general improvement in the performance of learners according to the Department of Education, the union claimed that these results were, however, dubious.
According to Mr Chris Klopper, CEO of SAOU, they have been dissatisfied with the ANA for some time as many aspects of the assessment, and especially its application, were vexing.
The department acknowledged these concerns and said the main one of the teacher unions, which lodged the complaints, was related to the frequency of the administration of ANA, its administrative demands, which did not leave enough time and room for improvement strategies to take root, before learners are reassessed.
At a meeting between the union and senior officials of the Department of Basic Education, consensus was thus reached to postpone the ANA until February.
The Department of Education also announced that it is looking at designing a revised and appropriate national assessment model that is fit for its purpose. It was also agreed that the frequency of these tests need to be reviewed and that a task team will be constituted to support the department in ANA’s remodelling.
“The Department of Basic Education considers the postponement to be in the best interest of schooling stability and will also assist in improving the quality of the national assessment programme,” the department said.
According to a press release issued by the Department of Basic Education, learners and teachers will be afforded additional space and time to address areas of weaknesses that have been identified in the previous assessment before the entire system is once again subjected to this national assessment in the new year.
SAOU completed an investigative school-based research project based on the ANA to gain a better understanding of systemic evaluations and on how to improve the quality of education of South Africa.
