ANC STATEMENT ON ANNUAL NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS RESULTS

The African National Congress welcomes the release of the Annual National Assessments Results for 2011, by the Department of Basic Education.  This exercise, which was initiated in 2001 is the step in the right direction in terms of continuous assessment of the impact of our education system and to prepare our learners for effective learning taking into account the challenges facing our country in the arena of education and skills.

This assessment which is a build up from the systemic assessment conducted in 2001 and 2004 is a build up in ensuring that our educations system diagnose the problem and then build capacity to deal with it in a manner that will benefit the learners.  We are confident that the outcomes of this assessment will not only improve the capacity of the learners but will also equip the educators to respond in a focused manner.

The results of the assessment have already shown that our country is facing a huge challenge of having to deal with low literacy and numeracy in almost all grades that have been assessed at foundation and intermediary phases.  This will enable the government to put in place scientific interventions that will turn the tide that hamstrings our learners who have to be prepared for even greater responsibilities later in their lives.

We believe that these assessments will also impact on the curriculum and methods of teaching. We welcome this as a foundation for a futuristic approach to learning underpinned by a policy of access to education.  We call on all South Africans particularly parents, teachers and education administrators and the public at large to welcome this initiative and lend support where necessary.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, June 28 2011

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