Umalusi approves release of matric results, despite leaked papers
Pretoria - The release of the 2016 matric examination results has been approved, despite a pending investigation into leaked exam papers in Limpopo and Gauteng.
Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, said on Thursday that it was "satisfied that the examinations were fair, valid and credible".
"We commend the Department of Basic Education (DBE) for running a successful and credible examination process. Accordingly, we hereby approve the release of the results of the National Senior Certificate," Umalusi chairperson Professor John Volmink told reporters in Pretoria.
This year's examinations, however, were marred by group copying in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga, and the leak of a paper at two schools in Limpopo.
In 2015, there were also leaked papers in Limpopo, which eventually spilled over into Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
"Investigations by a task team established by the minister of basic education (Angie Motshekga) to identify the source of the security breach and the extent of the spread confirmed a leakage in Mathematics Paper 2 in two schools in Limpopo," Volmink said.
Investigation
He said there was also a police and Hawks investigation running concurrently with that of the task team.
He commended Motshekga for her swift action in dealing with the problem, but added that the results of learners who were implicated would be withheld.
The 2016 class was the third Grade 12 cohort to write a final examination under the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (Caps), he said.
He said this year's Grade 12 saw an increase of 40 000 students who passed.
Umalusi was impressed by the improvement in the marking system by the education department.
"The quality of marking is a very important aspect of the integrity and credibility of the examination. It is pleasing to see the measures put into place to carefully select and train markers."
While the 2015 results showed a decline, this year's results moved closer to average historical profile, he said.
Almost zero progress in 'flat' maths results
There has been almost no progress in learner performance in mathematics in recent years, said Professor Volmink on Thursday.
He also said the performance in mathematical literacy - considered the "soft option" - was almost as "critically low" as in mathematics.
Volmink added that, while there were many subjects where the learner performance fluctuated from year to year, Umalusi singled out mathematics as one of the key gateway subjects, where "the needle has not moved significantly".
"We made almost no progress over the years. It's one subject were the performance is completely flat. What also struck me is that, since 2014, mathematical literacy is no longer the soft option... so mathematical literacy is as hard as mathematics."
He added that learner performance in 2015 departed significantly from the average historical learner performance profile, but that in 2016 the learner performance had moved closer to the average historical performance profile.
"It is pleasing to see that the marks of subjects such as physical science and history could be left as unadjusted and that there was a marked improvement in subjects such as accounting."
Subjects such as geography, however, showed a marked drop in learner performance, Volmink said.
Meanwhile, other subjects, such as life sciences, business studies, economics and several home languages showed progress.
