National Minister of Education Angie Motshekga speaking at Natu teachers union conference held at the Coastal Hotel.Picture Zanele Zulu National Minister of Education Angie Motshekga speaking at Natu teachers union conference held at the Coastal Hotel.Picture Zanele Zulu
Pretoria- After endless delays, the ministerial task team established to investigate the National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric qualification has finally started its work.
The commission, originally established at the end of last year to look into the quality of the matric pass, had been one of a number set up at the same time.
As a result, the single department dealing with commissions had been stretched and the NSC commission delayed while the maths and science, technical schools, sign language and literacy commissions did their work, Education Minister Angie Motshekga said this week.
“In the meantime, we have had officials doing some preparation.”
Motshekga said the commission had held its first meeting, and she was expecting “a draft at least” by December, with the final deadline for the report in February.
The members of the task team were gazetted last month. There are six technical committee members, including University of the Western Cape vice-chancellor Professor Brian O’ Connell and experts from the universities of Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Wits.
The six-member reference group includes representatives of the departments of Basic Education and Higher Education, Umalusi, teacher’s union Naptosa, and the Independent Examinations Board.
Last month it was reported that, nine months after being gazetted, the task team had yet to start work.
It was established after widespread criticism of the quality of the South African matric certificate and observations that the 30 percent required to pass some subjects was too low. Some in the education sector said the delays showed a lack of commitment to the issue.
The task team will
consult with business, employers and the academic sphere to gauge concerns about the NSC. - Pretoria News Weekend
