1. In 2004 there was a significant increase in the number of candidates who wrote the ABET level 4 examinations.
2. In 2005 the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will again give candidates the opportunity to write national examinations in June and in October. Detailed timetables will be provided to all centres in the course of the year and both examinations will be monitored by the WCED, the national Department of Education and UMALUSI.
3. This year the ratio of examination to site-based assessment (SBA) will again be 50:50 and the national learning area guidelines of 2002 that accompanied Circular 75/2002 must be used. In accordance with provincial policy, candidates must be encouraged to enter for the examination only if they are ready for the assessment.
4. Educators are advised to consult the ABET chief markers' reports of 2004 and previous examination question papers when they prepare candidates for the examinations. As the chief markers' reports often indicate that many learners lack basic examination skills, and the examination is also currently used by UMALUSI to moderate the SBA statistically, it is imperative that learners be trained in examination techniques.
5. As the national office and UMALUSI expect provinces to implement an SBA system that indicates the competency of the candidates, the following must be noted:
5.1 Each learner portfolio must contain a minimum of five items which must differ from one another and must be based on the learning area guidelines. The items may not only be tests, although testing is also an important assessment methodology. The final mark for all the portfolio tasks must be recorded as a percentage (out of 100).
5.2 The final SBA marks and portfolios will be moderated by the EMDC curriculum advisers and verified by provincial and UMALUSI officials.
5.3 It is the responsibility of educators to give each candidate an SBA mark, and of centre managers to ensure that each candidate at their community learning centres has an SBA portfolio for each learning area.
5.4 Centre managers must also ensure that educators record all assignments, their assessment tools, the marks and the feedback provided to learners, in their educator portfolios.
5.5 Learner portfolios presented for moderation without the relevant educator portfolio will not be accepted.
6. Should you require support in this regard, please contact one of the following officials: 
EMDC                    ABET Curriculum Adviser     Telephone (work)
Breede River/Overberg   Mr Joaniel Pieterse         (023) 348 4600
Metropole Central       Mr Quentin Ravells (acting) (021) 659 4344
Metropole East          Mr Stephen Lategan          (021) 900 7000
Metropole North         Ms Winnifred Taylor         (021) 938 3000
Metropole South         Ms Zukiswa Ntontela (acting)(021) 370 2000
South Cape/Karoo        Mr Jewel Jonkers            (044) 873 6128 
                        Mr Dirk Henry               (023) 415 2070
West Coast/Winelands    Ms Lillian van Louw (acting)(021) 872 9288
7. For further support, Mr J Parbhoo may be contacted at (021) 467 2572 or e-mail jparbhoo@pgwc.gov.za.
8. Refer to the website: http://curriculum.wcape.school.za/site/19/page/view/59 for the following information:
8.1 All ABET policy documents, including circulars
8.2 All the learning area guidelines for ABET Level 4
8.3 Recommended assessment items for each learning area (developed by the provincial ABET curriculum team)
8.4 Reports on all previous ABET national examinations
9. Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of everybody concerned.


SIGNED: J.P. RAULT-SMITH
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2005:02:16

Annexure A  (size: 34 KB)
ABET chief markers' reports  (size: 82 KB)