In accordance with Government Gazette 25699 of 7 November 2003, all learners at public, independent and private schools and all other institutions that follow the WCED curriculum and offer Grade 9 must conform to this regulation in order to be promoted. No institution can therefore be exempted from the assessment procedure.

Schools will still be responsible for the promotion of learners and the issuing of report cards. The promotion mark is composed of 25% for the Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA’s) and 75% for the school-based assessment.

CTA’s will again be provided to schools this year. In accordance with an instruction from the National Department of Education, delivery to schools of Section A of the CTA is planned for the third (3rd) term, and Section B for the fourth (4th) term. Learners will complete Section B during November 2004. The timetable will be made available to all institutions shortly.

Registration forms for Grade 9 learners should have been submitted by 19 March 2004. Should the forms of any educational institution still be outstanding, you are requested to submit them without delay. Principals are reminded (see paragraph 2 above) that institutions are legally obliged to make the Grade 9 assessment part of their planning processes and to keep to return dates.

The importance of the safe-keeping of assessment question papers cannot be over-emphasised. It is therefore of the utmost importance that all possible safety precautions be taken when the question papers are stored. Under no circumstances may question papers be removed from the school premises before or during the assessment or discussed with learners. Offences such as these could have serious consequences for the school and the WCED and bring the integrity of these assessments into question.

Mark sheets on the now familiar "Lotto" cards with the learners' names and unique numbers will again be provided to schools for completion. Principals are reminded that the marks must reach Head Office before schools close at the end of the year in order to be registered into a computer program before 31 December 2004. Failure to comply with this return date will be regarded in a serious light, even more so now that participation in the project is compulsory.