| 1. |
Every education institution that writes the Senior Certificate with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is hereby provided with an analysis of the results obtained by its candidates in the 2005 Senior Certificate examination.
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| 2. |
During the marking process in December, the marks obtained by each candidate in each question in each question paper were captured in order to enable the WCED to provide this analysis to each school.
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| 3. |
These provincial statistics will be utilised by examining panels to assess the quality and appropriateness of each of the questions and the general standard of the question papers and thereby improve the quality of examining in the province.
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| 4. |
Curriculum planners and advisors have been provided with statistics for the province and their EMDCs so that they can devise strategies to assist teachers to deal with difficult aspects of the curriculum.
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| 5. |
Importantly, this detailed analysis enables each school to identify where their learners did well and where they struggled with questions. Schools can also identify possible errors such as when candidates answer too many questions or an incorrect combination of questions.
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| 6. |
The statistics should also assist principals in their task of assuring the quality of the work done in their schools.
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| 7. |
These statistics indicate the following in respect of individual schools:
The percentage difference above or below the provincial average that its candidates scored for each question. A positive percentage difference indicates that the average percentage was above the provincial average, while a negative percentage difference indicates an average percentage below the provincial average.
The number of candidates who attempted each question.
The deviation in the average percentage between what the candidates scored in the paper as a whole and the average for the province. This appears in the last column.
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| 8. |
The teachers involved in each subject should discuss the statistics among themselves, identify strong and weak points, and then use this information to draw up a plan of action for the subject for the coming year.
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| 9. |
Where serious problems are identified in a subject, subject heads must contact curriculum advisers for assistance. They are also encouraged to involve themselves and the teachers concerned in subject groupings in their area. Teachers whose learners have achieved particular success in specific questions may be requested by curriculum advisers to share the secrets of their success with schools that have fared badly.
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| 10. |
In order to further support subject improvement, the WCED has produced a set of subject strategies that have been developed in response to the provincial performance in questions from the Senior Certificate examination papers of 2005. The subject strategies which accompany this curriculum minute indicate the knowledge and skills required in each question and suggest ways in which teachers can improve teaching and learning in specific aspects of the curriculum.
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| 11. |
The WCED is confident that principals and teachers will derive benefit from these statistics and strategies, and that this will lead to an improvement in the quality of teaching and learning in the Western Cape.
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SIGNED: D.R. SHEPHERD
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2006:02:22
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