| 1.1 |
In September 2007, the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) decided that a General Education Certificate (GEC) would be awarded to Grade 9 learners as from 2010.
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| 1.2 |
The GEC qualification was registered on 22 October 2008 with the South African Qualifications Authority on NQF Level 1.
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| 1.3 |
Over the next three years, the national and provincial education departments will be giving attention to strengthening GEC assessment in the classroom, providing teachers with exemplars of good assessment, the awarding of a GEC at the end of Grade 9 and development of effective external assessment across grades.
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| 1.4 |
The assessment processes and systems are currently being prepared for the implementation of a full scale pilot of the GEC in the WCED in 2009.
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| 1.5 |
The National Policy on Assessment and Qualification for Schools in the General Education and Training Band is being reviewed and this may involve a rewriting of Chapter 2 to include policy for the GEC. In addition, the promotion requirements from Grades 1 to 9 have been amended. This document has already been distributed for public comment and review. It will be made available to all schools immediately after it has been gazetted.
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| 1.6 |
All question papers for the GEC will be set by the national DOE.
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| 1.7 |
The first part of the externally set standardised assessment tasks (CTA, Section A) will be conducted in Term 2 (May-June 2009) so as to provide teachers with guidance in the appropriate standard of assessment for Grade 9.
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| 1.8 |
The second part of the externally set assessment tasks (CTA, Section B) will be conducted in Term 4, in accordance with a compulsory timetable set by the national DOE. The proposed dates for the conducting of CTA, Section B are from 20 November 2009 until 4 December 2009.
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| 2.1 |
The WCED Regulatory Framework for the Conduct, Administration and Management of the CTA was distributed to schools in 2008. The purpose of that document is to ensure that all principals, teachers and officials have a common understanding of the processes and procedures for conducting the CTAs. The document will be amended to cater for the GEC.
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| 2.2 |
The WCED moderation protocol for school-based assessment will be distributed to all schools in due course. The moderation protocol stipulates the procedures for monitoring and moderation at school, cluster, district and provincial levels.
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| 2.3 |
Regular updates on Grade 9 assessment processes and procedures, including the capturing of the Grade 9 results in 2009, will be provided to districts and schools once they have been gazetted.
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| 3. |
EDUCATION DISTRICTS' INVOLVEMENT
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| 3.1 |
Education district managers must ensure that the latest GEC information is brought to the attention of all concerned.
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| 3.2 |
Rigorous moderation and monitoring, as well as effective support to schools, must be based on the national and provincial policies so as to ensure the credibility of the GEC.
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| 3.3 |
Schools must submit all applications for adaptations on behalf of learners who experience barriers to learning to the district assessment co-ordinator at each education district office by 31 March 2009. These applications must be approved by the district-based support teams. The district assessment co-ordinator must submit a summary of all the approved applications to the following address by 3 April 2009:
Mr André Clausen
Director: Examinations Administration
Western Cape Education Department
Room 512
Grand Central Towers
Lower Parliament Street
Cape Town
8001
Tel no. 021 467 2945
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| 4.1 |
Schools are urgently requested to update their learner registration records on the CEMIS by 31 March 2009. Particular attention must be paid to the correct registration of the different language levels offered by each learner.
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| 4.2 |
Numbers for the delivery of the question papers for all the learning areas, except the languages, will be based on the language of learning and teaching of the school, which must be clearly indicated on the CEMIS.
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| 4.3 |
The quantities of Grade 9 question papers, memoranda, resource books and other assessment instruments delivered for the CTAs, Sections A and B, will be based on CEMIS registrations. The WCED will not make additional deliveries because of incorrect learner registration information.
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| 4.4 |
Marking, internal moderation and recording of the assessment will take place at school level.
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| 5. |
CONCLUSION
Education district officials, curriculum managers and principals are kindly requested to bring the contents of this minute to the attention of all concerned.
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SIGNED: T SINGH
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2009:03:17
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