1. This minute must be read in conjunction with the Regulations pertaining to the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12, the Regulations pertaining to the Conduct, Administration and Management of the National Senior Certificate examination and the Policy pertaining to the Programme and Promotion Requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 as amended in the Government Gazette, Vol 618 No 40472, dated 02 December 2016.

2. Promotion requirements for Grades 10 to 12
2.1 Learners in Grades 10 to 12 will be promoted if they have:

  1. offered and completed the school-based assessment (SBA), oral assessment tasks, practical assessment tasks (PATs) and the end-of-year examination requirements in no fewer than seven subjects; and
  2. achieved 40% in three subjects, one of which is an official language at Home Language (HL) level, and 30% in three subjects, provided that the SBA component is submitted in the seventh subject.
3. Progression and learner retention
3.1 A learner may only be retained once in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase in order to avoid the learner from being retained in this phase for longer than four years. This will only be applied in cases where it is considered to be in the best interest of the learners to be progressed to the next grade.
3.2 Considering this, progression to either Grade 11 or Grade 12, is subject to the following criteria:

  1. The learner must have failed either Grade 10 or Grade 11, and repeated either Grade 10 or Grade 11.
  2. The learner must achieve 30% in four of the seven subjects offered for the National Senior Certificate (NSC), comprising Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) and three other subjects from Groups A and/or B including Life Orientation.
  3. The learner must have attended school on a regular basis. Absenteeism in excess of 20 teaching days, without a valid reason, will disqualify the learner from being progressed. This constitutes irregular attendance.
  4. The learner must comply with the prescribed SBA requirements for all subjects offered, including the failed subjects.
3.3 The following procedure must be followed by the school to establish whether a learner should be retained in the FET Phase or progressed to the next grade:

  1. The school must convene a special meeting of relevant subject staff to evaluate each learner holistically that has not met the promotion requirements more than once in Grade 10 or Grade 11.
  2. If there is consensus among all subject teachers during the promotion and progression meeting that the learner should be retained in the current grade, then a meeting must be held with the parent/guardian so that the advice is carefully and clearly explained by the school and understood by the parent/guardian before the learner’s school report is handed to them.
  3. The decision from the meeting must be reflected on the learner’s report card.
3.4 The parent/guardian has the right to appeal the final decision made by the school to progress or retain a learner. The parents/guardians must follow the following procedure:

  1. The parent/guardian must submit a written request, not later than three days after the official opening of schools, to the school principal specifying the reasons why the progression or retention decision is being contested.
  2. The Head of Department (HoD) or his/her designee shall make a final determination in this regard within 14 working days of receiving a request to appeal.
  3. The onus remains with the parent/guardian as the appealing party to show why the progression or retention decision should be overruled.
3.5 Districts and schools must have clearly articulated intervention strategies that include an early identification of low achievers or at-risk learners so that the school, district and province can develop and implement additional learning opportunities. Learners repeating either Grade 10 or Grade 11 must receive adequate additional support.
3.6 Progression in Grades 10 and 11 does not guarantee the final certification of a learner in Grade 12. Such a learner must comply with the certification requirements to enable him/her to obtain a National Senior Certificate.

4. Multiple Examination Opportunity for progressed Grade 12 learners
4.1 In terms of the MEO option learners who have been progressed from Grade 11 to Grade 12, may choose to write six or less than the six subject package in the November 2017 examination and write the remaining subjects in the June 2018 examination.
4.2 The performance of progressed learners must be monitored in the Grade 12 year, and based on a consultative process with the parents/guardians, the learners will be allowed to write the examination in four subjects (including Life Orientation) in 2017 and the remaining subjects in the June 2018 examination.
4.3 In order to ensure uniformity in the application of the MEO option, a learner selecting this option must comply with the following criteria:

The learner must –

  1. be progressed from Grade 11 to Grade 12;
  2. have completed all his/her SBA requirements in all seven subjects;
  3. have attended school on a regular basis (absenteeism in excess of 20 teaching days, without a valid reason, will disqualify the learner from being progressed. This constitutes irregular attendance);
  4. have written the September 2017 examinations in all subjects; and
  5. have failed the minimum of three subjects in the September 2017 examinations.
5. Principals must ensure that the learner’s parent/guardian who opt for the MEO option apply in writing by completing the accompanying Annexure A. This must be returned to the Directorate: Examinations Administration, for the attention of Mrs C Abrahams on or before 19 October 2017.

6. Please note that the MEO option is only applicable to learners who progressed from Grade 11 to Grade 12.

7. You are kindly requested to bring the contents of the minute to the attention of all Grade 12 educators, learners and parents/guardians at your school.


SIGNED: PAD BEETS
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT MANAGEMENT
DATE: 2017:10:10

Annexure A: Application for Multiple Examinations Opportunity (MEO)  (size: 54 KB)