Error on exam paper won't affect matriculants
22 December 2009, 08:53
Matric candidates who wrote the independent examinations will not be affected by an error in the Physical Science exam paper 1.
This was the message given by Umalusi, the council for quality assurance in general and further education and training, in Pretoria on Monday.
The council approved the Independent Examination Board (IEB), the Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) and the new National Certificate Vocational (NCV) final exams.
Umalusi looked particularly at the Physical Science marks because of an error in the first paper, where a symbol missing from a graph rendered the question unanswerable. The question counted 16 marks. Umalusi chairman Professor John Volmink said the council had to look at the direct and indirect impact the error had on pupils. They adjusted the potential harm of the error by leaving out the 16 marks from the total tally and they adjusted the total marks of all science candidates upward.
"The marks were adjusted to ensure this year's cohort that they will not be impacted negatively," Volmink said.
IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer said they regretted the error, the first in IEB history, and that it was a result of a printing error.
"The question score was worth 16 marks out of a total of 400 for the examination papers. In processing the final results, the question was ignored.
"It would have counted for 3 percent of the total marks attainable after the inclusion of the school-based assessment component," Oberholzer said.
Meanwhile, of the 89 510 people who enrolled for the Abet exams, only 58 348 wrote their exams, a percentage of 58 percent.
"We are concerned with the high absenteeism of the adult exams," Volmink said.
"Overall, we are disappointed in low pass rates."
For the first time, the NCV exams were written, with 4 900 candidates sitting.
Volmink said the Department of Education needed to address problems in this sector of training, particularly the lack of resources and training of lecturers for skills training.
He said the public schools' National Senior Certificate quality assurance would be announced on January 4. He would not be drawn on whether it was true that 80 percent of all matrics who wrote maths paper 1 would fail unless the marks were moderated.
The Department of Education confirmed it had received numerous complaints about the exam paper, with many believing it was too difficult.
"If the marks of mathematics paper 1 and 2 added together are too low, we will make adjustments," Volmink said."
This was the message given by Umalusi, the council for quality assurance in general and further education and training, in Pretoria on Monday.
The council approved the Independent Examination Board (IEB), the Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) and the new National Certificate Vocational (NCV) final exams.
Umalusi looked particularly at the Physical Science marks because of an error in the first paper, where a symbol missing from a graph rendered the question unanswerable. The question counted 16 marks. Umalusi chairman Professor John Volmink said the council had to look at the direct and indirect impact the error had on pupils. They adjusted the potential harm of the error by leaving out the 16 marks from the total tally and they adjusted the total marks of all science candidates upward.
"The marks were adjusted to ensure this year's cohort that they will not be impacted negatively," Volmink said.
IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer said they regretted the error, the first in IEB history, and that it was a result of a printing error.
"The question score was worth 16 marks out of a total of 400 for the examination papers. In processing the final results, the question was ignored.
"It would have counted for 3 percent of the total marks attainable after the inclusion of the school-based assessment component," Oberholzer said.
Meanwhile, of the 89 510 people who enrolled for the Abet exams, only 58 348 wrote their exams, a percentage of 58 percent.
"We are concerned with the high absenteeism of the adult exams," Volmink said.
"Overall, we are disappointed in low pass rates."
For the first time, the NCV exams were written, with 4 900 candidates sitting.
Volmink said the Department of Education needed to address problems in this sector of training, particularly the lack of resources and training of lecturers for skills training.
He said the public schools' National Senior Certificate quality assurance would be announced on January 4. He would not be drawn on whether it was true that 80 percent of all matrics who wrote maths paper 1 would fail unless the marks were moderated.
The Department of Education confirmed it had received numerous complaints about the exam paper, with many believing it was too difficult.
"If the marks of mathematics paper 1 and 2 added together are too low, we will make adjustments," Volmink said."
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on December 22, 2009
Cape Town
IOL ENTERTAINMENT
IOL TECHNOLOGY
IOL JOBS
IOL TRAVEL
IOL MOTORING
BUSINESS REPORT
