SA NCS:Qualification Assesment - eMyTextBooks

SA NCS:Qualification Assesment

INTRODUCING THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT GRADES 10-12 (GENERAL)

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Successful modern economies and societies require citizens with a strong foundation of general education, as well as the desire and ability to continue to learn, to adapt to and develop new knowledge, skills and technologies, to move flexibly between occupations, to take responsibility for their personal performance, to set and achieve high standards, and to work co-operatively.

A society's most valuable resource is its people, and education and training is the process by which society invests in the development of its people. Education and training is, therefore, a central activity of society. It is of vital interest to every family and community, and to the health and prosperity of the national economy. Considering this, the government's policy for education and training is regarded as a matter of national importance second to none.

Based on the importance of investing in the development of its people, the Cabinet has adopted a human resources development strategy entitled A Nation at Work for a Better Life for All. The four key objectives of this strategy are:

• improving the foundations for human development
• improving the supply of high quality skills, particularly scarce skills, which are more responsive to societal

and economic needs

• increasing employer participation in lifelong learning and
• supporting employment growth through industrial policies, innovation, research and development.

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) will ensure that learners acquire and apply knowledge and skills in ways that seek to achieve the four key objectives of the human resources development strategy.

COMPONENTS OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) represents a policy statement for learning and teaching in schools located in the Further Education and Training (FET) band. It aims to replace Report 550 (2001/08), A R&eacute sum&eacute of Instructional Programmes in Schools (hereafter referred to as Report 550), as the document that stipulates policy on curriculum and qualifications in Grades 10-12 (General). The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) comprises several documents which should be read together &shy an Overview document, the Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework Grades 10-12 (General) and Subject Statements:

• The Overview document provides an overall introduction to the National Curriculum Statement. It

describes the philosophical underpinning of the curriculum and explains why it was necessary to replace Report 550 with the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General). The Overview introduces the Subject Statements that form the foundation of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General). It also summarises the main issues related to inclusive education, to the Further Education and Training Certificate (General), and to assessment in Grades 10-12.

• The Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework aims to provide a mechanism through which learner

achievement of the Further Education and Training exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards are recognised at school, provincial and national levels and find acceptance globally in Higher Education and the world of work. This document outlines the requirements and rules for the award of the Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC).

• The third pillar of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) comprises Subject

Statements, each containing a definition, a purpose, a scope, educational and career links, Learning Outcomes, Assessment Standards, subject competence descriptions per grade, content and contexts for attaining Assessment Standards, and a generic section on assessment.

The primary purpose of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) is, therefore, to benefit society and learners by equipping the latter with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that will enable meaningful participation in society. The Curriculum also aims to provide a basis for continuing learning in Higher Education, to lay a foundation for future careers, and to develop learners who are productive and responsible citizens and lifelong learners.

PRINCIPLES OF THE NCS

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General), by stipulating Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards and by spelling out the key principles and values underpinned by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), lays a foundation for the achievement of the goals of nation building. As stated in the Preamble, the aims of the Constitution are to:

• heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and

fundamental human rights

• improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person
• lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the

people and every citizen is equally protected by law and

• build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family

of nations.

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) has been developed with the aim of giving expression to the values of democracy, human rights, social justice, equity, non-racism, non-sexism and ubuntu. It is based on the following principles:

• social transformation
• outcomes-based education
• high knowledge and high skills
• integration and applied competence
• progression
• articulation and portability
• human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice
• valuing indigenous knowledge systems and
• credibility, quality and efficiency.

Social transformation

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa forms the basis for social transformation in our post-apartheid society. The imperative to transform South African society by making use of various transformative tools stems from a need to address the legacy of apartheid in all areas of human activity and in education in particular. Social transformation in education is aimed at ensuring that the educational imbalances of the past are redressed, and that equal educational opportunities are provided for all sections of our population. If social transformation is to be achieved, all South Africans have to be educationally affirmed through the recognition of their potential and the removal of artificial barriers to the attainment of qualifications.

Outcomes-based education

Outcomes-based education (OBE) forms the foundation for the curriculum in South Africa. It strives to enable all learners to reach their maximum learning potential by setting the Learning Outcomes to be achieved by the end of the education process. OBE encourages a learner-centred and activity-based approach to education. The National Curriculum Statement builds its Learning Outcomes for Grades 10-12 on the Critical and Developmental Outcomes that were inspired by the Constitution and developed through a democratic process.

The Critical Outcomes require learners to be able to:

• identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking
• work effectively with others as members of a team, group, organisation and community
• organise and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively
• collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information
• communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes
• use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and
• the health of others and
• demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem solving

contexts do not exist in isolation.

The Developmental Outcomes require learners to be able to:

• reflect on and explore a variety of strategies to learn more effectively
• participate as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and global communities
• be culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts
• explore education and career opportunities and
• develop entrepreneurial opportunities.

High knowledge and high skills

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) aims to develop a high level of knowledge and skills in learners. It sets up high expectations of what all South African learners can achieve. Social justice requires the empowerment of those sections of the population previously disempowered by the lack of knowledge and skills. The National Curriculum Statement specifies the minimum standards of knowledge and skills to be achieved at each grade and sets high, achievable standards in all subjects.

Integration and applied competence

Integration is achieved within and across subjects and fields of learning. The integration of knowledge and skills across subjects and terrains of practice is crucial for achieving applied competence as defined in the National Qualifications Framework. Applied competence aims at integrating three discrete competences &shy namely, practical, foundational and reflective competences. In adopting integration and applied competence, the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) seeks to promote an integrated learning of theory, practice and reflection.

Progression

Progression refers to the process of developing more advanced and complex knowledge and skills. The Subject Statements show progression from one grade to another. Each Learning Outcome is followed by an explicit statement of what level of performance is expected for the outcome. Assessment Standards are arranged in a format that shows an increased level of expected performance per grade. The content and context of each grade will also show progression from simple to complex.

Articulation and portability

Articulation refers to the relationship between qualifications in different National Qualifications Framework levels or bands in ways that promote access from one qualification to another. This is especially important for qualifications falling within the same learning pathway. Given that the Further Education and Training band is nested between the General Education and Training and the Higher Education bands, it is vital that the Further Education and Training Certificate (General) articulates with the General Education and Training Certificate and with qualifications in similar learning pathways of Higher Education. In order to achieve this articulation, the development of each Subject Statement included a close scrutiny of the exit-level expectations in the General Education and Training Learning Areas, and of the learning assumed to be in place at the entrance levels of cognate disciplines in Higher Education.

Portability refers to the extent to which parts of a qualification (subjects or unit standards) are transferable to another qualification in a different learning pathway of the same National Qualifications Framework band. For purposes of enhancing the portability of subjects obtained in Grades 10-12, various mechanisms have been explored, for example, regarding a subject as a 20-credit unit standard. Subjects contained in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) compare with appropriate unit standards registered on the National Qualifications Framework.

Human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) seeks to promote human rights, social justice and environmental justice. All newly-developed Subject Statements are infused with the principles and practices of social and environmental justice and human rights as defined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. In particular, the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) is sensitive to issues of diversity such as poverty, inequality, race, gender, language, age, disability and other factors. The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) adopts an inclusive approach by specifying minimum requirements for all learners. It acknowledges that all learners should be able to develop to their full potential provided they receive the necessary support. The intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual and physical needs of learners will be addressed through the design and development of appropriate Learning Programmes and through the use of appropriate assessment instruments.

Valuing indigenous knowledge systems

In the 1960s, the theory of multi-intelligences forced educationists to recognise that there were many ways of processing information to make sense of the world, and that, if one were to define intelligence anew, one would have to take these different approaches into account. Up until then the Western world had only valued logical, mathematical and specific linguistic abilities, and rated people as `intelligent' only if they were adept in these ways. Now people recognise the wide diversity of knowledge systems through which people make sense of and attach meaning to the world in which they live. Indigenous knowledge systems in the South African context refer to a body of knowledge embedded in African philosophical thinking and social practices that have evolved over thousands of years. The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) has infused indigenous knowledge systems into the Subject Statements. It acknowledges the rich history and heritage of this country as important contributors to nurturing the values contained in the Constitution. As many different perspectives as possible have been included to assist problem solving in all fields.

Credibility, quality and efficiency

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) aims to achieve credibility through pursuing a transformational agenda and through providing an education that is comparable in quality, breadth and depth to those of other countries. Quality assurance is to be regulated by the requirements of the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act 58 of 1995), the Education and Training Quality Assurance Regulations, and the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001).

THE KIND OF LEARNER THAT IS ENVISAGED

Of vital importance to our development as people are the values that give meaning to our personal spiritual and intellectual journeys. The Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy (Department of Education, 2001:9- 10) states the following about education and values: Values and morality give meaning to our individual and social relationships. They are the common currencies that help make life more meaningful than might otherwise have been. An education system does not exist to simply serve a market, important as that may be for economic growth and material prosperity. Its primary purpose must be to enrich the individual and, by extension, the broader society. The kind of learner that is envisaged is one who will be imbued with the values and act in the interests of a society based on respect for democracy, equality, human dignity and social justice as promoted in the Constitution.

The learner emerging from the Further Education and Training band must also demonstrate achievement of the Critical and Developmental Outcomes listed earlier in this document. Subjects in the Fundamental Learning Component collectively promote the achievement of the Critical and Developmental Outcomes, while specific subjects in the Core and Elective Components individually promote the achievement of particular Critical and Developmental Outcomes.

In addition to the above, learners emerging from the Further Education and Training band must:

• have access to, and succeed in, lifelong education and training of good quality
• demonstrate an ability to think logically and analytically, as well as holistically and laterally and
• be able to transfer skills from familiar to unfamiliar situations.

THE KIND OF TEACHER THAT IS ENVISAGED

All teachers and other educators are key contributors to the transformation of education in South Africa. The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) visualises teachers who are qualified, competent, dedicated and caring. They will be able to fulfil the various roles outlined in the Norms and Standards for Educators. These include being mediators of learning, interpreters and designers of Learning Programmes and materials, leaders, administrators and managers, scholars, researchers and lifelong learners, community members, citizens and pastors, assessors, and subject specialists.

STRUCTURE AND DESIGN FEATURES

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) consists of an Overview document, the Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework, and the Subject Statements. The subjects in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) are categorised into Learning Fields.

What is a Learning Field?

A Learning Field is a category that serves as a home for cognate subjects, and that facilitates the formulation of rules of combination for the Further Education and Training Certificate (General). The demarcations of the Learning Fields for Grades 10-12 took cognisance of articulation with the General Education and Training and

Higher Education bands, as well as with classification schemes in other countries. Although the development of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) has taken the twelve National Qualifications Framework organising fields as its point of departure, it should be emphasised that those organising fields are not necessarily Learning Fields or `knowledge' fields, but rather are linked to occupational categories. The following subject groupings were demarcated into Learning Fields to help with learner subject combinations:

• Languages (Fundamentals)
• Arts and Culture
• Business, Commerce, Management and Service Studies
• Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology
• Human and Social Sciences and Languages and
• Physical, Mathematical, Computer, Life and Agricultural Sciences.

What is a subject?

Historically, a subject has been defined as a specific body of academic knowledge. This understanding of a subject laid emphasis on knowledge at the expense of skills, values and attitudes. Subjects were viewed by some as static and unchanging, with rigid boundaries. Very often, subjects mainly emphasised Western contributions to knowledge.

In an outcomes-based curriculum like the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General), subject boundaries are blurred. Knowledge integrates theory, skills and values. Subjects are viewed as dynamic, always responding to new and diverse knowledge, including knowledge that traditionally has been excluded from the formal curriculum.

A subject in an outcomes-based curriculum is broadly defined by Learning Outcomes, and not only by its body of content. In the South African context, the Learning Outcomes should, by design, lead to the achievement of the Critical and Developmental Outcomes. Learning Outcomes are defined in broad terms and are flexible, making allowances for the inclusion of local inputs.

What is a Learning Outcome?

A Learning Outcome is a statement of an intended result of learning and teaching. It describes knowledge, skills and values that learners should acquire by the end of the Further Education and Training band. Learning Outcomes are packed into subjects.

What is an Assessment Standard?

Assessment Standards are criteria that collectively provide evidence of what a learner should know and be able to demonstrate at a specific grade. They embody the knowledge, skills and values required to achieve the Learning Outcomes. Assessment Standards within each Learning Outcome collectively show how conceptual progression occurs from grade to grade.

What is a Learning Programme Guideline?

A Learning Programme specifies the scope of learning and assessment for the three grades in the Further Education and Training band. It is the plan that ensures that learners achieve the Learning Outcomes as prescribed by the Assessment Standards for a particular grade. The Learning Programme Guidelines assist teachers and other Learning Programme developers to plan and design quality learning, teaching and assessment programmes.

What is a Competence Description?

Competence descriptions determine the levels at which Learning Outcomes are achieved. They specify performance. They are not Assessment Standards.

INTRODUCING THE QUALIFICATIONS AND ASSESSMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK

INTRODUCTION

The Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework Grades 10-12 (General) describes the regulations, rules and provisos for the award of the Further Education and Training Certificate (General) at Level 4 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It assists with the selection and combination of subjects that lead up to the award of the FETC (General). The new FETC (General) is to be awarded for the achievement of exit- level Learning Outcomes stipulated in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General). It also provides assessment policy. Guidelines on how to interpret this policy are given in the Assessmet Guideline document.

THREE LEARNING PATHWAYS IN FET

Section 29 of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa (1996) stipulates that the Ministry of Education has the constitutional obligation to make Further Education progressively available and accessible. Equally, the success of the government's human resources development strategy depends heavily on a flexible, responsive and vibrant Further Education and Training system that provides the intermediate and higher-order skills necessary for economic growth and social development.

The location of the FET band between the Higher Education (HE) and General Education and Training (GET) bands presents several complex challenges. The institutions in this band have to respond to the needs, interests and preferences of a widely-varied target audience. The new FET institutional landscape must cater for young learners graduating from the compulsory school phase as well as adult workers and unemployed citizens who are seeking to enter or progress in or change a career pathway, or equip themselves for admission to Higher Education.

The National Qualifications Framework provides for a single Level 4 qualification called the FETC. The National Standards Body Regulations (hereafter referred to as the NSB Regulations) developed in 1998 stipulate the design of this qualification. The FETC must equip learners for further learning either at work or in Higher Education. To cater for the needs of learners and the expectations of society, it is necessary to recognise three learning pathways:

• General
• General Vocational and
• Trade, Occupational and Professional.

General pathway

The General pathway leading to the FETC (General) will be the basic programme offered predominantly at senior secondary schools. It will be structured into Fundamental, Core and Elective Learning Components in accordance with the NSB Regulations. Learners will choose from a limited number of subjects in the Learning Fields of the school curriculum. The qualification will be based on band exit-level outcomes, but designed so as to permit articulation with other learning pathways.

General Vocational pathway

This pathway will be relevant for 16-18 year olds who have yet to make a career choice, who wish to progress to Higher Education in a career-focused pathway, or who have not been able to secure access to a workplace for trade, occupational and professional skills training. Unemployed adults may have similar reasons for taking this route.

The FETC in the General Vocational pathway will also be structured into Fundamental, Core and Elective Learning Components, with a concentration on the vocational fields. The General Vocational pathway will be offered through FET colleges and specialised technical senior secondary schools at NQF Levels 2-4. Programmes in this pathway will not prepare learners for specific occupational competence but will offer them a broad-based orientation to employment skills as well as sufficient academic education to prepare them for admission to Higher Education. The FETC (General Vocational) will also be a band exit-level outcomes-based qualification at Level 4 of the NQF. Portability of learning credits will be possible to permit articulation with other learning pathways.

Trade, Occupational and Professional (TOP) pathway

Learners in this pathway, both young people and adults, will make the most specific and least flexible choices. The TOP pathway will be open to those who have been able to secure access either to a workplace learning site or a simulated workplace learning site (an accredited college workshop, for example) where they can learn and practise their skills and attain determined competency standards or expertise recognised by relevant professional bodies.

THE POLICY FRAMEWORK

The current curriculum and qualifications policy document for schools, Report 550, only has a maintenance function. It will be replaced by the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) consisting of the Overview, this Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework document and subject statements. The curriculum statement will take effect in Grade 10 in 2006, and the first FETC will be issued in 2008. The new policy document accommodates the national norms and standards for school education as stipulated in Section 3(4)(i) of the National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996).

In terms of Section 61 of the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996), as amended by Section 9 of the Education Laws Amendment Act (Act 50 of 2002), the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) will form part of national education policy, and could ultimately be translated into regulations. The Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework Grades 10-12 (General) describes the regulations and rules for the award of the FETC (General) at Level 4 of the NQF.

In the Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework Grades 10-12 (General), an `education department' is a national or provincial education department, while a `school' is a public school or an independent school which enrols learners in Grades 10 to 12.

TYPE OF QUALIFICATION

In terms of NSB Regulation 8(1), a qualification shall:

• represent a planned combination of Learning Outcomes that has a defined purpose or purposes, and which
• is intended to provide qualifying learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning
• add value to the qualifying learner in terms of enrichment of the person
• provide benefits to society and the economy
• comply with the objectives of the NQF
• have both specific and critical cross-field outcomes which promote lifelong learning
• where applicable, be internationally comparable
• incorporate integrated assessment and
• indicate the rules governing the award of the qualification.

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

The minimum entrance requirement for Grade 10 is a General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) or an Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) NQF Level 1 Certificate, or an equivalent qualification obtained at Level 1.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE FETC (GENERAL)

The FETC (General) is a whole qualification that requires a minimum of 130 credits at NQF Level 4 (Grade 12). The requirements of the qualification are consequently pegged at the Level 4 of the NQF. The FETC requires a minimum of 60 credits at `Adequate Achievement' or above, and a maximum of 60 credits at `Partial Achievement' at NQF Level 4 and a maximum of 20 credits at `Inadequate Achievement' at NQF Level 4. FETC will also be awarded to candidates who satisfy the NSB Regulation of obtaining credits across the three components of learning, namely Fundamental, Core and Elective. The components are aimed at promoting flexibility and relevance.

Learners exiting prior to NQF Level 4 (Grade 12) will receive report cards or transcripts from the school indicating Learning Outcomes achieved, provided that the Learning Outcomes achieved are registered with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) at the appropriate level or grade.

All candidates must complete the school-based assessment components in order to be awarded an FETC (General). Any individual who is not a full-time candidate at a school should submit work conducted during the year to fulfil the school-based assessment requirement. This component of work completed during the year should be assessed by a registered assessor and quality assured by an accredited quality assurance body.

FETC PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS

Fundamental Learning Component

Two subjects at `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' including at least one official language on at least First Additional Language Level. Two subjects at `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4'.

Core/Elective Learning Component

One subject at `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4'. Two subjects at `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4'.

Proviso

One subject at `Inadequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' may be condoned (see section 2.13).

Non Attainment

Should a learner not succeed to obtain an FETC in one year the Admissions Policy in the National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996 should apply.

ARTICULATION AND PORTABILITY

The qualification structure is not the key issue for articulation, portability and mobility. Articulation and portability will be based on the comparability of Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards across different pathways. In constructing the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General), with exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards per grade within subjects, the need for articulation and portability with registered unit standards at colleges and other sites of learning has been taken into account.

The different FETC pathways use two awarding systems &shy a whole credit awarding system and a unit standard awarding system. However, the learning achieved by a learner within a subject under the credit awarding system can be matched to registered unit standards. Credit accumulation and transfer across the learning pathways and learning sites is possible and should be approved by bodies with the relevant authority.

Learners who have followed a different route could gain access through recognition of prior learning (RPL), to move either laterally or vertically along the various pathways.

SUBJECTS IN THE FETC (GENERAL)

Schools will predominantly offer learners subjects selected from the general pathway, while specialised schools with the required infrastructure and expertise may also offer the broad vocational subjects. Annexure A contains the nationally-approved subjects that comply with the requirements for the FETC (General).

CLASSIFICATION OF SUBJECTS INTO LEARNING FIELDS

The process of classification took cognisance of articulation with the General Education and Training and the Higher Education bands, as well as comparability with other international classification schemes.

Although the development of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) has taken the NQF's twelve Learning Fields as its point of departure, these twelve fields are only `organising fields' linked to various disciplines and occupational fields in the world of work. They are, therefore, designed to provide a framework for organising qualifications in a coherent and co-ordinated manner that gives purpose or direction to the qualification.

To ensure a viable organising mechanism for the formulation of rules of combination for the FETC, the following six Learning Fields have been consolidated for the FETC (General):

• Languages (Fundamentals)
• Arts and Culture
• Business, Commerce and Management Studies and Services
• Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology
• Human and Social Studies and Languages and
• Physical, Mathematical, Computer, Life and Agricultural Sciences.
• Adjustments were necessary in certain fields to ensure realistic subject choices &shy for example, the Human and
• Social Studies Learning Field has been amalgamated with Languages that are not offered as part of the
• Fundamental Learning Component.
• Considering the above, the identified subjects for external assessment (and their proposed new names, where

applicable) are classified as follows:

A. Languages (Fundamentals):

• Afrikaans Home Language

• Afrikaans First Additional Language

• English Home Language

• English First Additional Language

• isiNdebele Home Language

• isiNdebele First Additional Language

• isiXhosa Home Language

• isiXhosa First Additional Language

• isiZulu Home Language

• isiZulu First Additional Language

• Sepedi Home Language

• Sepedi First Additional Language

• Sesotho Home Language

• Sesotho First Additional Language

• Setswana Home Language

• Setswana First Additional Language

• SiSwati Home Language

• SiSwati First Additional Language

• Tshivenda Home Language

• Tshivenda First Additional Language

• Xitsonga Home Language and

• Xitsonga First Additional Language.

B. Arts and Culture:

• Dance Studies

• Design

• Dramatic Arts

• Music and

• Visual Arts.

C. Business, Commerce and Management Studies and Services:

• Accounting

• Business Studies

• Consumer Studies

• Economics

• Hospitality Studies and

• Tourism.

D. Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology:

• Electrical Technology

• Engineering Graphics and Design and

• Mechanical Technology.

E. Human and Social Studies and Languages:

• Geography

• History

• Life Orientation (Fundamental) and

• Languages (that are not already being taken in the Fundamental Component)

F. Physical, Mathematical, Computer, Life and Agricultural Sciences:

• Agricultural Sciences

• Computer Applications Technology

• Information Technology

• Life Sciences

• Mathematical Literacy (Fundamental)

• Mathematics and

• Physical Sciences.

COMPONENTS OF THE FETC (GENERAL)

In adhering to the requirements of the regulations in terms of the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act 58 of 1995), all further education and training qualifications will comprise three basic components, namely Fundamental, Core and Elective learning. The combination of these three components will determine the breadth and depth of a Learning Programme as well as the specialisation of a qualification. Furthermore, these three components are aimed at promoting flexibility and relevance.

The Fundamental Learning Component is essential for the qualification and forms the basis for other learning at that level, while the Core Learning Component defines the qualification as being of a specific type. It ensures that the purpose of the qualification is achieved. The Elective Learning Component allows the learner to reinforce the Core area of study, to study something for specialisation purposes, or to study something unrelated for personal interest and enrichment.

RULES OF COMBINATION

The rules of combination to obtain an FETC (General) as stated below are applicable to Grades 10-12. Subject to the provisions of Section 16(4)(d and e) of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001), a Further Education and Training Certificate (General) shall be issued to a candidate who has complied with the following programme requirements.

Fundamental Learning Component

(40+20+10 credits)

• Two languages from paragraph 2.10(A) above &shy one being a Home Language and the other one being at

Home or First Additional level, provided that one of the two languages must be the language of learning and teaching (LOLT) (20 x 2 = 40 credits)

• Mathematical Literacy (20 credits) (learners taking Mathematics as a core subject will be exempt from this

Fundamental) and

• Life Orientation (10 credits) from paragraph 2.10(E) above.

Core Learning Component

(40 credits) At least two subjects selected from one of five Learning Fields listed in paragraphs 2.10(B-F) above (2 x 20 credits = 40 credits).

Elective Learning Component

(20 credits) At least one subject selected from any one of the six Learning Fields listed in paragraph 2.10(A-F) above, provided that the same subject is not offered as a Fundamental or Core subject (1 x 20 credits).

Minimum requirement

The minimum credits required are 70 + 40 + 20 = 130 credits.

Senior Certificate subjects

Senior Certificate subjects from Report 550 that have not been developed into an OBE format may only be offered as Elective Learning Components or as additional subjects for an interim period until Report 550 has been phased out, provided that there is not an overlap of content with other subjects being offered by a learner. (These subjects are listed in Annexure B. See also Annexure C.) link

Subjects from other examining bodies

Subjects offered by other recognised examining bodies may only be offered as Electives or as additional subjects, provided that there is not an overlap of content with other subjects being offered by the candidate. (These subjects are listed in section 2.13.10 below. See also Annexure D.)link

PROVISOS

• Not more than one language shall be offered from the same group, namely:

isiXhosa, isiZulu, SiSwati and isiNdebele and Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana.

• A candidate presenting the minimum requirements for the FETC (General), as outlined in sections

2.10 and 2.12 above link , shall not be allowed to offer more than three languages in total.

• The same language shall not be offered as a Home and a First or Second Additional Language, or as a

First and Second Additional Language.

• In cases where there are fewer than 35 requests in Grades 7 to 12 for instruction in a language in a

given grade not already offered by a school, the Language in Education Policy, 1997, stipulates that the Head of the provincial education department will determine how the needs of those learners will be met (Government Gazette, Vol. 386, No. 18190 of 4 August 1997, as amended by means of Correction Notice No. 1700, in Government Gazette, Vol. 390, No. 18546 of 19 December 1997).

• Candidates offering Mathematics either as a Core or Elective subject will be exempted from taking

Mathematical Literacy as a Fundamental subject, provided they offer additional Elective subjects in order to comply with sections 2.12.1 and 2.12.2 above.

• A maximum of one subject from any other examining body recognised by the Department of

Education, and accredited by the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Council (Umalusi) for this purpose, may be offered (see section 2.12.6).ink

• The offering of the current N1-N3 National Certificate, National Intermediate Certificate and National

Senior Certificate subjects as listed in the technical college policy document &shy namely, Formal

• Technical College Instructional Programmes in the RSA, Report 191 (2001/08) &shy will be phased out

with the Senior Certificate. (See also sections 2.6 and 3.13.)link

• The offering of Lower Grade syllabi to learners in special classes or schools will be phased out with

the Senior Certificate. (See section 3.13.)link

• Current Senior Certificate subjects listed in Report 550 will be offered in combination with FETC

subjects for an interim period.

The provisional date for implementation of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) is 2006. Subjects listed in Report 550 that have not been categorised as obsolete, and that do not have some of their elements incorporated into subjects already contained in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General), can be offered as Electives for an interim period. (These subjects are listed in Annexure B. See also Annexure D.)link

• Subjects of other examining bodies accommodated in national policy: Candidates may offer a maximum of

one subject developed by other accredited examining bodies, provided that such a subject is accommodated in national education policy. A maximum of 20 credits may be allocated to such subjects. The subjects listed in Table 2.1 are accommodated in national policy. (See also Annexure D, paragraph D3)link

Table 2.1 Subjects of other examining bodies that are approved at present

Learners who offer the Trinity College of London or UNISA Practical Music Examination, Grades 6, 7, 8, or the Performer's Certificate, Associate (Trinity), or Performer's Licentiate in Music must comply with the prerequisite theoretical components as offered by both Trinity College of London and UNISA, namely Grades 6 and 5 Theory for Trinity College of London and UNISA respectively. These options are for learners in schools where Music is not offered as a subject.

• Non-official Languagess that are part of the National Curriculum Statement are Arabic, French,

German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu. The criteria for inclusion and provision of Non-official Languagess in the National Curriculum Statement are covered in the following policy documents:

• • Section 6(5) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996)

• • Section 4.3.4 of the Language in Education Policy, 1997

• • the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9 (Schools)

• • Article 3(f) of the Protocol on Education and Training in the Southern African Development

Community (SADC).

• • Applications for the inclusion of other Non-official Languagess may be approved by the Department

of Education.

CHANGING SUBJECTS IN THE FET BAND

Learners may not change a combination of subjects once they have enrolled for the Grade 11 programme, except in the case of those learners who, having demonstrated capacity, may want to change from Mathematics to Mathematical Literacy.

To change to another subject, a learner would have to give evidence of having achieved the Learning Outcomes of that subject at the conclusion of NQF Level 2 (Grade 10). Teachers would ensure that tasks in both the portfolio and formal assessment show that the learner has achieved the Learning Outcomes before the learner could proceed with the attainment of NQF Level 3 (Grade 11) outcomes. The teacher must supply the necessary learning support material.

CONCESSIONS

An immigrant candidate is:

• a child or a dependent of a diplomatic representative of a foreign government accredited in South Africa or
• any person who:

• • first entered a South African school in Grade 7 or a more senior grade (that is, enrolled in and attended

a South African school), or

• • having begun his or her schooling at a school in South Africa, has attended school outside South Africa

for two or more consecutive years after Grade 6 or its equivalent.

An immigrant candidate as contemplated above may offer only one official language on at least First Additional Language Level, provided that another subject is offered in lieu of the one language that is not offered.

To be classified as an immigrant candidate, such a candidate must be in possession of the relevant official documentation issued by the Department of Home Affairs.

LEARNERS WHO EXPERIENCE BARRIERS TO LEARNING

The following concessions in respect of Languages may be applied to candidates who experience barriers related to aural impairment, aphasia and dyslexia: A. In cases where two languages are required only one language, at Home Language Level needs to be offered. B. In cases of learners with aural impairment, whose language of instruction is not their home language, the language referred to in paragraph A above may be offered at First Additional Level.

Further concessions to learners who experience sensory and physical barriers, or a learning disability, will be granted in accordance with the recommended alternative and/or adaptive methods as stipulated in the Policy on Assessment in the FET and GET Bands as it Relates to Barriers to Learning, as contemplated in section 3.13 below.

SUBJECT CODING

Subjects

The subjects are listed in section 2.10 above and alphabetically in Annexure A. The subject codes consist of eight digits that have the following meaning:

• first and second digits: NQF organising field (up to two digits) (see Table 2.2)
• third digit: the clustered Learning Fields, as defined below (see Table 2.3)
• fourth digit: the learning component, as defined below (see Table 2.4)
• fifth, sixth and seventh digits: unique subject codes within each NQF organising field and
• eighth digit: NQF level of the subject.

Coding system

Tables 2.2 to 2.4 list the NQF organising fields, the clustered Learning Fields and the Learning Components as they relate to the coding system for the subjects of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General).

Table 2.2 NQF organising fields as they relate to the subject coding system

Table 2.3 Learning Fields as they relate to the subject coding system

Table 2.4 Learning Components as they relate to the subject coding system

CHAPTER 3 ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION

Assessment is a critical element of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General). It is a process of collecting and interpreting evidence in order to determine the learner's progress in learning and to make a judgement about a learner's performance. Evidence can be collected at different times and places, and with the use of various methods, instruments, modes and media.

To ensure that assessment results can be accessed and used for various purposes at a future date, the results have to be recorded. There are various approaches to recording learners' performances. Some of these are explored in this chapter. Others are dealt with in a more subject-specific manner in the Learning Programme and Assessment Guidelines.

Many stakeholders have an interest in how learners perform in Grades 10-12. These include the learners themselves, parents, guardians, sponsors, provincial departments of education, the Department of Education, the Ministry of Education, employers, and higher education and training institutions. In order to facilitate access to learners' overall performances and to inferences on learners' competences, assessment results have to be reported. There are many ways of reporting. The Learning Programme Guidelines and the Assessment Guidelines discuss ways of recording and reporting on school-based and external assessment as well as giving guidance on assessment issues specific to the subject.

WHY ASSESS

Before a teacher assesses learners, it is crucial that the purposes of the assessment be clearly and unambiguously established. Understanding the purposes of assessment ensures that an appropriate match exists between the purposes and the methods of assessment. This, in turn, will help to ensure that decisions and conclusions based on the assessment are fair and appropriate for the particular purpose or purposes. There are many reasons why learners' performance is assessed. These include monitoring progress and providing feedback, diagnosing or remediating barriers to learning, selection, guidance, supporting learning, certification and promotion.

In this curriculum, learning and assessment are very closely linked. Assessment helps learners to gauge the value of their learning. It gives them information about their own progress and enables them to take control of and to make decisions about their learning. In this sense, assessment provides information about whether teaching and learning is succeeding in getting closer to the specified Learning Outcomes. When assessment indicates lack of progress, teaching and learning plans should be changed accordingly.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

This section discusses the following types of assessment:

• baseline assessment
• diagnostic assessment
• formative assessment and
• summative assessment.

Baseline assessment

Baseline assessment is important at the start of a grade, but can occur at the beginning of any learning cycle. It is used to establish what learners already know and can do. It helps in the planning of activities and in Learning Programme development. The recording of baseline assessment is usually informal.

Diagnostic assessment

Any assessment can be used for diagnostic purposes &shy that is, to discover the cause or causes of a learning barrier. Diagnostic assessment assists in deciding on support strategies or identifying the need for professional help or remediation. It acts as a checkpoint to help redefine the Learning Programme goals, or to discover what learning has not taken place so as to put intervention strategies in place.

Formative assessment

Any form of assessment that is used to give feedback to the learner is fulfilling a formative purpose. Formative assessment is a crucial element of teaching and learning. It monitors and supports the learning process. All stakeholders use this type of assessment to acquire information on the progress of learners. Constructive feedback is a vital component of assessment for formative purposes.

Summative assessment

When assessment is used to record a judgement of the competence or performance of the learner, it serves a summative purpose. Summative assessment gives a picture of a learner's competence or progress at any specific moment. It can occur at the end of a single learning activity, a unit, cycle, term, semester or year of learning. Summative assessment should be planned and a variety of assessment instruments and strategies should be used to enable learners to demonstrate competence.

ASSESSMENT DO REQUIREMENTS?

Assessment should:

• use a variety of instruments
• use a variety of methods
• be understood by the learner and by the broader public
• be clearly focused
• be integrated with teaching and learning
• be based on pre-set criteria of the Assessment Standards
• allow for expanded opportunities for learners
• be learner-paced and fair and
• be flexible.

HOW TO ASSESS

Teachers' assessment of learners' performances must have a great degree of reliability. This means that teachers' judgements of learners' competences should be generalisable across different times, assessment items and markers. The judgements made through assessment should also show a great degree of validity that is, they should be made on the aspects of learning that were assessed.

Because each assessment cannot be totally valid or reliable by itself, decisions on learner progress must be based on more than one assessment. This is the principle behind continuous assessment (CASS). Continuous assessment is a strategy that bases decisions about learning on a range of different assessment activities and events that happen at different times throughout the learning process. It involves assessment activities that are spread throughout the year, using various kinds of assessment instruments and methods such as tests, examinations, projects and assignments.

Oral, written and performance assessments are included. The different pieces of evidence that learners produce as part of the continuous assessment process can be included in a portfolio. Different subjects have different requirements for what should be included in the portfolio. The Learning Programme Guidelines discuss these requirements further.

Continuous assessment is classroom-based and school-based, and focuses on the ongoing manner in which assessment is integrated into the process of teaching and learning. Teachers get to know their learners through their day-to-day teaching, through questioning, through observation, and through interacting with the learners and watching them interact with one another.

Continuous assessment should be applied both to sections of the curriculum that are best assessed through written tests and assignments and to those that are best assessed through other methods, such as by performance, using practical or spoken evidence of learning.

METHODS OF COLLECTING ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

There are various methods of collecting evidence. Some of these are discussed below.

Observation-based assessment

Observation-based assessment methods tend to be less structured and allow the development of a record of different kinds of evidence for different learners at different times. This kind of assessment is often based on tasks that require learners to interact with one another in pursuit of a common solution or product. Observation has to be intentional and should be conducted with the help of an appropriate observation instrument.

Test-based assessment

Test-based assessment is more structured, and enables teachers to gather the same evidence for all learners in the same way and at the same time. This kind of assessment creates evidence of learning that is verified by a specific score. If used correctly, tests and examinations are an important part of the curriculum because they give good evidence of what has been learned.

Task-based assessment

Task-based or performance assessment methods aim to show whether learners can apply the skills and knowledge they have learned in unfamiliar contexts or in contexts outside of the classroom. Performance assessment also covers the practical components of subjects by determining how learners put theory into practice. The criteria, standards or rules by which the task will be assessed are described in rubrics or task checklists, and help the teacher to use professional judgement to assess each learner's performance.

Self, peer and group assessment

All Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards are transparent. Learners know what is expected of them. Learners can, therefore, play an important part, through self-assessment, in `pre-assessing' work before the teacher does the final assessment. Reflection on one's own learning is a vital component of learning. Peer assessment, using a checklist or rubric, helps both the learners whose work is being assessed and the learners who are doing the assessment. The sharing of the criteria for assessment empowers learners to evaluate their own and others' performances.

The ability to work effectively in groups is one of the Critical Outcomes. Assessing group work involves looking for evidence that the group of learners co-operate, assist one another, divide work, and combine individual contributions into a single composite assessable product. Group assessment looks at process as well as product. It involves assessing social skills, time management, resource management and group dynamics, as well as the output of the group.

RECORDING AND REPORTING

Recording and reporting involves the capturing of data collected during assessment so that it can be logically analysed and published in an accurate and understandable way.

Methods of recording

There are different methods of recording. It is often difficult to separate methods of recording from methods of evaluating learners' performances. The following are examples of different types of recording instruments:

• rating scales
• task lists or checklists and
• rubrics.
• Each is discussed below.

Rating scales Rating scales are any marking system where a symbol (such as A or B) or a mark (such as 5/10 or 50%) is defined in detail to link the coded score to a description of the competences that are required to achieve that score. The detail is more important than the coded score in the process of teaching and learning, as it gives learners a much clearer idea of what has been achieved and where and why their learning has fallen short of the target. Traditional marking tended to use rating scales without the descriptive details, making it difficult to have a sense of the learners' strengths and weaknesses in terms of intended outcomes. A six-point scale is used in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General).

Task lists or checklists Task lists or checklists consist of discrete statements describing the expected performance in a particular task. When a particular statement (criterion) on the checklist can be observed as having been satisfied by a learner during a performance, the statement is ticked off. All the statements that have been ticked off on the list (as criteria that have been met) describe the learner's performance. These checklists are very useful in peer or group assessment activities.

Rubrics Rubrics are a combination of rating codes and descriptions of standards. They consist of a hierarchy of standards with benchmarks that describe the range of acceptable performance in each code band. Rubrics require teachers to know exactly what is required by the outcome. Rubrics can be holistic, giving a global picture of the standard required, or analytic, giving a clear picture of the distinct features that make up the criteria, or can combine both. The Learning Programme Guidelines give examples of subject-specific rubrics.

To design a rubric, a teacher has to decide the following:

• What outcomes are being targeted?
• What Assessment Standards are targeted by the task?
• What kind of evidence should be collected?
• What are the different parts of the performance that will be assessed?
• What different assessment instruments best suit each part of the task (such as the process and the product)?
• What knowledge should be evident?
• What skills should be applied or actions taken?
• What opportunities for expressing personal opinions, values or attitudes arise in the task and which of these

should be assessed and how?

• Should one rubric target all the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards of the task or does the task

need several rubrics?

• How many rubrics are, in fact, needed for the task?

It is crucial that a teacher shares the rubric or rubrics for the task with the learners before they do the required task. The rubric focuses both the learning and the performance and becomes a powerful tool for self- assessment.

Reporting performance and achievement

Reporting performance and achievement informs all those involved with or interested in the learner's progress. Once the evidence has been collected and interpreted, teachers need to record a learner's achievements. Sufficient summative assessments need to be made so that a report can make a statement about the standard achieved by the learner.

The National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) adopts a six-point scale of achievement. The scale is shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Scale of achievement for the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General)

SUBJECT COMPETENCE DESCRIPTIONS

To assist with benchmarking the achievement of Learning Outcomes in Grades 10-12, subject competences have been described to distinguish the grade expectations of what learners must know and be able to achieve. Six levels of competence have been described for each subject for each grade. These descriptions will assist teachers to assess learners and place them in the correct rating. The descriptions summarise what is spelled out in detail in the Learning Outcomes and the Assessment Standards, and give the distinguishing features that fix the achievement for a particular rating. The various achievement levels and their corresponding percentage bands are as shown in Table 3.1.

In line with the principles and practice of outcomes-based assessment, all assessment &shy both school-based and external &shy should primarily be criterion-referenced. Marks could be used in evaluating specific assessment tasks, but the tasks should be assessed against rubrics instead of simply ticking correct answers and awarding marks in terms of the number of ticks. The statements of competence for a subject describe the minimum skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that a learner should demonstrate for achievement on each level of the rating scale.

When teachers/assessors prepare an assessment task or question, they must ensure that the task or question addresses an aspect of a particular outcome. The relevant Assessment Standard or Standards must be used when creating the rubric for assessing the task or question. The descriptions clearly indicate the minimum level of attainment for each category on the rating scale.

QUALIFYING FOR AN FETC AT NQF LEVEL 4

Candidates will qualify for a Further Education and Training Certificate on the basis of fulfilling at least the minimum requirements for the FETC (General). On achievement of the exit-level Learning Outcomes in a subject, a candidate will be awarded 20 credits. Part credits will not be awarded. Credits will only be awarded if the learner satisfies all the requirements for the subject. A weighting of 20 credits will be allocated to each subject, except in the case of Life Orientation which will have a weighting of 10 credits. There will be no certification at NQF Levels 2 and 3 (Grades 10 and 11).

Subject to the provisions of Section 16(4)(d and e) of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act (Act 58 of 2001) and sections 2.12 and 3.7.2 of this Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework, an FETC (General) shall be issued to a candidate who has complied with the following promotion requirements.

Overall

A learner must obtain:

• `Adequate Achievement' in at least two subjects from the Fundamental Learning Component, including at

least one official Language at First Additional Language level

• `Partial Achievement' in the remaining two subjects in the Fundamental Learning Component (see "Fundamental Learning Component"

and "Core and Elective Learning Components"

• `Adequate Achievement' in one subject in the Core/Elective Learning Component
• `Partial Achievement' in one subject in the Core/Elective Learning Component as exemplified in paragraph

"Core and Elective Learning Components" below and A condonation of a maximum of one subject at `Inadequate Achievement' in the Core/Elective Learning Component is allowed.

Fundamental Learning Component

The learner has shown competence as follows:

• At least `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' in one of the two required official languages as

contemplated in section 2.12.1 above, on at least First Additional Level.

• At least `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4' in the other required language as contemplated in section

2.12.1 above.

• At Least `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' in Mathematical Literacy or Mathematics as

contemplated in section 2.12.1. Learners taking Mathematical Literacy or Mathematics will be exempted from having to satisfy the rating of `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' to obtain the FETC (General) until 2012.

• At least `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4' in one of the two remaining Fundamental Learning

Component subjects and at least `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4' in the other remaining subject.

Core and Elective Learning Components

• The learner has shown competence (at least `Adequate Achievement at NQF Level 4') in one subject of the

Core/Elective Learning Component, and at `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4' in one of the other two subjects of the Core/Elective Learning Component, as contemplated in sections 2.12.2 and 2.12.3 above.

• Until 2012 a learner must obtain at least `Partial Achievement at NQF Level 4' in Mathematical Literacy or

Mathematics as contemplated in section 3.9.2 to satisfy the fundamental requirements of the FETC.

• A condonation of a maximum of one subject at `Inadequate Achievement' in either the Core or the Elective

Learning Component is permissible.

Senior Certificate subjects

The learner has met the promotion requirements of the Senior Certificate subjects contemplated in section 2.12.5 link senior certificate subjects above, as well as in paragraph 6 of the schools policy document, Report 550.

PROMOTION

Promotion at Grade 10 and Grade 11 level will be based on internal assessment only, but must be based on the same conditions as those for the Further Education and Training Certificate. The requirements, conditions, and rules of combination and condonation are spelled out in the section above on qualifying for an FETC.

WHAT REPORT CARDS SHOULD LOOK LIKE

There are many ways to structure a report card, but the simpler the report card the better, providing that all important information is included. Report cards should include information about a learner's overall progress, including the following:

• the learning achievement against outcomes
• the learner's strengths
• the support needed or provided where relevant
• constructive feedback commenting on the performance in relation to the learner's previous performance and
• the requirements of the subject and
• the learner's developmental progress in learning how to learn.

In addition, report cards should include the following:

• name of school
• name of learner
• learner's grade
• year and term
• space for signature of parent or guardian
• signature of teacher and of principal
• date
• dates of closing and re-opening of school
• school stamp and
• school attendance profile of learner.

MODERATION

Moderation refers to the process which ensures that assessment of the outcomes described in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) is fair, valid and reliable. It is also a means of ensuring that national standards are applied in assessment carried out by providers. Moderation should be implemented at school, district and provincial level.

Comprehensive and appropriate moderation and verification practices must be in place for the quality assurance of the FETC. Hence, most particularly at Grades 11 and 12 level, mechanisms must be in place to ensure that the credits that have been attained are credible:

• Each of the provincial education departments and the independent assessment bodies must ensure that

rigorous moderation systems are established in each of the schools under their control.

• The Council for General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance (Umalusi) is responsible

for the verification of assessment. Verification will ensure that the moderation adheres to appropriate moderation and verification policy requirements. Every school must have an internal moderation policy aligned to the moderation policy of the Council for General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance (Umalusi) and of the relevant examining body, and must adhere strictly to policy.

• Under the auspices of the Council for General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance

(Umalusi), policy guidelines for moderation and verification must be in place so as to ensure a uniform and compatible moderation and verification system for the entire country.

• All assessment bodies must be aligned to that of the Council for General and Further Education and

Training Quality Assurance (Umalusi), and adhere to appropriate moderation and verification policy requirements.

• Every school must have an internal moderation policy aligned to the moderation policy of the Council for

General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance (Umalusi) and of the relevant examining body, and must adhere strictly to policy.

• Appropriate training in assessment and moderation must be provided for all teachers, officials, examiners

and moderators involved in assessment exercises for the Further Education and Training band.

ASSESSMENT RELATING TO BARRIERS TO LEARNING

The Department of Education's commitment to the central principles of the Constitution is founded on the recognition that a new single integrated education and training system must be based on equity, access, redress of past imbalances and a progressive improvement of the quality of education. In recognising that there are many barriers which might hinder learners of different abilities, backgrounds, interests and motivation to achieve optimally, there is a need to focus on methods that will enable learners to be assessed and to participate in examinations under conditions that will not disadvantage them. These are the learners who may not be able to obtain the FETC due to the absence of an enabling environment.

FET subjects should provide for knowledge and skills for all, as well as expand opportunities for attainment. This should be done in terms of learners' interests, aptitudes and competencies. However, there will be no grading on the basis of Higher Grade, Standard Grade and Lower Grade. Support systems as well as flexible and alternative approaches should be available to make it possible for all learners to attain knowledge and skills in all subjects.

Learners should, therefore, be exposed to the full spectrum of all the subjects they select. This access should be based on the principles of equality and educational opportunity. Learners who are able to offer more than the minimum should be provided with the opportunity to do so.

In recording the results of a learner's attainment, a range of levels of attainment will be recorded, thus ensuring that all learners are encouraged to strive for excellence in their studies.

Guidelines on adaptive and alternative methods of assessment

The document Policy on Assessment in the FET and GET Bands as it Relates to Barriers to Learning provides national guidelines for adaptive and alternative approaches to all assessment. The aim of the guidelines is to provide equal opportunities for all learners who experience barriers to learning and to create the conditions for a true reflection of their actual academic abilities. This is a further step in the education transformation process towards establishing a single, integrated system in which no learners will be marginalised or disadvantaged.

For those learners experiencing barriers to learning but who have to complete all the components (school-based assessment and examination) required to obtain the FETC, there is a need to provide adaptations to curriculum activities as well as alternative methods of assessment in order to ensure a true reflection of their abilities. Most of these learners have come through an education system that has not been responsive to and supportive of their needs.

White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System, released by the Ministry in 2001, guides all forthcoming legislation and policies related to learners experiencing barriers to learning. The policy reconceptualises and shifts away from the conventional understanding of `special needs education', which locates learning breakdown within learners. The notion of `barriers to learning' refers to difficulties that arise within the education system as a whole, within the school, and/or within the learner which prevent the needs of both the system and the learner from being met. Where such needs are not met, learning breakdown may occur or learners may be excluded from the system. The new approach must apply to all aspects of teaching and learning, including adaptive and alternative methods of assessment.

All learners, irrespective of the site of learning that they attend, must have access to these adaptive and alternative methods. Furthermore, adaptive and alternative methods of assessment should be applied in all grades and in both summative and continuous assessment.

Teachers and other educators, as well as external examiners and compilers of assessment tasks, need to be familiar with the content of this policy document when compiling continuous assessment tasks and question papers to ensure that the necessary alternative choices of tasks and questions are included.

Alternative approaches to curriculum delivery and assessment

Alternative methods of assessment relate to any adaptation to the standard form of teaching, assessment, examinations or conditions relating to the assessment that are put in place to address barriers experienced by some learners during teaching, learning and assessment processes.

The purpose of alternative assessment methods is to minimise the impact of a range of barriers upon the performance of the learner. Alternative assessment is meant simply to accommodate the functional differences of some learners.

Fundamentally, assessment forms part of the teaching and learning cycle and informs the way in which educators can identify and address a range of barriers to learning and development. The way in which activities are planned and in which the educator conducts ongoing assessment in class throughout the year must allow for alternative arrangements of assessing certain learners against the Learning Outcomes, including:

• setting a substitute task of similar scope and demand
• replacing one task with a task of a different kind
• allowing the learner to undertake the task at a later date
• using another planned task to assess more outcomes or aspects of outcomes than originally intended
• allowing the learner extra time to complete the task
• using technology, aids or other special arrangements to undertake assessment tasks
• using an estimate based on other assessments or work completed by the learner (in circumstances where the
• above provisions are not feasible or reasonable) and
• considering the format in which the task is presented (e.g. the complexity of graphs, diagrams, tables,

illustrations, cartoons).

A range of strategies can be followed to make formats accessible to learners who experience barriers to learning of whatever nature, such as:

• simplify a picture or diagram or show it differently,
• replace a picture or diagram with a written description
• supplement a picture or diagram with a written explanation
• replace a picture or diagram with a real item or model
• remove an unnecessary picture or diagram
• reduce the amount of information
• alter measurements and
• replace inherently visual material with equivalent non-visual material.

Principles of alternative or adapted methods of assessment

The following principles are applied in using alternative methods of assessment:

• The standard of assessment or examination should never be compromised, nor should the learners ever be

given an unfair advantage over their peers. In other words, the same academic requirements and standards should be applied to all learners.

• Alternative methods of assessment are designed to equalise opportunities for all learners by addressing the

barriers which they might be experiencing, but not by giving them any additional advantage. Therefore, these alternative methods should enable all learners to give a true account of their knowledge and/or skills.

• It is important that alternative/adapted methods of assessment/examination are put into practice early in the

school career to give all learners the opportunity to realise their potential. Therefore, learners in need of alternative methods should be identified early in order to put in place the necessary mechanisms. They will then be accustomed to the assessment/examination method concerned before they are externally assessed or called upon to write examinations.

• As the main purposes of continuous assessment are to ensure that all learners interact with the curriculum

and to inform the teaching and learning process, it is important that assessment tasks are developed and adapted in such a way that the barriers are addressed from an early stage. No intervention should be based simply on traditional categories of disability or learning difficulty. For example, not all learners who are blind or deaf or learners with physical or intellectual disabilities experience the same barriers. Such learners may not experience any barriers to learning whatsoever, whereas learners who do not have a clear disability but who experience other barriers may need intervention and support.

Implications for assessment instruments, assessment tasks and question papers

In view of the fact that assessment is seen as part of the teaching and learning process, all compilers and moderators of assessment tasks, instruments and question papers must take into account how adaptations will be effected. The way in which the instruments are formulated must be sensitive to barriers to learning and emphasise clarity, lack of ambiguity, descriptions where needed, and so on. This will prevent a situation where the formal adaptations to be made for visual barriers and other specific barriers become a mammoth and in many cases unachievable task. A guidelines document with good examples of alternative questions must be available for all educators and compilers and moderators of assessment tasks, instruments and question papers.

General procedures in alternative methods of assessment

Different types of barriers will have to be addressed through different alternative and/or adaptive methods of assessment. A specific barrier might require more than one adaptation. Strategies will vary according to whether the barrier is long-standing, recently-acquired, fluctuating, intermittent or temporary. Various alternative or adaptive methods of assessment as well as the procedural arrangements are elaborated in other Department of Education documents.

CHAPTER 4 TIME ALLOCATION FOR LEARNING PROGRAMMES

In terms of Section 4 of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998, all school-based educators should be at school during the formal school day. Each school day should be at least seven hours long, allowing for 35 hours per week.

The policy document, National Policy Regarding Instructional Time for School Subjects, Government Notice 1473 (Government Gazette 20692), of 10 December 1999, indicates that 27,5 hours must be devoted to teaching time for the Senior Certificate programme. This is hereby amended for Grades 10, 11 and 12 in the Further Education and Training band. Contact teaching time will be 29,5 hours per week. The remaining 5,5 hours of the compulsory school week will be allocated to breaks, assemblies and so on.

The 29,5 hours of contact teaching time per week should be utilised as follows:

• Fundamental Learning Component &shy total time per week 16 hours, allocated as follows:

• • Languages: 9 hours per week for two languages

• • Mathematical Literacy or Mathematics: 5 hours per week and

• • Life Orientation: 2 hours per week.
• Core and Elective Learning Components &shy total time per week 13,5 hours, allocated as follows:

• • 4,5 hours per week for each of the two subjects (a total of 9 hours) comprising the Core Learning

Component and

• • 4,5 hours per week for the subject comprising the Elective Learning Component.

This allocation will assure approximately 150 hours per year for each of these subjects. The SAQA policy indicates that one credit is equal to approximately ten notional hours. It is thus expected that learners in the Further Education and Training band will spend at least an additional 50 notional hours per year on homework and own study.

Table 4.1 gives a summary of the credits and time allocations.

Table 4.1 Summary of credits and time allocations for Learning Programmes in the Further

The allocated 29,5 hours per week may only be utilised for the minimum required FET (General) subjects as specified above, and may not be used for any additional subjects added to the list of minimum subjects required. Should a learner wish to offer additional subjects, additional time must be allocated for the offering of these subjects. School management teams should design appropriate and flexible school timetables based on the allocated 29,5 hours.

GLOSSARY

applied competence &shy the ability to put into practice in the relevant context the exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards required for obtaining the qualification

articulation &shy the movement of learners, on successful completion of prerequisites, between different pathways of the education and training delivery system

assessment instrument &shy the assessment task or activity given to the learner to do core &shy cognate subjects, selected from a particular field or cluster of fields, which give a qualification its purpose

condonation &shy the waiving of promotion requirements in the case of a learner who comes very close to meeting such requirements

credit &shy a value representing the amount of learning, the level of difficulty and the perceived importance of particular learning relative to a qualification as a whole. This value is expressed as a numeral.

criterion referencing &shy the use of explicitly-stated criteria for assessing a learner's achievement in a subject

elective &shy a subject selected, without restrictions, by a learner from any field or cluster of fields

exit-level outcome &shy an outcome to be attained by a qualifying learner at the exit point of the FETC (General) &shy that is, Grade 12 &shy and which leads to the FETC (General) being awarded. Exit-level outcomes are the outcomes which, when taken together, describe the minimum requirements in terms of skills, knowledge, values and attitudes expected of learners for the award of the FETC.

foundational competence &shy understanding the knowledge and thinking that underpin actions or performances

fundamental &shy subjects that are stipulated as a common requirement for any learner registering for the FETC (General). For the FETC (General), these are two languages, Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy, and Life Orientation.

portability &shy a learner's ability to carry credits obtained in one institution or pathway to another and those credits being recognised by the new institution or pathway

practical competence &shy the ability to consider a range of possibilities for action, to make considered decisions about which possibility to follow, and to perform the chosen action

progression &shy specification of more complex, deeper and broader knowledge, skills, values and understandings to be achieved from grade to grade

promotion &shy the elevation of a learner from one grade to the next when that learner meets the minimum requirements for the achievement of outcomes in the particular grade

qualification &shy a planned combination of exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards, which has a defined purpose and that is intended to provide learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning. This culminates in the formal recognition of learning achievement through the award of a formal certificate.

reflective competence &shy the ability to integrate or connect performances and decision-making with understanding, to adapt to change and unforeseen circumstances, and to explain reasons behind these adaptations

unit standard &shy statement of desired outcomes and their associated assessment criteria, registered on the NQF through SAQA

unit-standards-based qualification &shy a qualification constituted by unit standards

ANNEXURE A SUBJECTS THAT COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FETC (GENERAL)

ANNEXURE B