80% of matrics to fail maths?

2009-12-21 07:36

Alet Rademeyer

Pretoria - Over 80% of matriculants will fail maths exam paper 1 (algebra) if their grades aren't adjusted.

This is the opinion of Jurg Basson, a mathematics consultant and part-time maths lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Basson, who's seen the controversial exam paper, confirmed on Sunday the complaints of hundreds of grade 12s, subject teachers and moderators.

Once the moderating process was completed, several moderators indicated an impending "crisis" with regard to maths results.

A moderator in Mpumalanga, who prefered to remain anonymous, said candidates who aren't very strong fared extremely poorly, and that there are some who achieved only 2 out of a possible 150 points for the paper.

Basson says he was very disappointed by the exam paper. It was too difficult and not compiled according to the prescribed guidelines. According to the guidelines, there must be sufficient questions on levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

"That means the compilation of questions must be done in a way that there are enough questions for weaker and very strong pupils."

According to Basson, there were very few questions on level 1, while it should amount to about 30%.

"The implication is that all the weaker pupils which one hoped would pass, are not going to make it."

He said there will be no other alternative than to adjust the grades.

Stream of complaints

Basson said the candidates' achievement in maths won't improve unless the core of the problem - the teaching of the subject and the quality of the exam papers - is remedied.

Basson said while teachers in top schools might be satisfied with the paper, there are those in rural and township schools who wouldn't be able to complete the paper themselves.

When matriculants wrote the paper on November 6, Beeld reported about complaints which came streaming in, including that it had been "utterly unreasonable" and "incredibly difficult".

Granville Whittle, spokesperson for the department of basic education, said on Sunday that the department has received reports that the paper had been too difficult.

The department will submit all the exam grades to Umalusi, the council for quality assurance in general and further education and training on Monday.

Umalusi will have to decide whether the degree of difficulty of this particular maths exam paper was fair, as well as whether the grades should be adjusted.

Prof Kobus Maree, an educational psychologist at the University of Pretoria (UP) who also has a doctorate in subject didactics in mathematics, said adjusting the grades would be pointless.

"Adjusting the grades artificially would be an injustice to the pupils, but also to lecturers who must work with them at university next year, while they don't even have the basic skills."

He said the exam paper should be independently analysed.

According to Maree it seems as if the majority of pupils should rather take mathematics literacy, because the current teaching of maths clearly does not make provision for them.

- Beeld