When matric goes "standards will fall"

Summary - Many educationalists have grave misgivings about the Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC) which is to replace the matric exam in 2006. One major concern is that as the distinction between higher grade (HG) and standard grade (SG) will fall away, the default standard will be the lower one. Moreover, the current A-G system of aggregates will be replaced by six codes, 1-6, with an A aggregate becoming code 6 and a failure becoming code 1. B and C aggregates will be conflated into code 5, which will make it impossible for universities or employers to ascertain whether an applicant has just missed a distinction or just missed a D. Universities will probably respond by introducing their own entrance exams. Another problem is that every pupil will have to pass either maths or maths literacy. This is bound to create a stampede from maths to maths literacy, with the danger that many learners will be denied access to opportunities in the sciences, engineering and commerce. Finally, some educationalists are worried that the FET curriculum still under-specifies subject content, despite months of revision. This is a crucial element on which the credibility of the FETC depends.

Some commentators have dismissed the matric results furore by arguing that the debate is irrelevant since the senior certificate is about to be done away with.

From 2006, the matric exam will be phased out and replaced by the Further Education & Training Cert-ificate (FETC), starting in grade 10.

However, the fact that this change is on the cards makes the debate about the preservation of academic standards more, not less, important. Many educationists have grave reservations about the proposed FETC. Their concerns - and those of parents and pupils - will be a lot easier to manage if the education authorities can convince people now that they are zealous about maintaining standards. The perception is that they are not.

Though the FETC's pass requirement is almost equivalent to that of the senior certificate with endorsement, making it a tougher qualification on paper, educationists are not convinced that it's an improvement.

A chief concern is that as the distinction between higher grade (HG) and standard grade (SG) will fall away, the default standard will be the lower one. This is especially worrying since anyone who passes the FETC will qualify for university entrance.

The final, externally moderated FETC exam will continue to count for 75 per cent of the total mark, and 25 per cent will come from continuous assessment of a pupil's performance throughout the grade 12 year.

The current system of eight aggregates, A-G, will be replaced with six codes, 1-6. An A aggregate will become a code 6 or "outstanding achievement", while a failure (0-29 per cent) will become a code 1 or "inadequate achievement".

Universities are worried that since aggregates B and C will be conflated into a common band - code 5 or "meritorious achievement" - the distinction between average and good will become blurred. It makes it impossible for employers or universities to know whether an applicant has missed a distinction or just missed a D.

This concern falls away if universities and employers are given sight of a learner's actual matric mark, as is now the case. However, the education department seems reluctant to allow this.

Universities are expected to respond by requiring that pupils pass certain academic subjects and by introducing their own entrance exams. These will test numeracy, literacy and the potential to succeed.

Another area of contention is that every pupil will have to pass either maths or maths literacy. At present, one can pass matric without taking maths as a subject. The new maths syllabus is a more testing version of HG maths but, by simultaneously doing away with SG maths, there is bound to be a stampede from maths to maths literacy.

This danger is that too few learners will take maths and those with only maths literacy will be denied access to higher degree opportunities in science, engineering, health sciences and commerce.

Some educationists are also worried that, despite months of revision, the FET curriculum still under-specifies subject content, the crucial element on which the credibility of the qualification depends.

All in all, the fuss over the matric results is beginning to look like a cake walk compared to what's coming down the track.