As the Class of 2022 finish writing exams, the controversy surrounding the unsolvable question in the maths paper 2 for the final matric exams has brought into sharp focus the standard of the development and moderation of Grade 12 examination papers.
It has since emerged that less than 40% of the matric exam question papers pass the grade of being approved by external moderators at first assessment.
Post-examination reports by Umalusi – the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, is responsible for external moderation of Grade 12 questions papers, that are developed and then moderated internally by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) – have highlighted shortcomings on the part of the DBE in the development and moderation of examination question papers.
Umalusi announced that it had appointed an independent three-member panel to investigate how question 5.1 in the final mathematics paper 2 exam – which was written on November 7 and has been deemed unsolvable – passed through all the quality checks including their own checks as external moderators.
Umalusi’s post-examination reports for this year’s June exams and last year’s final matric exams paint a worrying picture of the quality of the development and internal moderation of the Grade 12 question papers by the DBE.
The report on this year’s June’s examinations shows that out of the 140 question papers and their marking guidelines submitted for external moderation to Umalusi, only 45 managed to be approved at first moderation.
Those that were conditionally approved and needed further improvement numbered 93, and two were not approved.
The report says, “An ideal situation is to have all the question papers and their marking guidelines approved at first moderation.”
The report shows that the number of question papers and marking guidelines approved at first moderation by Umalusi for the June exams has been on a downward slope, with 45% of papers being approved at first moderation in 2019 and 33% last year. There were no exams in 2020.
In its report, Umalusi zooms in on a set of 10 different criteria focusing on technical detail; internal moderation; content coverage; cognitive skills; text selection, types and quality of questions; language and bias; predictability; conformity with question paper; accuracy and reliability of marking guidelines and overall impression. For example, under technical details, some of the reasons cited by Umalusi in last year’s end of year exams were: “In six question papers relevant details such as time allocation, name of the subject, number of pages and instructions to candidates were not included.
“Unclear and ambiguous instructions could lead to a host of challenges that may include nullification of an entire question paper or an affected question. Therefore, careful consideration must be taken to ensure that the instructions are accessible to candidates. Nineteen question papers had instructions which were
unclear,” says the report.
South African Democratic Teachers’ Union general secretary Mugwena Maluleke poured cold water on the Umalusi’s reports on the quality of developing exams question papers, saying quality assurance body gave examination papers the green light.
Mugwena said he is looking forward to the meeting between the union and the department scheduled for early next year to discuss issues assessments of pupils in South Africa.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga failed to respond to our questions.
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