scholarly journals Continuous Assessment In Schools: Teachers Bitter Pill To Swallow

Author(s):  
Mutendwahothe Walter Lumadi

This paper articulates debates surrounding the concept of Continuous Assessment (CA) in South African schools. Although the research was focused on schools in this democratic country, it became evident from the findings that assessment is still a challenge besetting both General Education and Training (GET)and Further Education and Training Bands (FET) worldwide. One of the fundamental reasons for the previous national disenchantment with regard to summative assessment has been the gross inequities that have resulted from inferences based solely on final examinations. In the post apartheid era, the Department of Education made it compulsory that schools turned to CA that is backed by criterion-referenced standards. CA has been heralded as the solution to a host of education ills, including the apparent gap in performance between students of various political and religious backgrounds.

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Juan ◽  
Sylvia Hannan

The organisational governance of further education and training colleges in South Africa has been cited as an obstacle to the institutions’ ability to contribute to the developmental needs of the country. In response, the government has instituted major policy reforms since 1996, including a move towards granting greater organisational autonomy to these colleges, with limited success. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the causes of these governance issues by examining the effect of the organisational environment, with specific focus on the power dynamics that characterised that environment between 2010 and 2012. A qualitative research approach was adopted to answer two research questions: (i) How did the concentration of power in the external environment affect the expression of autonomy of further education and training colleges between 2010 and 2012? and (ii) How did the colleges respond to the power dynamics in the external environment? The analysis of data from case studies of two further education and training colleges revealed that the government had applied external control over the institutions, thereby constraining the overt expression of autonomy. However, the colleges were not without agency and were able to respond strategically to demands from the policy environment. Thus, this study offers a counter-narrative in South African literature on governance in vocational colleges, and the authors of this article assert that the failing governance in respect of the case studies was a result of external forces (power dynamics) rather than the internal characteristics of the colleges.


Pythagoras ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 0 (66) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamsa Venkat

Mathematical Literacy was introduced as an alternative option to Mathematics in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grades 10-12, learners generally aged 15-18) in South Africa in January 2006. As a new subject in the FET phase, and with aims that differ somewhat from the notion of mathematical literacy that figured within the Mathematical Literacy / Mathematics / Mathematical Sciences (MLMMS) learning area in the General Education and Training (GET) phase, teachers are faced with implementing a subject which does not have established aims, understandings and practices associated with it.


Pythagoras ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica D. Spangenberg

In this article I report on research intended to characterise and compare the thinking styles of Grade 10 learners studying Mathematics and those studying Mathematical Literacy in eight schools in the Gauteng West district in South Africa, so as to develop guidelines as to what contributes to their subject choice of either Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy in Grade 10. Both a qualitative and a quantitative design were used with three data collection methods, namely document analysis, interviews and questionnaires. Sixteen teachers participated in one-to-one interviews and 1046 Grade 10 learners completed questionnaires. The findings indicated the characteristics of learners selecting Mathematics and those selecting Mathematical Literacy as a subject and identified differences between the thinking styles of these learners. Both learners and teachers should be more aware of thinking styles in order that the learners are able to make the right subject choice. This article adds to research on the transition of Mathematics learners in the General Education and Training band to Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy in the Further Education and Training band in South Africa.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nqobile Lovable Sawula

After twenty-four years of democracy, the predicament of people with disabilities has finally become part of the transformation agenda. There has been a growing acceptance that people with disabilities can play active roles in both transforming their own lives and contributing to society. For this to transpire, access to proper education and training opportunities is fundamental. There is thus a need for higher educational institutions to divest themselves of all forms of discrimination against those with disabilities. This requires that people with disabilities be given equal opportunities to enter higher education programmes and to succeed in them. Despite the strong legislative and policy framework for addressing disability in the education sector, access to higher education for disabled students, particularly the South African Sign Language (SASL) users, is believed to be limited. Using the Social Model of disability, this study seeks to investigate the accessibility of Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges to SASL users in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). In this investigation, a total number of fifty South African Sign Language users filled in questionnaires and two representatives from Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal were interviewed. This study targeted SASL users who were out of school and wanted to further their studies at higher education institutions. The participants were recruited by inviting all d/Deaf and hard of hearing people from the four selected Deaf organizations/associations in KwaZulu-Natal to participate in the study. The study undeniably reveals that FET Colleges are not accessible to SASL users in KwaZulu-Natal. This is because FET Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal do not provide access services like SASL interpreters for the d/Deaf community, which violates d/Deaf people’s right to education and is a barrier to the d/Deaf students who want to further their studies. Furthermore, this research identified that the Deaf community in KwaZulu-Natal is not well informed about devices that can be used to assist them in classrooms in order to access information.


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