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The DA would like to wish all matriculants well as they write their last exam tomorrow. We congratulate them for all their hard work and hope that it will pay off come the release of their results.

Thousands of matric papers will soon be marked and moderated, culminating in the standardisation process by Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training body, Umalusi.

Standardisation is the process by which the results of subjects are moderated and adjusted through a mathematical model to ensure consistency in examination levels and the best possible results for learners given any errors there might be in question papers.

This process has a meaningful impact on the matric pass rate and therefore, it is in the public interest that the meeting, to be held shortly before Christmas, in which the adjustments are discussed and explained, is open and transparent.

It is standard practice that the Basic Education Portfolio Committee be invited to the annual meeting. This year, however, there has been no invitation extended.

The DA will therefore write to Umalusi to formally request that our MPs are invited to the meeting. MPs are constitutionally obligated to perform oversight and they should be given the opportunity to carry out this important duty by being allowed to attend the meeting.

Umalusi has committed to “making its processes transparent to all who have an interest in the examinations [it] quality assures” and we believe they must show this by making the meeting publicly accessible – it should be opened up to the DA and the media. This will ensure matriculants, their parents and key stakeholders are confident in the qualifications our matriculants obtain.

Last year, 32 out of 58 subjects had their marks adjusted upwards during the standardisation process – which suggests that there is some problem in the system since exam papers were checked and moderated before writing

By opening up the standardisation meeting, Umalusi will give the public an honest and accurate reflection of matriculants’ performance.

It will allow us to identify weaknesses in the education system so that necessary improvements can be made and we call on Umalusi to do the right thing by ensuring the standardisation process is inclusive.

Issued by DA