In a recent press release the Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer confirmed Covid-19 had a devastating impact on education.
In October 2021 systematic tests were conducted in the Western Cape, currently the only province that conducts these tests. “They provided the clearest, internationally benchmarked and independent analysis of learning losses suffered by the learners in our province,” Schäfer said.
In 2021, the Grade 3s had a 13,8% lower pass rate in mathematics and a 7,8% lower average, compared to their results in 2019. In the language subjects 8% fewer Grade 3s passed, and the average dropped from 44,2% in 2019 to 38,9% in 2021.
The Grade 6s had a 7,1% lower pass rate in mathematics from 44,4% in 2019 to 37,3% in 2021. The average in mathematics also dropped from 48,2% to 44,5%. In the language subjects the pass rate dropped from 42,8% in 2019 to 39,4% in 2021 and the average dropped from 45,6% in 2019 to 42,7% in 2021.
Only 21,6% of Grade 9s passed mathematics in 2021 compared to a slightly better 22,7% in 2019. The average in mathematics also dropped from 38,1% in 2019 to 30,5% in 2021.
The language subjects dropped to a pass rate of 50,1% in 2021, compared to a 53,6% pass rate in 2019.
The average for Grade 9 in language subjects dropped from 51,9% in 2019 to 48,9% in 2021.
Ronald Rass, principal of Macassar Primary School, says he agrees entirely with the results of the systemic tests.
“Covid-19 had a very negative impact on our learners that could only attend school every second day,” he said.
“Some learners were afraid to attend school. So when they couldn’t attend school or had to rotate then we sent them work to do at home.”
However, this had a negative impact on teachers and the work they were doing with the learners.
“Sometimes the teachers had to start all over again with a lesson after a student did not complete the work at home or understood what the lesson was about. Some learners are still busy catching up,” Rass pointed out.
He described learners as being distracted, and they were worried and focused on other things, including Covid-19.
Danie Malan, principal at Strand High School, said the school had experienced mixed results.
“Some learners could learn on their own and did exceptionally well,” he pointed out. “Others struggled to work on their own and their marks suffered somewhat.
“The top learners who usually take part in culture and sport, in addition to their academics, also just had to focus on academics and they did very well.
“It was during this time that we got to see how important the role of the parents is, and they definitely had an impact on how their children performed.”
According to Schäfer, learners overall have fallen by up to 70% of a school year behind previous cohorts in language, and up to 106% of a year behind in mathematics.
She says the most important way to claw these losses back is to ensure every child is at school every day, that teaching and learning time are maximised, and every effort is made to promote a learning culture beyond the school.
