Parliament, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 – The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today received an update briefing on the Grade 9 General Education Certificate (GEC), which is aimed at addressing the mismatch between available skills and competencies, and the labour market’s needs.
The committee heard that there is a high dropout rate before Grade 12, peaking in Grades 10 and 11, with15,2% in 2012. It also heard that about a third of young people aged between 15 and 24 years (3.4 million), are not in employment, education or training (NEET) - 2 million of them have not finished Grade 12. There is an absence of a standardised assessment and a qualification to usher learners into different pathways at the end of compulsory schooling.
Committee Chairperson, Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, called for this presentation to get greater clarity as media reports provided confusion and uncertainty. “Today the committee received the clarity it needed. It was also clear that the programme had the support of most political parties that serve on our multi-party committee.”
The committee heard that the primary purpose of the GEC is to equip learners with the knowledge and skills that will enable their meaningful participation in society, contribute towards developing sustainable communities, provide a basis for learning in further education and training, and establish a firm foundation for the assumption of a productive and responsible role in the workplace.
The GEC certificate is predicated on the Three Stream Model, which has the academic pathway, the technical vocational pathway and the technical/occupational pathway. The objectives of this is to implement learning pathways which meet the diverse needs of the young people of the country, to empower learners to be creative and organised system thinkers, to promote the acquisition of skills and competencies for a changing world, to focus on the foundational skills of reading, writing and counting (arithmetic) and to improve the quality and efficiency of learning outcomes throughout the sector.
The committee heard that progress to date includes that the qualification framework has been reviewed. Approval has been granted for handing the qualification framework over to Umalusi for further refinement up to registration by SAQA. The qualification is being submitted to Umalusi together with the 26 Technical Occupational subjects for appraisal on the alignment with the existing curriculum. “We want national assessments in Grades 3, Grade 9 and Grade 12”, said Minister Angie Motshekga. The Minister clarified that the Grade 9 certificate is not intended to say learners must exit the system, it merely meant they are exiting a phase.
Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba said it is now up to public representatives to ensure that they assist government in ensuring the public to understand the systems and encourage parents and learners to consider this this option. The committee agreed that this could be the way forward for those learners who feel they do not have the academic abilities to continue until Grade 12, but want to use this certificate to enter a different education stream. “This will in turn address other social ills that go hand in hand with youth unemployment, like gangsterism and substance abuse,” said Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba.
The committee urged the department to increase its level of communication on this matter in order to eliminate confusion, and in order to communicate one message.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS BONGIWE MBINQO-GIGABA.
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