After a month seeking answers for what they perceive to be unfairly distributed marks for the 2024 matric exams, parents of children who go to online schools or are homeschooled have been given no other choice from accreditation body, the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI), but to pay for expensive remarks of the exams.
One concerned parent told Hypertext that they would have to pay SACAI at least R8 500 to remark multiple exam papers per subject. With thousands of parents and guardians left with no alternative but to pay to remark their children’s matric exams, SACAI and bodies like Umalusi who will moderate the remarking process stand to make millions of Rands in the process.
Umalusi is South Africa’s education quality watchdog and oversees the exam writing and marking process to ensure quality standards are in place.
Anger over SACAI matric exam results
Parents who homeschool or have their children attend online schools like UCT Online High School were outraged at the release of the 2024 matric exam results this month, with many claiming that the marks their children received were erratic and unexplainable.
Many said that learners who had been receiving distinction-level marks throughout the year suddenly saw their averages drop considerably when it came to the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, which were set and marked by SACAI independently of the institution the learners attended.
We covered a similar situation at the onset of 2024, when over 2 500 parents signed a petition that alleged SACAI has issued irregular results to their nearly 6 000 children.
At the time, the parents requested an “immediate and thorough investigation” into any alleged irregularities. “We collectively voice our concerns and demand transparency and fairness in the marking and capturing process of SACAI Matric Results.”
As far as we understand no such investigation was launched by any education body in the country.
Instead, SACAI has told concerned parents this year that School-Based Assessment (SBA) marks from learners (average marks issued out by institutions and not SACAI) will be adjusted to be in line with the average marks of the NSC exams.
“If the SBA is more that 10% higher/lower than the exam average, the SBA will be adjusted so that it is in line with the exam average as Umalusi views the NSC exam as the ultimate standard,” the institute explained to parents via email.
“We have had numerous cases of inflated SBA marks. SACAI cannot comment on the quality of teaching and the quality of preparation for the final NSC examinations. Despite that, we had institutions with a 100% pass rate,” it added.
Essentially, SACAI adjusts the average yearly marks of learners to be more in line with their matric exam marks for their final matric exam results. For many learners, this meant that averages dropped significantly.
One parent showed us how their child’s marks for Information Technology suddenly dropped to 54 percent after achieving an average of 79 for Term 1 and Term 2 for the SBA. Mathematics and Physical Science saw even greater drops.
An SBA average that was at 73 percent then became 56 percent by the time the final SACAI Matric Results were received. The drop in average has the potential to affect tertiary education opportunities, with some degrees now out of reach for learners that were expecting better results by way of their pre-NSC exam averages.
“Leaving behind heartbroken children and parents”
Despite upset parents urgently reaching out to SACAI and Umalusi about their concerns with the allegedly erratic marks, both bodies insist that the practice of standardisation of marks is normal.
“I am aware that Umalusi has been receiving a number of similar queries regarding the assessment outcomes from the 2024 SACAI examinations,” Yunus Ballim, chair of the Umalusi Council, told one parent.
“Be assured that the Umalusi standardisation process for SBA marks is based on long-established principles that are equally applied to the results from all assessment bodies that fall under the Umalusi purview.”
Parents are alleging that SACAI and Umalusi are passing the buck to each other, with neither taking responsibility for claims of adverse effects on the mental health of learners.
“I have a devastated child, who feels like she wants to commit suicide,” a parent told us last year when they had received unexpectedly low final results. “Together with all of our other children. Other friends who are in the same boat, because she cannot go to university. We know for a fact that these are not her marks.”
“The regulators are not willing to get off their butts and do something,” said another. “They are just leaving behind heartbroken children and parents.”
Instead SACAI says that the portal to register for remarks will open next week Monday, and are charging R600 per paper to remark. With subjects like Afrikaans and English having three papers each during the final exams, costs can rocket to R1 842 per subject for remarking.
“Should you decide to have the scripts remarked, you unfortunately need to bear the costs thereof,” said SACAI when asked if the institute would bear the cost of remarking.
There is also no guarantee that remarks will find better results for disgruntled parents and anxious students.
