Call for probe into Grade 12 results

COMBRETUM Trust School principal Susan Brown is calling for an investigation into the marking standards of the Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment (DNEA), as well as a complete overhaul of the marking methods applied in Namibia.

According to Brown, there appears to be no link between a Grade 12 candidate and the marks that candidate has received, as in some subjects, particularly English first language, the marks are often higher than expected.In other subjects, particularly Biology, Geography and Mathematics, the marks are far lower than expected, she said.Brown, who has been running the Combretum Trust School in Windhoek for eight years, said part of the reason why she feels this way is that there is a big difference in the marks students at her school obtain for their continuous assessment and mock exams, and those they obtain for their final examinations.’I am not complaining about all the learners, some don’t work hard and deserve the poor grades they get, but there are those who are very intelligent and very hard working yet they also get rotten grades,’ Brown said.Education Deputy Minister David Namwandi has said that maybe Combretum’s continuous assessment criteria are low compared to the national standard, adding that the Education Ministry cannot lower its standards to accommodate just one school.However, Brown said when conducting mock exams, her school uses past question papers set by the Education Ministry.Brown has written a letter to a number of other school principals in Namibia informing them of her experience, and is calling into question the quality of marking of Grade 12 final examinations, as well as the answer memorandums used by markers.According to Brown, she approached the DNEA in 2010 and requested them to open and check the exam answer sheets for ordinary level Biology and Geography exams written in 2009. ‘What we found was that the marking was poor, the memos were poor, the markers obviously had no in-depth knowledge of the subjects and were applying the memos blindly,’ Brown said, who is a Biology teacher.According to Brown, a candidate was marked wrong if their answer was phrased differently from the answer memorandum. She said obtaining access to the answer papers was very difficult and once she was granted access, staff at the DNEA were rude, abusive and hostile.She said following her enquiry she was sent a bill of N$18 000 and when she asked the DNEA what the bill was for she was told that it was for the re-marking of the scripts.’I told them that I did not ask for a re-mark, but only to check whether the answer scripts had been properly marked, I refused to pay the bill and they have dropped that issue.’Brown said teachers who have worked for Combretum Trust School have also worked as examination markers, and that the markers are paid per answer script.Brown said some of these markers have informed her that there is a different standard of marking for rural and urban schools, as ‘it seems that markers are encouraged to show leniency for rural schools.’When confronted with this, Namwandi couldn’t contain his amusement as he dismissed Brown’s claims, saying: ‘These allegations are very serious, they appear too serious and too funny to be real.’Namwandi urged Brown to approach his office with proof of her accusations, saying that if she can back up her claims, an investigation would be carried out. He also said that those who are not satisfied can apply for a re-mark of their answer scripts.Brown said re-marking is a pointless exercise, as the DNEA now charges for this, it is time consuming, and the marks are never actually changed.’I feel very strongly about this, and I want transparency in the marking of exams, and I want to understand what we’re doing wrong,’ Brown said.Brown said many children who receive poor marks for their final Grade 12 exams take drastic measures such as committing suicide.