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5 May 2011

The Department of Basic Education would like to clarify reasons for the delay in the release of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) results, as published in The Star and The Pretoria News of 2 May 2011.

Indeed the assessment results could not be released on 29 April 2011 as anticipated, due to the fact that the department is still in the process of capturing the results from all districts in the country. The ANA were written for the first time by all learners who were in Grades 1 to 6 in 2010 and by a national sample of learners who were in Grade 9 in 2010. This enormous undertaking involving some 6.5 million learnersis one of the most important educational interventions the department has ever undertaken.

The ANA mark a significant shift in the department’s focus to learner achievement in the key phases of the primary school. The report on the ANA will indicate to the country the levels of literacy and numeracy that learners have achieved. Using these results, the department will be able to intervene in those schools and districts where learner achievement is low. This first national report on the ANA is therefore crucial and needs to be an accurate and clear reflection of learner performance.

When interviewed, the Department’s Spokesperson Dr Granville Whittle stated that the release of the ANA report would probably only take place in June given the enormity of the task and the national importance of establishing a credible national baseline. Therefore media reports that the delay is due to the upcoming municipal elections are indeed mischievous and misleading. The department therefore requests The Star and The Pretoria News to note that the delay in the release of the ANA results had nothing to do with the elections, and to correct the said impression made to the public.

Enquiries:
Granville Whittle
Cell: 072 148 9575

Source: Department of Basic Education

Issued by: Department of Basic Education
5 May 2011

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