Untitled - Umalusi

an improvement was observed in the quality and standard of continuous
assessment. Umalusi, however, remains concerned about the quality of
CASS tasks and the level of internal moderation.
Umalusi also moderated the marking of the Senior Certificate
Examinations. This was done in two ways: centralised moderation and
on-site moderation. With centralised moderation of marking, which was
conducted for the six national subjects, assessment bodies send a sample
The strongest link in the system is the quality of management of the administration
of examinations. The system generally runs smoothly in spite of
the examination system being such a massive operation. The ability of the
assessment bodies to make this huge system work is truly admirable.
of 20 scripts representing a spectrum of candidate attainment in all
grades in all the selected subjects. During the marking period,. external
moderators visit the marking centre and moderate a sample of scripts at
the marking centre. Both processes feed immediately and directly into the
marking process. In 2005 marking was conducted smoothly and was of
The handling of irregularities within assessment bodies has improved. This
the required standard.
is partly due to the fact that in 2005 Umalusi issued Directives for
Reporting of Irregularities which, among other things, requires assessment
bodies to report irregularities to Umalusi within 48 hours. Furthermore,
Umalusi had weekly teleconferences with officials within the assessment
bodies to monitor irregularities and other examination-related issues. In
addition to this, daily reports were received from assessment bodies.
Umalusi also watched media reports carefully and followed them up with
The 2005 standardisation process was a welcome “meeting of minds”.
Umalusi’s standardisation principles are now well understood and
accepted by assessment bodies. They also apply the same principles in
considering subjects for adjustment. Both the national and provincial
standardisation processes were conducted in a collegial spirit and the
outcomes were educationally justifiable.
assessment bodies. On the whole, assessment bodies handled minor
irregularities that occurred, in line with the regulations.
The 2005 Senior Certificate Examination, therefore, satisfied all Umalusi
requirements for a reasonably fair, valid and reliable examination.
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