part a: strategic overview - Department of Education

Total
Population
aged 14-18
GER
Secondary
Phase
Total
Enrolment
(Grades 1 to
12)
Total
Population
aged
17-18
GER Primary
and Sec.
Phases
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004
771 899 784 485 797 276 810 276 823 488 836 915 850 561 892,697
82% 67% 80% 81% 74% 73% 72% 66%
2 406 712 1 927 313 2 274 559 2 323 882 2 146 052 2 093 254 2 062 014 1,966,185
1 966 160 1 984 119 2 002 243 2 020 532 2 038 987 2 057 612 2 076 407 2,150,417
122% 97% 114% 115% 105% 102% 99% 91%
What is also evident from the age-grade matrices is that the problem of over- and underage
learners continues throughout the primary school grades, and is compounded by
high repetition rates. In 2002, for example, nearly 20% of all learners in primary schools
were either less than age seven or over age 13.
The drop in the primary school GER for 2001 and 2002 to 121% and 118% is a positive
development and indicates a higher percentage of appropriately aged pupils in primary
schools. This was driven by a decline in primary phase enrolment between 2000, 2001
and 2002 against only slight population increases for 7-13 year olds during the same
period.
Although there are more children in Grades 1 to 7 than there are 7-13 year olds in the
population (due to over/under age -enrolment), this situation is reversed for secondary
schools. The GER for secondary schools was in the low eighties at 82%, 80% and 81%
for 1996, 1998 and 1999, before dropping and stabilising at 74%, 73% and 72% in 2000,
2001 and 2002.
A GER of less than 100% is generally indicative of under-enrolment unless large
numbers of learners were able to complete the secondary school phase before they
reach age 18, which is unlikely to be a factor in the Eastern Cape.
The GER measures the capacity of schools to accommodate the population of the
relevant school-going age. It is defined as the proportion of learners in a particular grade
or phase, divided by the population of the corresponding school-going age and then
expressed as a percentage. The GER includes over-aged and under-aged learners.
13.9.3 Repetition Rate:
The Repetition Rate measures the extent to which learners repeat grades and is
calculated by dividing the number of learners who are repeating a specific grade by the
enrolment for that grade in the previous year. High repetition rates give rise to a number
of problems, most notable of which is increased class sizes. A repetition rate of 20% for
a class of 48 learners means for example that there are 8 extra learners in the class who
are repeating the grade. Once learners repeat grades more than once, the problem of
over-aged learners compounds difficulties.
Table 24 shows that the repetition rates for grade 1 to 12 are 12% in 2001, 12,3% in
2002, and 9% in 2003. The repetition rates per grade for the years 2001 to 2003 show a
5 Year ECDoE Strategic Plan for 2005/06 to 2009/10. March 2006 Page 78
5 Year ECDoE Strategic Plan for 2005-06 to 2009-10. 21 F (4)Page 74
part C: background information