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As such, the ANA is a relatively good determiner of government’s involvement in improving
basic education, especially Numeracy skills. On this note too, the government must be
commended on conducting such an annual test and making the results, no matter how poor
they are, public.
As far as ANA Numeracy test results go, there is an interesting pattern, but first a table of
the 2012 Numeracy results:
There is a consistent annual decrease in test results performance as the grade increases,
with the worst, despicable and rather embarrassing performance being seen by Grade 9
learners. These are learners in the 14 – 16 year old age group.
There are many theories, in the absence of the relevant data or access to it, as to why this is
so.
The first could be that the quality of earlier numeracy education is poor and not sufficient in
preparing the learners for more complex numeracy skills in future grades. The other theory
could be that of culture, with some boys being considered (especially Grade 9) old enough
to herd or take care of the family by earning a living thus not having enough time for
studies. Also, teenage pregnancy, amongst the black South African population, is common
at this Grade 9 age group. The other reason is a societal one brought about by the scourge
of HIV and AIDS leading to many orphans and child-headed households.