Online high school ‘ruined our future’
Mitchell’s Plain pupils and parents are demanding a free re-mark of their 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam scripts with the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institution (SACAI) and UCT Online High School (UCTOHS).
The pupils were part of a pilot project, blending online and regular schooling.
They say the marks they received on Thursday January 16 are not a true reflection of their ability and is affecting their university applications.
However, UCT online school spokesperson, Darryn Lee said: “We remain committed to supporting our 2024 matric cohort.
“In addition, SACAI has clearly defined procedures in place for those who are dissatisfied with the grades they have received, and we have guided and encouraged our learners to approach SACAI in the prescribed manner to request a review or a re-mark of examination papers where they believe that this is called for.”
A review costs R330.19 and re-marks R590.50 per subject, said Joy-Lynn Liedeman, a 2024 matric pupil who attended UCTOHS.
The unhappy pupils posted a video on social media on Monday January 20 expressing their grievances with the SACAI, UCTOHS and Umalusi - the council which sets and monitors standards for education and training in South Africa.
These pupils participated in a public-private initiative, where the non-profit IBhodi Trust provided resources to learn through interactive online sessions with Valenture Institute, a global private online high school who partnered with UCTOHS, (“A new kind of learning”, Plainsman, July 24, 2020).
The 22 pupils who completed their final matric year with the SACAI through UCTOHS started with Valenture Institute in 2020 and transitioned to UCTOHS in 2022 where they attended classes online from Beacon Hill High School’s computer room.
In 2021, after Grade 10, Valenture Institute informed parents of a curriculum switch from the Cambridge curriculum to the South African National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) with UCTOHS. As a result, pupils, including parent Carmen Du Toit's child, had to redo Grade 10 to align with the change.
“Valenture Institute signed a contract with the parents stating they would see this project to completion and take our children through matric. This was before UCTOHS even existed,” said Ms Du Toit.
Joy-Lynn said their matric year became challenging in preliminary exams and finals. Her subject percentages was 70% but her final marks was 20% less.
“We had to cram the workload. The final exam questions were difficult and different, and SACAI couldn’t provide answers as to why,” she said.
All pupils received their results, but the final marks were unexpectedly low.
"We know our capabilities; I thought it was just me, but everyone had the same experience,” said Joy-Lynn.
A SACAI representative, who didn't provide his name, explained mark allocation. He said certain subjects are high-risk, with marks varying by 20% above or below, depending on the subject, said Joy-Lynn.
A parent, whose child was a part of this project, who does not want to be named, said most of their class failed.
“If their marks are above a certain percentage they would downscale their marks by 30%,” she said.
Parents want the WCED to handle the re-marking process, bypassing SACAI.
“Rewrites are expensive. We didn’t know SACAI existed until now. My child can’t attend university, and colleges are rejecting her. This is not what we signed up for,” said the parent.
Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson for WCED said “unfortunately” re-marks must go through SACAI. Parents can apply to schools for Grade 12 repeats, as pupils followed the CAPS curriculum. Adjustments of matric marks are done by Umalusi, not by the school or department.
The SACAI CEO Chris Klopper said school based assessment (SBA) mark discrepancies are Umalusi’s responsibility, not SACAI. The SACAI follows Umalusi’s standards to ensure compliance.
“Marks depend on answer quality in the script. Success requires discipline, effort, and over 40 hours of study weekly. Online schooling demands consistent preparation.”
Eleven institutions had 100% pass rates; and a UCTOHS pupil, not part of this project, scored 99% in Physical Sciences, he said.
Beacon Hill High School’s principal Melisha Benjamin confirmed she had a meeting with parents on Tuesday January 21.
“We gave them the option of returning to school for the year. Three learners are back at school.”
They can also do the NSC supplementary exam or apply for the NSC exams at the end of the year. They’ll have to apply to combine the two exams with the SACAI, she said.
Some of the 22 pupils will be doing their supplementary exams, NSC exams at the end of the year or going to a tertiary institution to complete their NSC.
One of the pupils tried to commit suicide because of this ordeal, said Joy-Lynn.
Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and spokesperson for Umalusi, Nthabiseng Khotlele, both said parents and pupils should direct their queries to SACAI.
Umalusi ensured “quality through moderation, auditing, monitoring, and standardising marking for SACAI’s 2024 NSC exams. The SACAI, Independent Examinations Board (IEB), and DBE assess the NSC; pupils should choose their assessment body wisely,” said Ms Khotlele.
Ms Du Toit said: “UCT is flawed and must be held accountable. Many children’s futures are at risk. UCTOHS must face consequences for the exams not reflecting true performance. This issue affects 2025 matriculants too. My child, part of the Ibhodi scholarship, was misled. These institutions must take responsibility for ruining our children’s lives,” said Ms Du Toit.
Mr Lee said: “UCT Online High School is aware of the complaints and comments, many of which are based on partial information, and some of which has been egregiously misleading. Our team is engaging with our examination body (SACAI) around these issues, and have had a recent, constructive discussion with the SACAI leadership team. We are taking every query raised with us with the utmost importance. Each of these queries are being reviewed and where relevant escalated to the Executive Head of School who has then queried directly with SACAI for further feedback.
He added that: “At UCT Online High School, we follow the National CAPS-aligned curriculum, and utilise the SACAI-provided support and guidance documents to ensure that the content covered for our learners is what they will be examined on in their final National Senior Certificate exams.
“We gave our 2024 Matric class full support throughout their Grade 12 year. Support Coaches were continually available to every learner, and we provided direct support through subject-specific boot camps and other forms of learning to allow each learner to focus on those parts of the curriculum that required their attention. All learners were strongly encouraged to attend Mastery sessions, in which our Subject Matter Experts went through past examination papers, helping them to prepare for their final examinations.
“We closely follow the requirements of the National Senior Certificate CAPS curriculum in designing and supplying our online content for all our grades. We continually test our learners’ grasp of this material in the tests that are built into our study modules, providing the feedback that each learner needs to provide focus in their studies. We take particular care in ensuring that the questions we set in our School Based Assessments (SBA) are fully aligned with the curriculum. All our marking is conducted by qualified teachers who are subject experts, and our SBA marks are moderated before being released to learners. I can confirm that, for last year’s Grade 12s, all SBA results were submitted to SACAI as required and on time.
“Given our continued engagement with our examination body, we are not able to comment further until our work with SACAI has been concluded.”
Re-marks close on Friday January 31, while exam reviews ended on Monday January 27. For more information, contact SACAI on 012 348 5650 or 012 348 4650 or 012 348 0501.