Panyaza Lesufi calls for one exam for all

Gauteng’s former basic education MEC and the province’s premier Panyaza Lesufi is being criticised over his call for “one exam” and for Independent Examination Board (IEB) assessments to be scrapped.

While this was not the first time Lesufi has complained about IEB exams, he once again took to social media this week stating: “South Africa is one country and should write one matric examination.

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“In few weeks’ time, all our matriculants will be in the same varsity or college,” he said.

“Why are they still writing different matric exams as IEB or National Senior Certificate. This a matter that must be attended to.

“Everything is the same beside the name of the exam. The pass mark is the same. The curriculum is the same. The standard bearer is the same [Umalusi]. We can’t continue to separate exams on the basis of class.”

“The rich, semi-rich and poor have different matric examinations. All our children should write the same examination as they do at universities or colleges. It’s about time.”

However, Optimi Workplace education expert Phemelo Segoe said she did not think it was worth the time to entertain the idea of cancelling IEB assessments.

“It is nonsensical to me to disband an entire board that has maintained high levels of education in our country year after year amid the declining pass rates and performance of public schools,” she said.

“Is the IEB making public education look bad? Perhaps.” Segoe said remarks about IEB being scrapped were more emotional than rational.

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“It’s the government’s job to improve basic education and nothing improves performance like competition. In this case, the IEB isn’t a direct competitor,” she said.

The IEB and the National Senior Certificate are entities that served as educational authorities overseeing exam procedures for secondary school pupils.

The IEB was considered more rigorous and focused on critical thinking, problem-solving and application of knowledge.

The NSC was broader and covered more subjects at a basic level. Both the IEB and NSC qualifications had merits and drawbacks. The choice between the two systems depended on the individual pupil’s needs, educational goals and financial resources.

ActionSA’s Angela Sobey said Lesufi was attempting to distract the public from the continued failures of the public schooling system, which had been plagued by reports of leaked papers and declining standards, by calling for the IEB examinations to be scrapped.

Sobey said the IEB, which achieved a nearly 100% pass rate, had become a benchmark of what could be achieved through high-quality teaching and pupil support.

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“But, instead of learning from the world-class examination board and improving public schooling, Lesufi condemns it in an attempt to distract the public from his own government’s education catastrophes,” she said.

“One should not forget that it was under his leadership that R98 million was spent to build Mayibuye Primary School in Tembisa which, today, cannot be used as it was built on a wetland, and that R431 million was irregularly spent to sanitise public schools in Gauteng during Covid.”

Sobey added that public schooling and the National Senior Certificate examination should be improved, instead of trying to collapse the well-functioning IEB examinations into the failing NSC.

Education analyst and activist Papama Mnqandi said: “If this comment is about addressing inequality, then I’m not sure this is where to begin.

The changes needed in our education system need a different point of departure.”