South Africa is around a year away from seeing a national rollout of a new school certificate for grade 9 learners – known as the General Education Certificate (GEC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basic education, Angie Motshekga said that its purpose is “to provide learners with expanded opportunities to display their capabilities on inquiry-based learning, solving real-world problems and designing practical solutions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This “will better prepare them for further education and training and the world of work,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite concerns from some academics, the department (DBE) has stressed that this is not an exit point for learners from the school system at Grade 9, but rather provides decision-making tools for learners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is particularly targeted for those who may shift their focus to more technical subjects and trades instead of having a singular focus on a college or university education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Describing the necessity for the GEC, the department said that under the current system, thousands of students leave the school system each year without a qualification which hinders them from finding jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DBE said that if these learners have a certificate, they would be able to at least move on to some other form of training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basic education department spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, described the GEC as groundbreaking for the South African education system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learners are “able to work on and solve problems with inter-disciplinary knowledge and skills,” said Mhlanga, adding that it embeds “21st-century skills [like] critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity and cognition (metacognition) into practical assessment forms.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The key paradigm shift needed in the sector and the broader community on the GEC is a necessary shift from a strong examinations culture towards embracing a broader spectrum of assessments that can more holistically describe learner proficiency,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Mhlanga said that the new ‘Inclinations Assessment’ <\/em>that forms part of the curriculum will help learners clarify what their strengths, interests, and future career paths are in order to help them get on the right track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the department has set 2025 as its national implementation date, the GEC was initially meant to be fully rolled out in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The certificate was piloted across 270 schools in all nine provinces in 2022, and extended to 1,000 schools in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mhlanga said the “current challenge for the Department is to support the GEC rollout with an IT system that improves the efficiency of testing and generates a balanced scorecard for learners.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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