Western Cape Education Minister Debbie Schäfer says 2021 Systemic Test results confirm the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education.
She says the greatest learning losses are in the Foundation Phase. Schäfer says the absence of face-to-face contact teaching time has affected the youngest learners the most.
She says this is because they do not have the same self-discipline, maturity or structure that older learners would have to cope with rotating timetables and learning at home.
Schäfer says overall the learners have fallen behind by up to 106% in mathematics.
“The WCED is studying these results and accompanying diagnostics with a focus on updating its learning recovery plans to address these losses. We already have a number of programmes in place to improve literacy and numeracy which we are looking at expanding. Ultimately the most effective way to claw back these losses is to ensure that every child is at school every day,” says Schäfer.
Schools Re-opening I Basic Education Department hoping to recover from COVID-19 turbulence:
