- The Department of Basic Education has denied it has not released software needed for capturing marks to schools.
- Because of changes to the curriculum, the department said the 2021 version of the software needed to be updated.
- All schools have been encouraged to ensure they have the correct version of the software.
The Department of Basic Education has denied reports that it has not released crucial software that's needed to capture pupils' results.
Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said in a statement that the software was available for all schools.
The South African School Administration and Management System (SA-SAMS) is computer software that is updated every year and is used to capture pupils' marks, disciplinary action, and parents' contact details.
Last year, schooling was disrupted because of Covid-19 and amendments to the curriculum had to be made for the 2020 and 2021 academic years, Mhlanga said. Updates needed to be made to this year's version of the SA-SAMS.
He said a test version of the SA-SAMS 21.1.0 was first released. Changes were done in response to verification and sign-off by the subject specialists, and a final release is renamed 21.1.1.
Quality assurance and testing
"One of the most significant additions to the Programmes of Assessment, in 2021, is the inclusion of fixed weightings for all assessment tasks that are administered, and this will ensure consistency in the computation of School-Based Assessment (SBA) marks across the various schools. This led to the need for major amendments to the SA-SAMS programme for 2021."
He said the amendments had a direct impact on the capturing of marks and the calculation of the SBA marks for all pupils and the quarterly reporting of the pupil assessment results.
He said:
He said testing of the most up-to-date software was
done by provincial departments, some schools and unions to ensure that it was
accurate.
Mhlanga said the latest version ensures that teachers accurately report on pupils' performance and ensures uniformity across the country.
"These changes that emanated from Covid-19 have now been captured on the SA-SAMS programme, and the Recovery Curriculum programme will remain stable for next three years."