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South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996)

Regulations

Regulations pertaining to the National Curriculum Statement for Grades R-12

2. Definitions

 

In these Regulations, any word or expression to which meaning has been assigned in the Act, shall have the meaning so assigned to it, unless the content indicates otherwise—

 

"assessment body"

means an assessment body as defined in the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001);

 

"candidate"

means a learner who has enrolled in his or her Grade 12-year of the National Senior Certificate programme and who has registered for the National Senior Certificate final examinations;

 

"certification"

means the formal recognition of a qualification or part qualification awarded to a successful learner;

 

"condonation"

means the relaxation of promotion requirements as contemplated in paragraph 29(1)(b) of the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12;

 

"Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements"

means the policy documents stipulating the aim, scope, content and assessment for each subject listed in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12;

 

"Department of Basic Education"

means the national department responsible for basic education, Grades R-12;

 

"Deaf learner"

means a learner who is either in a special school in terms of section 5(6) of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996), or in an ordinary school where he or she has been assessed and verified by a registered health professional as Deaf. Such a Deaf learner may, in terms of section 6(4) of the South African Schools Act, 1996, offer South African Sign Language, which has the status of an official language for the purposes of learning;

[Definition substituted by section 2 of Notice No. 2455, GG46847, dated 2 September 2022]

 

"education department"

means a department as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"evidence of learner performance"

means the learner's work that is used to compile his or her internal assessment mark;

 

"examination"

means the conduct of an end-of-term and/or once-off end-of year assessment;

 

"external assessment"

means any assessment activity, instrument or programme where the design, development and implementation has been initiated, directed and, coordinated by Provincial Education Departments and the Department of Basic Education either collectively or individually;

 

"First Additional Language level"

means the language proficiency level that reflects the basic intercultural and interpersonal communication skills needed in social situations and the cognitive academic skills essential for learning across the curriculum. The First Additional Language level can be used as the language of teaching and learning from the Intermediate Phase onwards;

 

"Formal Assessment Task (assessment of learning)"

means a systematic way of assessment used by teachers to determine how well learners are progressing in a grade and in a particular subject;

 

"full-time candidate"

means a candidate who has enrolled for tuition in a full-time capacity at a public or independent school or any other registered institution and who presents the required number of subjects as stipulated in the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the CS Grades R-12;

 

"grade"

means a grade as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"Head of Department"

as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"Head of an assessment body"

means the Head of Examination at the Department of Basic Education, the Head: Education of a provincial education department or the Head of an independent assessment body;

 

"Head of the institution"

means the Head of an educational institution;

 

"Home Language level"

means the language proficiency level that reflects the mastery of interpersonal communication skills required in social situations and the cognitive academic skills essential for learning across the curriculum. This level also provides learners with a literary, aesthetic and imaginative ability that will provide them with the ability to create, imagine, and empower their understandings of the world they live in;

 

"immediate family"

means father, mother, brother, sister, grandparents, husband, wife, legal partner and children, guardians and foster parents;

 

"immigrant candidate"

means a learner as contemplated in paragraph 4(1)(a) of the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12;

 

"independent school"

means a school registered or deemed to be registered in terms of section 46 of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"Informal Assessment Task"

means the ongoing assessment of learners for developmental purposes leading towards a formal assessment task;

 

"internal assessment"

means an assessment, contemplated in section 1 of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance (Act No. 58 of 2000);

 

"language levels"

means the proficiency levels at which all official and non-official languages are offered at school, i.e. Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language levels;

 

"learner"

as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"learner who experiences barriers to learning"

refers to any learner who has difficulties in accessing the curriculum due to factors that serve as barriers;

 

"Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT)"

means the language chosen by a school's governing body in consultation with parents. It is the language teachers use to instruct and to assess. It is also the language of the textbooks provided in the school;

 

"MEC"

means a Member of the Executive Council, contemplated in section 1 of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"Minimum outcomes and standards"

means the minimum level at which a learner must attain the content and assessment requirements for all subjects listed in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 as specified in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements. It also includes the programme and promotion requirements for Grades R-12 as stipulated in the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12 and in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements of all approved subjects;

 

"National Qualifications Framework (NQF)"

means the ten-level framework to provide for the registration of national standards and qualifications as contemplated in the National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008);

 

"National Senior Certificate"

means a qualification at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) which is awarded to Grade 12 candidates who comply with the national policy requirements set out in the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12;

 

"National Senior Certificate examination"

means the final end-of-year examination at the end of the Grade 12-year conducted by a department of education or a body accredited by Umalusi as a body responsible for conducting external assessment;

 

"parent"

means parent as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"part-time candidate"

means a Grade 12 learner who has registered at an examination centre for part-time studies and may register for any number of subjects in one examination sitting;

 

"progression"

means the advancement of a learner from one grade to the next, excluding Grade R, in spite of the learner not having complied with all the promotion requirements. Progression can be used to prevent a learner from being retained in a phase for a period exceeding four years as stipulated in the Admission policy for ordinary public schools as published as Government Notice 2432, Government Gazette, Vol. 400, No. 19377 of 19 October 1998, provided that the underperformance of the learner in the previous grade is addressed in the grade to which the learner has been promoted;

 

"promotion"

means the movement of a learner from one grade to the next when that learner meets the minimum required level of achievement per subject in a particular grade, as well as complying with the promotion requirements of that grade as contemplated in the policy document; National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the NCS Grades R-12;

 

"Processes and procedures for the assessment of learner achievement"

means the conduct, administration and management of internal assessment, end-of year examination, and the final National Senior Certificate examination as stipulated in the policy document, National policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12, the policy document, National Protocol for Assessment Grades R-12, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements of all approved subjects;

 

"Provincial Education Department"

means an education department, contemplated in Section 1 of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No. 76 of 1998);

 

"qualification"

means a registered qualification as contemplated in the National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008);

 

"repeat candidate"

means a candidate who has failed the Grade 12-year of the National Senior Certificate examination and/or the supplementary examination, or who wants to improve his or her National Senior Certificate examination results, and who wants to repeat the Grade 12-year or a subject, as a full-time learner or part-time candidate respectively;

 

"South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)"

means the South African Qualifications Authority established by the National Qualifications Framework Act;

 

"Second Additional Language level"

means the language proficiency level that focuses on the basic interpersonal communication skills needed in social situations and include intercultural communication. It is intended to further multilingualism. Although reading and writing will be developed, at this level the emphasis will be on developing listening and speaking skills;

 

"school"

as defined in the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996);

 

"school-based assessment"

means assessment as defined in the policy document, National Protocol for Assessment Grades R-12, Government Gazette No. 34600 of 12 September 2011;

 

"supplementary examination"

means an examination granted under special conditions to full-time, repeat and part-time candidates in the year following the National Senior Certificate examination but not the end-of-year examination;

 

"teacher file"

means the recording and planning documents used by the teacher, namely the formal programme of assessment, evidence of learner assessment/performance, all formal assessment tasks and marking guidelines, annual teaching plan/work schedule, textbook used and other resources;

 

"technical school"

means a focussed secondary school with a specialized infrastructure and specialised resources for the completion of the practical component of at least two of the following technology subjects, namely Civil Technology, Electrical Technology and Mechanical Technology, as well as Engineering Graphics and Design;

 

"technology subject (specialisation)"

means a focused technology subject with content matter related to industry of which specific aspects are assessed by means of a practical assessment task or practical examination. In this policy the technology subjects with specialisation are: Civil Technology, Electrical Technology, Mechanical Technology and Engineering Graphics and Design;

 

"Umalusi"

means Umalusi the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training established in terms of the General and further education and Training Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001);