Learning Losses from COVID-19 in the Western Cape - EVIDENCE FROM SYSTEMIC TESTS

2 By investigating performance in the Western Cape Systemic Tests that are written in Grades 3, 6, and 9 in both Language and Mathematics, this study was able to compare performance of the same schools on the same questions in 2021 to performance in 2019. [...] Average mark in 'Measurement', the lowest of all learning areas in 8 Performance in ‘Measurement’ was the lowest Grade 6 in 2019 and 2021 in both 2019 and 2021, at a 38% average mark in 2021. [...] CONTEXTS TO REDUCE CROWDING IN CLASSROOMS In South Africa, the number of days lost in different grades and schools varied because of the way the lockdown was imposed and return to school was scheduled and managed, particularly in 20202, and the way rotational timetabling was implemented, particularly in 2021. [...] 8 Of the items included in the analysis, for Language the proportion of the paper that was multiple choice was 28% in Gr3, 39% in Gr6 and 33% in Gr9, whilst in Mathematics only 4% of the Gr3 paper, 42% of the Gr6 and 29% of the Gr9 paper were multiple choice questions. [...] 48 Learning losses from Covid-19 in the Western Cape: Evidence from systemic tests In 2020 in Grade 8, similar changes were made to those in Grade  5, with the removal of a number of ‘Listening and … THE REDUCTION IN THE Speaking’ tasks and the removal of the Creative Writing project.