Improvement in literacy and numeracy at Gauteng schools.

This was revealed after the Annual National Assessment results were released by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

The assessments are standardised tests set across the country to assess whether each child in each of the grades under evaluation has developed the language and mathematics skills appropriate for their grade.

MEC Barbara Creecy said the continuing improvement was attributable in a large part to the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy, initially implemented in 2010.

She welcomed the results as “a further indication that education in Gauteng remains firmly on the right track”. She added that the strategy had provided more than 900 schools in the province with the support and materials needed to continually improve the performance of their pupils.

Gauteng’s 2013 Annual National Assessment home language proficiency showed an improvement in all grades, with the greatest improvement being in Grade 6 which had an 18 percent increase.

Maths results showed an improvement of more than 13 percent in grades 3 and 6. English first additional language has improved by six percent in grades 4 to 6.

MEC Creecy said,”While Gauteng is very pleased at the continual progress made in our schools as shown by the latest Annual National Assessments results, we believe that further interventions will remain necessary to ensure even better performances across the system.”