Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga wants disciplinary action to be taken against DA MP Gavin Davis for his “unethical conduct” for sharing confidential information about the matric results standardisation.
She wrote a letter on Monday to the party’s chief whip‚ saying that Davis’ actions had led to the “confidence in certain members of Parliament has been seriously undermined”.
This related to his attendance of National Standardisation Meeting.
DA questions ‘culling of learners to inflate matric pass rate’The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday said the “fixation on the pass rate can mask the actual performance of the education system”‚ and called on Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga “to investigate what is behind the large drop-out rate without delay”.
In her letter‚ Motshekga claimed Davis refused to sign a confidentiality agreement‚ and did not tell the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on basic education about his refusal to do so.
She also said he “took pictures while at the meeting and engaged in Twitter activities”‚ and left with the “Standardisation Booklet that contains raw mark data relating to the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations”.
2016 matric results well received‚ but many say there’s much room from improvementThe matric class of 2016 achieved a pass rate of 72.5%‚ up from 70.7% in the previous year.
Davis said on Tuesday: “We assume from the weakness of the allegations in the Minister’s letter that it is little more than an attempt to bully us into silence. These tactics will not work.”
He was unapologetic about his actions‚ saying “it is everybody’s right to know how the matric examination papers were marked‚ how they were moderated and why the marks were adjusted during the standardisation process”.
Davis said he had “put a number of legitimate questions to the CEO of Umalusi‚ Dr Mafu Rakometsi‚ regarding the standardisation process‚ and he has refused to answer”.
Umalusi‚ also known as the Quality Assurance Council‚ oversees examinations in the country.
“Furthermore‚ Dr Rakometsi has refused to share documents that will help explain why the marks of so many subjects — 28 out of 58 — were adjusted upwards.
“There may very well be good answers to all the questions we have asked regarding standardisation. But we need to hear these explanations‚ and we need to be persuaded that they are rational‚” said Davis.
Motshekga‚ however‚ claimed that Davis “has attempted to solicit information‚ not following the official protocol‚ from a DBE official and Umalasi moderator”.
These actions‚ she added‚ “are not only a serious breach of NSC examinations protocol but also relate to unethical conduct on the part of a parliamentarian”.
Davis countered that “Rakometsi’s strange reluctance to share information has created the unfortunate perception that Umalusi has something to hide”‚ and added that “Motshekga’s letter only cements that perception”.
Davis said he had launched a Promotion of Access to Information Act application for the following data:
- “Umalusi’s record of standardisation decisions for the past five years (2012-2016);
- “Umalusi’s report to the Department of Basic Education on the NSC for the last five years; and
- “External moderator reports for all NSC subjects for the last five years.” – TMG Digital
Motshekga slams ‘unethical conduct’ of DA MP who shared matric results adjustment information
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga wants disciplinary action to be taken against DA MP Gavin Davis for his “unethical conduct” for sharing confidential information about the matric results standardisation.
She wrote a letter on Monday to the party’s chief whip‚ saying that Davis’ actions had led to the “confidence in certain members of Parliament has been seriously undermined”.
This related to his attendance of National Standardisation Meeting.
In her letter‚ Motshekga claimed Davis refused to sign a confidentiality agreement‚ and did not tell the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on basic education about his refusal to do so.
She also said he “took pictures while at the meeting and engaged in Twitter activities”‚ and left with the “Standardisation Booklet that contains raw mark data relating to the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations”.
Davis said on Tuesday: “We assume from the weakness of the allegations in the Minister’s letter that it is little more than an attempt to bully us into silence. These tactics will not work.”
He was unapologetic about his actions‚ saying “it is everybody’s right to know how the matric examination papers were marked‚ how they were moderated and why the marks were adjusted during the standardisation process”.
Davis said he had “put a number of legitimate questions to the CEO of Umalusi‚ Dr Mafu Rakometsi‚ regarding the standardisation process‚ and he has refused to answer”.
Umalusi‚ also known as the Quality Assurance Council‚ oversees examinations in the country.
“Furthermore‚ Dr Rakometsi has refused to share documents that will help explain why the marks of so many subjects — 28 out of 58 — were adjusted upwards.
“There may very well be good answers to all the questions we have asked regarding standardisation. But we need to hear these explanations‚ and we need to be persuaded that they are rational‚” said Davis.
Motshekga‚ however‚ claimed that Davis “has attempted to solicit information‚ not following the official protocol‚ from a DBE official and Umalasi moderator”.
These actions‚ she added‚ “are not only a serious breach of NSC examinations protocol but also relate to unethical conduct on the part of a parliamentarian”.
Davis countered that “Rakometsi’s strange reluctance to share information has created the unfortunate perception that Umalusi has something to hide”‚ and added that “Motshekga’s letter only cements that perception”.
Davis said he had launched a Promotion of Access to Information Act application for the following data:
- “Umalusi’s record of standardisation decisions for the past five years (2012-2016);
- “Umalusi’s report to the Department of Basic Education on the NSC for the last five years; and
- “External moderator reports for all NSC subjects for the last five years.” – TMG Digital
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