Language teachers gain much needed support ahead of matric exams

South Africa’s teachers and learners need all the help they can get for the upcoming matric exams.

This is the view of Dr Adriaan Coetser, the Subject Advisor in Chief for the AVBOB STEP 12 free-to-download series of Examination Preparation Guides – which aim to deliver exactly that.

Steadily gaining momentum since its national launch in June 2023, the AVBOB STEP 12 language guides for Grade 12 teachers and learners are formally supported by the Department of Basic Education as a highly effective public-private sector partnership committed to improving learner outcomes in South African schools.

AVBOB STEP 12 makes 33 Examination Preparation Guides – one guide for each matric language examination paper in all 11 languages – freely available to the benefit of all Grade 12 language teachers and learners (and their parents). These guides are neither study guides nor examination guides (although they feature some elements of both). They are examination preparation guides aimed at addressing the preparation (for examination) aspect that is often neglected, even though it is of crucial importance if learners are to achieve their full potential. 

Each guide was written by an education expert under the guidance of Dr Coetser. With 45 years’ experience in the education sector, including as an External Moderator for the Grade 12 final examinations for three national assessment bodies, Dr Coetser is adamant that the education of learners should never be the restricted to schools and parents.

“Public-private sector partnerships must play a significant supportive role in education,” he states. “To invest in our children is to invest in the future of communities, all spheres of life, and the country as a whole. South Africa is a developing country. As such, no stone should be left unturned in realising the enormous potential of the children of this country.”

According to Dr Coetser, teachers (in this case language teachers) are under immense time pressure and often lack the resources to efficiently prepare learners. “The AVBOB STEP 12 guides provide language teachers and learners – especially those in remote areas with limited support – with valuable information about each paper. This includes guidance on the structure of each examination paper, time management, question formulations, mark allocations, cognitive levels, degrees of difficulty, choices within the question papers, and ways and means to cope with the nature of different types of questions.”

According to Dr Coetser, the response from language teachers throughout the country has been extremely positive. “‘Why do you provide us with this information only now? We have been waiting for guides like these for years and years,’ more than one teacher commented,” he says. “Some teachers indicated that they intend to use these guides at Grade 11 and even Grade 10 level to prepare their learners properly for their matric examinations.”

For Dr Coetser, the beauty of the AVBOB STEP 12 guides lies in the fact that all languages are treated equally. “No language received preferential treatment in any way. The parity between Home Language and First Additional Language provides room for all learners to benefit from the valuable information provided in the guides. Even in the case of a shortage of teaching staff, these guides can (to a certain extent) enable hardworking learners to face the final examinations confidently.”

The AVBOB STEP 12 Examination Preparation Guides can be downloaded for FREE at https://www.avbobstep12.co.za/.

About AVBOB Mutual Assurance Society

AVBOB is a mutual society and has no shareholders. AVBOB members benefit from profits in the form of special bonuses and enhanced funeral benefits. AVBOB also gives back to the communities it serves through CSI initiatives and upliftment projects, several of which are in the space of education and literacy.

Earlier this year, AVBOB launched the second AVBOB Road To Literacy campaign in partnership with Oxford University Press Southern Africa. The campaign gave away 260 trolley libraries equipped with books donated by Oxford University Press Southern Africa – representing the 11 official South African languages, numeracy books and other learning resources – to deserving primary schools and educational non-profit organisations (NPOs) across South Africa.