The DBE has recently partnered with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from France to conduct an international peer review of the General Education Certificate (GEC) Assessment Model. In accordance with the partnership, the OECD team visited South Africa to support the DBE in strengthening its assessment and evaluation arrangements in the General Education and Training (GET) band. The team visited South Africa to examine whether the GEC is fit for purpose in terms of meeting the country’s education needs and whether it reflects good practice internationally. 

As part of the review process, the delegation conducted two on-site country visits during March and April 2025, to ascertain the status of the GEC within the context of the National Assessment Framework. During the second country visit, there was a tapered focus on the GEC model and three schools were visited, two in Gauteng and one in the Mpumalanga Province. Based on the two visits, the delegation was able to gather valuable data on both the concept and practice of the GEC.

According to the delegates, the GEC has the potential to re-focus the education system on GET from Grade R to Grade 9. The GEC becomes a critical programme towards strengthening learning outcomes as learners move through the foundation, intermediate and senior phases. Currently, the programme is assessed in Grade 9, but the model of assessment could be incorporated into earlier grades and bring much needed emphasis on the acquisition and recognition of skills in GET. Mr Marco Kools, OECD project manager, indicated that the team were privileged to visit three schools that are currently piloting the GEC: “A core team was assembled to write a Policy Paper with options for the future development and strengthening of the GEC which will be shared with the DBE in the coming weeks. Ms Hannah Kitchen and Ms Rebecca Frankum, OECD policy analysts, interviewed teachers and learners and were impressed with the level of collaboration among teachers that were piloting the GEC”.

Reflecting on the progress registered by the DBE in relation to the GEC implementation, Dr Mark Chetty, Director for National Assessment said: “Against pre-set research questions, the GEC has been piloted over a 4-year period from 2021 to 2024. The pilot model followed an incremental upscaling of school participation, culminating in almost 3,000 schools participating in 2024. During this period, the system has witnessed a strengthening of GEC Institutionalisation with two provinces indicating that they were implementing the GEC in all their schools. Others have indicated that full scale implementation may have to be spread over the next two years due to limited financial and human resources. Recently, the DBE conducted a master training session amongst 200 provincial officials and will continue to support PEDs in their implementation of the GEC”.