Daneha Naidoo.
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AFTER receiving a final year mark of 78% for history, matriculant Daneha Naidoo was left disappointed and concerned that there was a marking error.
Daneha had always excelled in the subject and obtained 99% during the matric trial exams, which prompted her to send her paper for the final exams for remarking.
The 18-year-old, who attended Danville Park Girls High School last year, was stunned when she received the results from the remark – she had achieved a 93% pass. A 15% increase from her initial results.
Daneha, a first-year occupational therapy student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said she was devastated when she received her results in January.
“I was so confident that I had done well. Also, just before the start of the final exams, I promised my history teacher that I would make her proud. When I saw that history was not listed under my distinctions in the newspaper, it truly broke me.
“I am also a triplet, so when we received our results, the moment was ruined. My triplet sisters were more upset for me than focused on their own results.
“I spent the last two months trying to convince myself that a remark would not change anything, and that I was at fault. The reality was that I had achieved a 93% pass and did not even know it. I can only make assumptions as to where the error was. It could have been that a section was not marked since I used two answer booklets for each paper or my marks were not calculated correctly,” she said.
Daneha added that it did not affect her study path.
“I am fortunate that I am in the field I wanted to study so I will not have to change courses. However, the remark did increase my admission point score, which is what universities use for admission criteria. It also increased my final year aggregate by 2%.”
Daneha said she believed the Department of Education needed to relook at the marking process.
“Our future is in the hands of the markers, and for these mistakes to be happening is truly terrifying. It should not be possible for 15% not be counted. It is also not fair to all the pupils who worked so unbelievably hard to achieve high marks. I was lucky enough to get into my desired course, but mistakes have a huge impact on the futures of other pupils.
“I also keep thinking about all the matriculants who could not afford the remark. My advice is that if the final results do not reflect the work that they have put in or if they feel something is wrong, send the paper for a remark, as these results truly determine our future,” she said.
Losh Naidoo, her mother, said she was heartbroken to see her daughter’s disappointment.
“When she found out that her distinctions in the newspaper did not include history, she literally fell to her knees and sobbed. My heart broke for my child as I know how hard she worked. It was supposed to be one of the most exciting days of our lives with all three of our girls excelling in matric but we all were more focused on how disappointed Daneha was about her history mark. It was devastating and a moment that still lives in my nightmares.”
Naidoo said she was overjoyed after receiving Daneha’s new results.
“I went to fetch the results while Daneha was at university, and I literally burst into tears as I knew what it would mean to her. I didn’t tell her but waited for her to get home to see her reaction. She literally sobbed as she saw her results. However, as happy as I am for her, I am also furious that she was robbed of this the first time around.”
Naidoo said she intended to pursue further action to ensure accountability.
“The Department of Education needs to do better. This may not have impacted Daneha’s outcome but negligent marking could cost other children their university placement, their mental health and possibly even their lives. I would hate for this to continue happening, and for it to be the norm in our education system.
“I think it’s important to have stricter vetting processes when it comes to matric markers. Clearly the systems in place are not working. An error of 15% or 45 marks is incomprehensible, and there should be some sort of accountability as to how this could have happened.
“We also place such a lot of pressure on matric pupils to excel and do their best. It is only apt that the same pressure is afforded to the matric makers. It is not fair that a poor matric result could ruin a child's future, but poor marking of papers results in no consequences,” she said.
The KZN Department of Education did not comment at the time of publication.