South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996)RegulationsRegulations for the Conduct, Administration and Management of Assessment for the Senior Certificate, 2005Chapter 3 : Preparation for the examination process16. Appointment of examiners |
| (1) | The assessment body must appoint— |
| (a) | an Examiner for each paper; or |
| (b) | an additional Examiner to assist the Examiner contemplated in paragraph (a); or |
| (c) | a panel of Examiners, if the candidates must write more than one paper for a subject and the Examiners must work together in setting all the papers for the subject; |
| (d) | Examiners for setting different grades of the same subject who must work together; |
| (e) | a Chief Examiner for a panel of Examiners, who serves as a convener to ensure the quality and standard of the paper; |
| (f) | an Internal Moderator who takes final responsibility in ensuring the standard and quality of the paper, before it is submitted to the External Moderator. |
| (2) | In the appointment of Examiners and Internal Moderators for provincially set question papers, an advertisement in a provincial newspaper and an Internal circular, should invite educators in the employ of the provincial education department or other educators in the province to apply for appointment. |
| (3) | In the appointment of Examiners and Internal Moderators for nationally set question papers, an advertisement in a national newspaper should invite educators to apply for appointment. |
| (4) | The selection panel for the nationally set question papers should be made up of— |
| (a) | assessment and examination officials from the Department of Education; |
| (b) | one external Moderator from Umalusi; and |
| (c) | one representative from each of the recognised educator labour unions, who will serve as observers. |
| (5) | In the case of provincially appointed Examiners and Moderators, the selection panel should comprise of: |
| (a) | assessment and examination officials from the provincial education department as determined by the Head of Department; and |
| (b) | one representative from each of the recognised educator labour unions who will serve as observers. |
| (6) | The selection panel will make their selection on the basis of curriculum vitae or other written submissions and interviews may be conducted where necessary. |
| (a) | The criteria for the selection and appointment of Internal Moderators and Examiners for the public assessment bodies will be in accordance with; |
| (i) | the Personnel Administrative Measures, and |
| (ii) | any other additional criteria as determined and approved by HEDCOM. |
| (7) | The list of persons recommended for appointment by the selection panel must be submitted to the Director-General in the case of nationally set question papers or the Head of Department or his or her nominee, in the case of provincially set question papers, within 14 days of finalisation, for formal approval and appointment. |
| (8) | The private assessment body must appoint Examiners and Internal Moderators in accordance with criteria and processes approved by the Examinations Board. |
| (9) | The Director-General or the Head of the Department or his or her nominee will make the final decision with regard to the appointment of Internal Moderators and Examiners. |
| (10) | Successful applicants must be informed in writing and be required to sign a written undertaking of confidentiality with the Department of Education or provincial education department. |
| (11) | Internal Moderators and Examiners should be appointed for a minimum period of two years and a maximum of four years. |
| (12) | Letters of appointment for both Internal Moderators and Examiners must clearly indicate the period of appointment. |
| (13) | The Internal Moderator or Examiner must, for the period of appointment and subject to the appropriate provisions, be responsible for the question paper for which he or she has been appointed. |
| (14) | An Internal Moderator should be appointed for each question paper at every level for which the subject is presented and this does not preclude two question papers from being moderated by the same Internal Moderator. |
| (15) | There is no requirement that an Internal Moderator must always be appointed from the ranks of serving educators. |
| (16) | A person serving as Internal Moderator or Examiner on a National Examination Panel may be considered for appointment as either Internal Moderator or Examiner for a question paper written under the auspices of the Assessment Body. |
| (17) | Where an Examiner or Internal Moderator becomes unavailable and adequate time is not available for the prescribed appointment procedure to be followed, a replacement may be appointed from the list of recommendations made to the Director-General or Heads of Department or Head of private assessment body, taking the individual next in the rank order. |
| (18) | The assessment body must terminate the appointment of an Examiner or Internal Moderator, if he or she does not comply with the conditions under which he or she has been appointed. The termination must not compromise the examination process. |
| (19) | All officials involved in the Senior Certificate examination must be required by the assessment body to sign a Contract of Confidentiality. |