Media Advisory - SACE Honours Educators’ Indispensable Role of Monitoring and Assessing Learning, Despite COVID-19 Pandemic Trials

Oct 19, 2026

Media Advisory from SACE highlighting the indispensable role educators play in monitoring and assessing learning across South Africa’s schools. The advisory explains how teachers design assessment tasks, provide constructive feedback, analyse learner contributions to inform planning, and maintain accurate records to track progress. It credits teachers’ adaptations during 2020 despite COVID-19 challenges, recognizes educators involved in marking centres from January 2021, and thanks education unions and departments for support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Key messages on assessment

How educators monitor and assess learning

Recognition and support during 2020-2021

Media Advisory SACE Honours Educators’ Indispensable Role of Monitoring and Assessing Learning, Despite COVID-19 Pandemic Trials At the heart of any teaching and learning and classroom practice, lies the assessment process. Equally, educators are pivotal to any developmental and collective assessment process that takes place in our schools and the entire education system. As part of its 10 Professional Teaching Standards, SACE recognises that TEACHING INVOLVES MONITORING AND ASSESSING LEARNING. Whilst doing so, SACE applauds that: • Teachers use assessment tasks that give learners opportunities to show what they have learned , and how they can utilise that knowledge; • Teachers provide learners with constructive feedback that helps them understand how they can improve their learning; • Teachers analyse learner contributions, questions, and errors as important data that shows the learner’s capabilities (or lack thereof) to inform future planning; and • Teachers keep accurate records of assessments that track learner progress. Indisputably , teachers are pivotal concerning the process of monitoring and assessing the learning of over 13 million learners in our 24 000 public and independent schools across the country. Due to the challenging working conditions in 2020 , teachers needed to think on their feet and used their curriculum and assessment knowledge, expertise , skills, and experience and ensured that assessment was done accordingly in line with the set policies, rubric, guidelines, and protocols which benefited the learners. It is against this background that SACE , as a professional body for teachers, values the immense role played by educators in assessing learners under difficult and uncertain times in the previous year. Whilst SACE owes a debt of gratitude to all our educators who assessed our Grade 0 -12 learners in 2020, our special recognition goes to all educators who went to various marking/assessment centres from January 2021 onwards to assess thematric examination papers. The release of the matric results for the Class of 2020 is highly dependent on you. We cannot salute you enough. We thank you in advance ahead of the release of the matric results in February 2021. We also salute teacher unions and Provincial Education Departments who ensured that our teachers are capacitated in advance and the necessary COVID-19 regulations and protocols are observed. The ongoing monitoring and evaluation processes at the marking centres, by both Department of Education and teacher unions, have not gone unnoticed. Notwithstanding the good work done by our members of the teaching profession atthe various marking centres across the country, SACE was saddened by the passing of two educators. Our sincere condolences to their families and schools. Furthermore , SACE has learned with concerns some of the educators that had to leave the marking centres due to various COVID-19 related conditions, as well as, unfavourable residential conditions under which some of them lived. Despite all these challenges, you (our esteemed educators) endured and assessed our Class of 2020 meticulously. Issued by the South African Council for Educators (SACE) Enquiries: Themba Ndhlovu Cell: 071 606 3311/ 18 /01/2021

FAQs

What does SACE emphasize about teaching in relation to learning assessment?

SACE stresses that teaching involves monitoring and assessing learning as a key part of classroom practice and the wider education system.

What actions does SACE list for effective assessment by teachers?

SACE highlights that teachers use assessment tasks to show learning, provide constructive feedback, analyse learner contributions and errors to guide planning, and keep accurate assessment records to track progress.

Why does SACE acknowledge educators’ work during the COVID-19 period?

SACE recognizes that in 2020, challenging working conditions required teachers to apply their curriculum and assessment expertise in line with policies and protocols, and it further thanks educators who marked assessment papers from January 2021 onward.

Oct 19, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans