SAMA™ Research Agenda

The matriculation examination has been written in South Africa for the last 162 years. This examination now called NSC examinations does not only signify the culmination of twelve years of formal schooling; but it is a barometer of the health of the Education system. It is an educational function that has been comprehensively researched for many years based on the date of the dissertation of Murcott, H.G (1938). The History and Development of the Matriculation Examination in South Africa to 1900. Thesis (M. Ed.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1938. Copy no 82/14001, https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/56201.

However, the SAMA™ research agenda is strictly about the reduction of the Matriculation Breakthrough Triangle (MBT) according to the Breakthrough Equation: - y = ƒ(x) + ε, where;

⎯ y ≈ 100% matriculation pass as the primary metric or defect,

⎯ x ≈ x1 + x2 + x3 …… xn or Common Cause Variation (e.g. teacher absenteeism),

⎯ ε ≈ ε1 + ε2 + ε3 …… εn or Special Cause Variation (e.g. COVID-19),

The ultimate purpose of SAMA™ is to achieve the “Teaching-Learning-Process” with the Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO) of 99.9997 %, or the Process Capability Index (Cpk) of 3.4 or in simple terms 3.4 non-conforming parts per million. The Upper Specific Limit (USL) of the Department of Basic Education for 2020 is 100 % pass and the Lower Specific Limit (LSL) is 83.17 % pass. This is notwithstanding the COVID-19 included in Breakthrough Equation.

The SAMA™ research will therefore be divided into: -