The impact of the 2023 Back on- Track Programme on learning

The 2023 Back-on-Track (BoT) programme,
launched by the Western Cape Education
Department (WCED), aimed to address
significant learning deficits caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic over a period of three
years. This R1.2 billion initiative targeted
improvements in mathematics and language
through interventions for learners and teachers
in grades 4, 7, and 8. Using Systemic Tests
and School-Based Assessments (SBAs), this
evaluation assesses the programme’s impact
on grade 4 and grade 7 learners.
Key findings show partial recovery in learning
outcomes, with notable gains in schools where
Afrikaans or isiXhosa were the Language
of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). The key
outcomes of the learner interventions are
summarised in the table below. It shows the
average gains from the learner intervention for
the two samples of children (those who had
written Book A and Book B respectively in the
2022 Systemic Tests). It is based on assuming
that a year of learning (200 days) is equivalent
to 40% of a standard deviation. This leads
to a conservative conversion of effect sizes
to school days. A smaller estimate of a year
of learning, which may seem warranted by
the low learning trajectories in South Africa,
would mean that the effect sixes would be
converted at a different rate. For instance, if it
were assumed that a year of learning was only
0.20 SD, it would mean that each 1% of a SD
converts to 10 school days, rather than five.
It would also mean that the learning losses or
deficits would convert to an even larger fraction
of a school year.