SA’s education system can’t only be measured by matric pass rate

South Africa’s education system cannot only be measured by the matric pass rate, according to education expert Wayne Hugo, who also notes the system still has major shortcomings which affect pupils in different ways.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the real matric pass rate for 2023 was only 55.3%, compared to the official pass rate of 82.9% announced by the department of basic education on Thursday.

This represented an increase from last year’s 54.6%.

The ‘real’ matric pass rate

“The real matric pass rate is calculated by bringing into account the number of pupils that dropped out and never made it to matric,” the DA’s shadow minister of basic education Baxolile “Bax” Nodada said after Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s released the 2023 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results.

“While some pupils pursue their matric through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) after Grade 9, a large number drop out completely,” Nodada said.

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“To bring the TVET pupils into account, the DA calculates the real matric pass rate from the Grade 10 cohort that ought to have completed matric.

“A total of 345 626 pupils dropped out between Grade 10 in 2021 and Grade 12 in 2023,” Nodada said.

DA should be held accountable for being a poorly performing province

Hugo said while the DA was right in asking questions about the pupils who fell through the cracks, the party should be held accountable for being a poorly performing province compared to the Free State, which came out first. Gauteng was third.

“The DA is substantially correct in every aspect of their analysis, but what we have to ask is why has the Western Cape, which is clearly one of the best-run province with huge amounts of teacher resources and so on, performed badly overall?” he asked.

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“That’s because they are doing a genuinely good job trying to hold on to pupils, no matter who they are, and trying to get them through the matric system.

“Provinces like the Free State, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal try to ensure pupils in the academic system end up getting good passes, which leads to a bigger dropout rate.”

Conversation was bigger than the class of 2023

According to Hugo, while it was good to question the results and account for dropouts, the conversation at hand was bigger than the class of 2023 or any other year.

Questions should also be asked about the system itself and how the different provinces handled education.

Yesterday, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi echoed Hugo’s words and said there could not be a situation where some children were perceived to have poor-quality education and others quality education.

He emphasised the need for a uniform education system which would reflect what the country was working towards.

One set of examinations for all matric pupils – Lesufi

Speaking at the release of the provincial announcement of the class of 2023 matric results and a celebration of the top candidates in Gauteng, he said there must be one set of examinations for all matric pupils.

The former Gauteng education MEC said he did not want to disband or discard any examination, but wanted quality education for all children.

“I want to enter into this debate not influenced by emotions but to give practical examples,” Lesufi said.

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“In 1995, the national matric results, or pass rate, was 53.4% and in 2023, the national matric results pass rate was 82%.

“It is within that context that we believe all our children should be treated equally and fairly and write one examination across the country to determine who is the best pupil.”

“All these children are South African children. All these children are going to the same universities. All these children deserve quality if there is quality,” he said.

Motshekga has had 15 years to improve the standard of basic education

Nodada said Motshekga has had 15 years to improve the standard of basic education.

“Instead, her tenure has been marked by excuses and shifting deadlines, bowing to pressure from unions, and the stripping of schools’ rights with the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill,” he said.

“It is under her reign that 81% of Grade 4 and 56% of Grade 6 pupils cannot read for meaning, Grade 4 and 8 pupils struggle with basic maths and science, and almost 40% of Grade 10 pupils and more than 25% of Grade 8s in the Free State failed their exams last year”.

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