Schools reopen on Wednesday 15 January but there is still much to consider about the matric results, and last year’s results in particular.
Ten years ago the then Minister of Education, Kader Asmal joyously announced that the matric pass rate for 2003 was a somewhat miraculous 73,3 per cent.
Like now, that announcement was met by some scepticism. Not surprising when the pass rate in 1999 was a dismal 48,9 per cent. Somehow, in the space of five years, the pass rate had jumped up 24,4 per cent and there was a 4,3 per cent increase from 2002.
Now, like then, the 78,2% pass rate is raising questions. In five years the rate has increased by 17,6% and 4,3% from 2012.
One has to wonder why there is such big improvement, when worldwide big fluctuations in results are unusual. There also have not been any greatly significant changes in the education system to account for said fluctuations.
Possible reasons for the improvement in the results simply are based on numbers. According to Kate Wilkinson there were 1 261 827 pupils who started with Grade 1 in 2002. Only 562 112 wrote the final exams in 2013 – less than half. It also seems that students are choosing easier subjects.
In 2010 about 263 000 wrote Mathematics. That number dropped by about 22 000 in 2013. On the other hand Mathematics Literacy had about 281 000 pupils in 2010. In 2013 the number had increased to about 324 000.
Interestingly the same thing was happening in 2003, where only 36 000 pupils took the higher grade maths exam, compared to the 230 000 who took it at standard grade.
Another possible reason for the improvement is that according to Claire Bisseker, who wrote for the Helen Suzman Foundation, there was a decision taken in 2001 to increase marks in non-language subjects by five per cent for non-English/ Afrikaans speaking pupils to combat the disadvantage of writing in a second language. This is all well and good, but it could mean that there are second language students failing to get even the minimum 30 per cent and still being pushed through.
More worryingly is that of the just over a million pupils who started school in 2002, more than 700 000 did not write their matric exams. Some may have studied part-time, since those results aren’t included, some obviously dropped out, and others are still in the school system, having failed at least once.
Then there is the speculation that schools discourage poor pupils from writing to improve their pass rates.
Ultimately, comparing results year on year means very little realistically.
When one considers that every year the numbers of drop-outs, part-timers and people taking “easier” subjects change, and that these ultimately are factors that affect the results – no real comparison can be made.
An increase in the pass rate doesn’t necessarily mean that things are getting better, it just means that things are different.
