Up school pass mark – activist

An education activist has rekindled calls for the department of basic education (DBE) to increase the pass mark from 30% to 50% for all grades.

Hendrick Makaneta suggests that the department should drastically change in terms of its admissions mark to be able to produce leaders who can drive the economy and address unemployment.

“Although unemployment is currently high, the skills shortage in the mainstream economy tells another story.

“It depicts a problem of graduates who fall by the wayside because their qualifications are not in demand within the economy. Hence we still sit with the so-called structural unemployment,” said Makaneta.

Various organisations have been vocal about the 30% pass rate to be scrapped, as they believe it affects the educational system.

In terms of the National Senior Certificate pass mark, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga this year addressed the misleading debate.

Motshekga said people need to be informed about the educational system and clarified that the 30% mark is a minimum requirement for a single subject and not an average pass mark for matric.

Makaneta said the department has to increase the bar and the suggested 50% pass mark be applied as early as the intermediate phase.

He said this will force pupils to work hard to be able to be equipped for the competitive environment.

He also weighed in on the issue of progressing pupils and pushing them to the next grade, even though they failed.

“By taking pupils who struggled severely with the previous grade and usher them into the next grade, we are compounding the problem,” Makaneta said.

“Simply put, there is no point in teaching Grade 12 mathematics to a pupil who struggled with the subject in Grade 6.

“It is a waste of time,” Makaneta said. –