Good show, but schools still face many challenges
Many pupils quit before Grade 12
EDUCATION experts and unions last night praised the increase in the matric pass rate, but said there were concerns about maths performance and those who fell by the wayside before reaching Grade 12.
“There are still a lot of challenges,” said education expert Graeme Bloch.
He said SA needed to keep up with the rest of the world, and the tech age. That was why the decline in maths was a real concern.
Khume Ramulifho, the Gauteng DA’S spokesman for education, said his party wanted to see a breakdown in the pass rates of each subject. “We would like to push for more enrolment into subjects like maths and science,” he said.
Wilmot James, the DA’S education spokesman, added that while for the first time since 2004 SA had broken through the 70 percent pass rate barrier, the worry was the number of pupils who left school before Grade 12.
Kathy Callaghan, secretary of the school governing body association Governors’ Alliance, said only half the pupils who started Grade 1 made it through to Grade 12.
She called for a tagging system that would better monitor children through the schooling system.
Sapa reports that President Jacob Zuma described the improved pass rate as a “step in the right direction”.
His spokesman Mac Maharaj said: “We would also like to draw special attention to those matriculants who, even though faced with adverse learning conditions, performed exceptionally well.”
The executive director of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, Dr Jane Hofmeyr, said: “This shows that the adjustments made to the subject-assessment guidelines by the Department of Basic Education have made the assessment requirements clearer, and this has helped the teachers and learners to know how much of and at what level the curriculum needs to be covered for success in the examinations.”
Ezra Ramasehla of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA said more emphasis had to be placed on science, economics and teacher training.
Another major positive from 2011 was the reduction in union-related school disrup- tions.
The ANC Youth League said the higher pass rate was visible proof that the ANC was prioritising education.