Matric pass rate hides failures

Performance in critical subjects is declining and the number of passes at 30% is a sign of the shortage of quality education. Individual stories of achievement should not distract us from this systemic issue

The 2019 results bear this out. There has been a decline in enrollment in most of the critical subjects, but the biggest decline between 2018 and 2019 has been recorded in mathematics, with 14 178 fewer learners taking the subject. Accounting saw a drop of 12 972 learners, with English first additional language recording a decrease of 9 887 learners.

For example, in accounting, of the 62 796 learners who wrote, 78.4% passed at 30% level. Of the 132 571 learners who wrote business studies, 71% passed at 30% level. In economics, there has been a decline in the number of the learners who passed at both the 30% and 40% levels compared with 2018. Moreover, the majority of the 107 940 learners who wrote the subject passed at the 30% level.

However, for vice-dean of teaching and learning at the University of Johannesburg faculty of education, Professor Nadine Petersen, as long as the country views matric as a “sprint” instead of a “long-distance [race]” it does not matter how many interventions are put in place: they are not going to produce the desired results.

But Petersen also acknowledged that there are teachers who work hard and complete the curriculum on time; however, if the learners themselves are not putting in the effort, then whatever interventions are made by the provincial departments are a waste of time and money. Last Friday, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training called for research to be conducted to explain why there is a decline in achievement in the subject.

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