The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says the 2008 matric results showed an ”ailing education system” that needed a ”complete overhaul”.
”… it drives the message home that experimenting with new education policies and systems cannot be the panacea as long as the basics are not attended to …,” the party’s education spokesperson, Alfred Mpontshane, said on Tuesday, hours after the release of the matric results.
He said the government needed to pay particular attention to making conditions at school conducive to the ”the culture of teaching and learning”.
”… any education system is as good as its educators.”
Results released earlier showed a drop in the matric pass rate from 65% last year to 62,5% this year.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the matric pass rate decreased to 57,8% in 2008 compared with the 63,8% pass rate last year.
The province’s education minister, Ina Cronje, said that this figure should not be compared with last year’s figure as it was a different curriculum.
More than 150 000 matriculants in the province wrote the final exam.
Mpontshane said comparing the figures made no difference.
”And though some departmental spokespersons argued that the 2008 cannot be compared with the results of the previous years, it is still a fact that there was a generally poor showing in as far as the pass rate is concerned. A 57% pass rate for instance in KwaZulu-Natal is nothing to write home about,” he said.
And although the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal praised the education department for a smooth running of the exam process, the IFP lambasted the department, saying there was much confusion.
”…We are extremely concerned about the chaos that accompanied the process of releasing the results and the achieved pass rate. Some schools, for instance, received their results yesterday [Monday], even before the minister of education could release them — while others did not.
”As if that was not bad enough, some schools found that there were subjects missing despite [the fact that] learners had written them, and in others there were contradicting examination numbers,” said Mpontshane.
ANC provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu, meanwhile, commended the education department for ”no major irregularities being reported”.
”The year of 2008 was long and arduous for these students. The class of 2008 was faced with many challenges as they were the first batch of grade 12 learners writing the National Senior Certificate examinations based on the new curriculum, but they were able to rise above all odds and did considerably well,” he said.
Mchunu also called on parents to be more involved in their children’s education.
”In our quest for excellence, the ANC has prioritised education as its main focus for the next five years and to this end we are confident that next year’s results will see a dramatic improvement nationally and in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.”
To those who did not pass, Mchunu said: ”This is not the end of the world. They can still improve their results and further their careers.”
The same sentiment was uttered by ANC president Jacob Zuma during a Christmas party for orphaned children in his hometown of Nkandla on Monday afternoon.
Zuma urged those who did not pass to try again until they succeeded.
”Those who don’t [do well], they must not think it’s the end of the world … just try again and you will succeed … one time you lose, one time you win … that’s how it works,” he said. — Sapa