Political parties and education organisations scrambled to get their say over the 4,4% increase in matric pass rate in 2003. The results were generally hailed by most quarters as an improvement, although concern was voiced by some, calling the pass rate ”inflated”.
The African National Congress said the 2003 results had surpassed the targets set by the Department of Education.
”South Africa’s economic and social future depends on having a suitably educated and skilled population. This year’s matric results mark an important step towards that goal”, said ANC spokesperson Steyn Speed.
Most organisations congratulated not only the pupils and the Department of Education, but the parents and teachers ”for their sacrifices and support to our youngsters”.
”Azapo joins the many learners, parents, educators and education officials countrywide in celebrating the achievement of the Grade 12 Class of 2003”, read a statement from the Azanian People’s Organisation.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) was also happy with the constant improvement.
Executive director Henry Hendricks said the 4,4% increase was significant when considering the difficulties that many schools experienced.
However, some organisations, including the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCL), voiced their concern that the increased pass rate was due, not to improved performance, but to a fall in the number of matric enrolments.
They suggested that schools were keeping pupils in Grades 10 and 11 in order to ensure a better pass rate.
”This not only inflates the pass rate, but leads to a bottleneck which gets more difficult every year for the school system to handle,” said DA spokesperson Willem Doman.
Sadtu and the YCL also pointed out that many pupils were forced to drop out due to poverty, Aids, pregnancy, and drug abuse.
”The YCL calls on the Department of Education to conduct an urgent investigation into the declining numbers of matric candidates and to put in place mechanisms to address the roots behind this decline”, said spokesman Buti Manamela in a statement.
The South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Congress of SA Students emphasised that matric was not the be all and end all. The SACP called on higher education institutions, and Sector Education and Training Authorities to ensure that there was further training and employment opportunities for school leavers.
African National Congress Youth League president Malusi Gigaba said ”principals continue to be over obsessive about high pass rates as opposed to the content”.
His worries were shared by the National Action Party, the New National Party (NNP), and the Democratic Alliance (DA), who all mentioned that it was necessary to monitor standards.
”Although the NNP praises those learners with distinctions it is also an issue of concern that these numbers leap annually. This places a question mark over the standard of the exams”, said NNP education spokesperson Martha Olckers.
These concerns could not completely dampen the congratulatory, and celebratory response to the results, which were hailed as a ”fitting tribute” to 10 years of democracy by the Congress of SA Students. ‒ Sapa