The drop in matric passes at higher-grade level poses a serious dilemma for the Department of Education, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday.
The finding by the education quality assurance council, Umalusi, that the rising matric pass rate could be attributed mainly to the growth in the number of pupils opting to write standard-grade exams raises major concerns for the reform of the senior-certificate system, the DA said.
The Department of Education has announced its intention to introduce a single senior-certificate examination and scrap the current distinction between the standard and higher grade.
DA education spokesperson Helen Zille said the findings suggest that if a single examination is introduced in the current context, two major risks arise:
If the examination is of a high standard required by tertiary institutions, a large number of pupils who could have passed standard grade, are almost certain to fail; and
If the examination is designed to maintain the current higher pass rates, its standard will have to drop from the current level of the higher grade, resulting in a serious loss of credibility and value of the senior-certificate examination.
Minister of Education Naledi Pandor should focus on this issue and avoid, at all costs, a policy that further undermines the credibility of the only national benchmark in the current school system, she said.
”We must maintain the high quality that exists in parts of our public school system, and focus policy interventions on improving quality where it still falls short for hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged students.
”Only in this way can a single school-exit examination be of the high standard South Africa requires in the global knowledge economy, while offering a fair and equitable opportunity to all learners,” Zille said. — Sapa