A lower matric pass rate disappoints many, but Minister Kader Asmal remains upbeat
JULIA GREY reports
WHILE education departments can boast of an almost glitch-free examination process, the national results of the matric exam are hardly cause for celebration.
Once again, only one out of every two candidates passed the matric exam. The national average dipped slightly to 48,9% from last year’s 49,3%.
Minister of Education Kader Asmal commented that the results were cause for ”sober reflection” rather than disappointment. The marginal drop in the pass rate from last year is evidence that the ”overall national performance has stabilised”, says Asmal, providing a foundation for better results in the future. A target of a 5% improvement has been set for this year.
But Asmal’s upbeat interpretation of the results was not shared by teacher unions. The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation has called for an urgent investigation into the ”poor” matric results, while the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union pointed out that the results continued to reflect the apartheid legacy, with the lowest pass rates coming from the provinces that are predominately black and rural.
Only three provinces had improved results: Gauteng, with 57%, up on last year by 1,4%; KwaZulu-Natal, a 0,4% increase to 50,7%; and the Northern Province, which improved on last year’s 35,2% by 2,3% — but it still remains the worst performing province.
Rapule Matsane, representative from the Northern Province Department of Education, explains the province’s results as a direct consequence of conditions created by apartheid. He further points out that the under-resourced department, which spends far less on each child relative to provinces like Gauteng, has the added disadvantage of having the most candidates of any province — a whopping 104 000 wrote matric this year.
Matsane suggests that ”we need to declare the Northern Province an education disaster”, in the hope that this will inspire intervention from the national Department of Education.
However, all is not lost for this struggling province: the Northern Province has recorded improved results for the last three years. While in 1997 the pass rate was a miserable 31,9%, it has bettered that by over 5% this time around.
But it’s going to be a long haul to turn things around. Matsane estimates it will take another 15 years before the Northern Province is able to compete with other provinces, like top performer Western Cape, which posted a 78,8% pass rate, only 0,2% down from last year.
Another province with a major task on its hands is the Eastern Cape, whose results dropped the most from last year’s — from 45,1% to 40,2%. Close on its heels was Mpumalanga, dropping by 4,4% to 48,3%, and the Free State, which went from last year’s 43,4% to 42,1%.
The North-West province also dropped significantly by 2,5%, but managed to stay above the national average at 52,1%. And despite a slightly lower pass rate in the Northern Cape, the province’s pass rate of 64,3% puts it at the second highest in the country.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, January 6, 2000.
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