Education Minister Naledi Pandor was disappointed on Thursday at the 68,3% pass rate recorded by the 2005 matric class.
”I’m not satisfied,” she told a media briefing in Cape Town where the figure was announced. ”How can anyone be satisfied when more than 30% of our children are failing? Surely you can’t have that. I’m not happy.”
However, she said that given the standard of this year’s exam papers, plus the quality assurance report by overseeing body Umalusi, and the fact that cognitively the bar was being set much higher, those who had passed had performed well, and should be congratulated.
”I can’t be saying to young people, you achieved 68%, bad on you. I hope and intend to continue working for better,” she said.
The 2005 figure — which is for both state and independent schools, as well as candidates who wrote part-time, including an 84-year old man from Gauteng — is down on the 2004 figure of 70,7%, itself down on 2003’s 73,3%.
Unlike last year when irregularities in Mpumalanga marred the end-of-year results, the 2005 matric examinations were declared credible, fair and reliable.
”This year there has been an exceptionally good management of these examinations and there have been no leakages or any other kind of incident which would suggest compromising the integrity of the examinations,” education director-general Duncan Hindle said in a briefing at Parliament on Thursday.
This year, a national examination irregularities committee was established to set guidelines in dealing with irregularities.
With better monitoring, incidents that were reported were better managed.
”In every case those irregularities [reported by provincial education departments] have been effectively dealt with and the necessary actions have been taken,” Hindle said.
In some instances, sanctions were applied to learners who were caught with crib notes, and officials for administrative errors.
He said while some of the incidents could be construed as fraud, others were beyond the department’s control.
Two of them involved the weather, with heavy rains in one case preventing scholars in Idutywa, Eastern Cape, from receiving their papers timeously.
In Gauteng and the Northern Cape, bomb threats were received at exam venues, ”no doubt” from learners who did not feel adequately prepared and hoped for postponement, suggested Hindle.
The total number of pupils who passed increased from 305 774 last year to 347 184 in 2005, with the number of passes with endorsement increasing over the same period from 85 117 to 86 531.
A total of 533 364 full-time candidates enrolled for the senior certificate examination compared to 494 296 last year, while part-time enrolment was constant at 201 721.
The number of female candidates had increased from 247 159 in 2001 to 275 251 this year. Overall, girls represented 54,1% of all scholars who wrote the examination.
”There has not only been an increase in the participation, but an increase in the pass rate of the girls over the years. Since 2001, the percentage of girls passing has increased from 60,1% nationally to 67,2%,” a report on the examination results showed.
In mathematics, 51,9% of girls passed in 2004 passed, and 51% in 2005. In physical science, 73,1% of girls passed in 2004 and 69,8% in 2005.
Comparing national passes on gender, females consistently outstripped the males.
The total number of girls who passed was 184 857 against 162 327 boys, 45 028 of the girls with endorsement, against 41 505 boys.
However, more girls failed (90 283) than boys (70 714) during
2005.
The oldest candidate to write was Thimhamba Chauke (84) of Gauteng.
A total of 1 456 question papers were set by a panel of 1 056 examiners and moderated by 554 internal moderators.
Hindle said the overall numbers who wrote the examination increased by 59 000 learners between 2001 and 2005.
Encouragingly, the numbers writing Mathematics HG and Physical Science HG, increased by 3 949 and 6 055 respectively.
Earlier, the National Professional Teachers’ Union (Naptosa) expressed displeasure with the national pass rate, which it said marked a 2,4% drop on last year’s figure of 70,7%. – Sapa