Nearly a million pupils should have written matric in 2014, yet only about half got that far.
Some experts say there is too much focus on learners’ final exam results. UCT associate professor Alan Cliff puts the latest results into context.
Suspicion about cheating has been widespread, particularly among part-time pupils, but little appears to have been done to deal with it.
As the 2014 matric examinations approach, education quality council Umalusi has said it is ‘satisfied’ with the quality of exam paper markers.
The basic education department proposes to reinstate an outdated qualification that is useless to pupils.
Despite the concrete and multiple improvements in the quality of education, it boils down to how much confidence the public has in state schooling.
Although the matric exams are an important institution in South Africa, they should not be used as the primary indicator of school-system performance.
University of Free State vice chancellor Jonathan Jansen said the results of the Grade 12 national senior certificate are "grossly misleading".
Drama pupils offended by a question relating to baby rape in a matric exam paper were unprepared, say examination authorities.
Basic education is looking at excluding a baby rape question from a matric exam paper after it caused an uproar with teachers, pupils and parents.
The department of education should insist that matric markers are properly qualified.
Research reveals that poor language and maths education in SA is failing hundreds of thousands of pupils.
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Umalusi says it is concerned about the running of matric exams in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, where departments are under administration.
The first bad thing about the 2012 matric results is that 35% of the pupils failed completely.
There is no crisis in the quality of education in Gauteng and South Africa, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has said.
A total of 98.2% of students who wrote the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations under the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) have passed.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union has indicated that knives would soon be out for department of basic education’s Bobby Soobrayan.
Despite recent protests, floods and textbook delivery problems, more than 500 000 pupils sat for their first matric exam on Monday.
Northern Cape matrics, barred from their schools earlier this year, have been forced to relocate to a remote hostel, but there is a silver lining.
Despite all the odds being stacked against me, I managed to grow into a shining star, says a learner from Gauteng.
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/ 13 January 2012
FET colleges need vast improvements if they are going to compete with universities, experts say.
After a fatal stampede in Johannesburg, questions are being raised about why late applicants in Gauteng target UJ and not other universities.
Inspiring, scary or simply dangerous are some of the views on publishing matric exam results.
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/ 22 November 2011
Eastern Cape matrics are safe from a teachers’ strike for now but tensions remain high as Sadtu takes the department of education to court.
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/ 15 November 2011
About 53 000 Eastern Cape teachers have moved closer to striking as their union talks tough, setting Friday as the deadline for government to respond.
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/ 11 November 2011
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union could not guarantee that a strike by 53 000 teachers would not disrupt matric exams.
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/ 4 November 2011
A new textbook for education students aims to ground them in the literacies of the academy.
The increase in part-time matric students is definitely not an attempt to massage annual matric pass rates, the department of basic education insists.
Umalusi aims to implement new options for adults.
The department of basic education is not ready to hand over the complete running of the matric exams to the Mpumalanga department of education.
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/ 23 February 2011
Startling findings emerged when the state’s quality watchdog Umalusi revealed details about its controversial "standardisation" of the matric exams.