Private schools writing IEB exams obtained a 98.82% pass rate, a fractional decrease from last year

Long-standing feuds between adults are playing out at schools, with the violence forcing them to be closed for long periods

Poor schools are getting better results and the top 10 districts hail from just two provinces

Poor results are linked to areas with high crime rates but some Gauteng schools show that this can be countered.

Though well intended, the plan’s focus should be on primary schools, say its critics.

The department of education insists this is not a bid to ‘massage’ or obscure matters but to better measure results.

Nearly a million pupils should have written matric in 2014, yet only about half got that far.

The national and provincial education departments to focus all their energies on assisting pupils in the crucial foundation phase.

Progressing learners through grade 11 won’t solve education’s plight – improved leadership, teaching ability and accountability are also crucial.

Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande has defended the low matric pass requirement, saying SA is becoming "dangerously elitist".

Hidden away in Limpopo, parents and pupils are queuing up at two schools – and for good reason.

There are other factors to consider before we celebrate the ‘improved’ quality of our schooling.

Education experts say that the 2011 matric results show a worrying trend of high attrition at school level and low performance in critical subjects.

Specialists are divided on the question of whether so unexpected and so huge an improvement in the matric pass rate is both believable and reliable.