Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced the matric pass rate on Thursday. Photo: Supplied
As the country lauds the 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) overall pass rate of 80.1%, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the real 2022 matric pass rate is actually 54.6%, an increase from 2021’s 50.4%.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced the matric pass rate on Thursday.
Motshekga said the 80.1% matric pass rate was an improvement of 3.7% on the pass rate the Class of 2021 achieved.
While the party disputes the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) pass rate of 80.1%, they are very proud of each and every pupil that successfully completed grade 12, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Baxolile Nodada told The Citizen.
“The real 2022 matric pass rate is only 54.6%, an increase from 2021’s 50.4%. This is very concerning. We do dispute the pass rate is 80.1% because it doesn’t take into consideration the number of learners in this cohort particularly that started grade 10 but were meant to finish matric.”
“Over 337,000 have doped out of this cohort, which drops completely the matric pass rate from 80.1% to 54.6%,” he said.
Nonetheless, Nodada did congratulate the class of 2022.
“These learners had surmounted often-overwhelming challenges in the past three years to reach this milestone.”
The party calculates the real matric pass rate by bringing into account the number of learners that dropped out and never made it to matric, Nodada said.
Some learners opt out of schooling at the end of grade 9 to pursue their education through technical and vocational education and training (TVET), but a large number simply stop their education entirely, he said.
The Northern Cape had the highest dropout rate of 41.6%, followed by Free State with 40.6%, while the Western Cape had the lowest dropout rate of 27.6%, Nodada said.
“The province with the highest pass rate was the Free State. The Western Cape was the leader in distinctions with 6.2%.”
“What makes the national 45.4% fail rate and high dropout rate particularly concerning is that many of those learners contribute to the country’s staggering youth unemployment of 59.6%.”
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The DA believes that every learner deserves the best possible chance to have a bright and dignified future, Nodada said.
“The high dropout rate and the country’s poor quality of education is the first of many obstructions hindering that ideal. It is time the Minister and her Department match the hard work of the learners they are meant to provide for. Hiding behind misleading pass rates will only cause more harm.”
“Like the 2022 matriculants, the Minister can look forward to receiving her own report card on Friday,” he said.
Meanwhile, AfriForum has echoed the DA’s sentiments saying the matric results still show an alarming early “school leaving rate.”
Alana Bailey, deputy CEO of AfriForum said while the matric pass rate has been celebrated that is supposedly improving constantly, her organisation focuses on the group of pupils who never even entered to write the matric examination.
“According to the statistics in the Department of Basic Education’s report, Education statistics in South Africa 2011, 1 177 089 learners were in Grade 1 in so-called normal schools in 2011. Of these, 1 133 806 were in public schools and 43 283 in independent schools.
“In contrast, 752 003 fulltime and 168 631 parttime learners participated in the matric exams in 2022, of whom 13,525 were in independent schools,” Bailey said.
Bailey added the statistics are alarming.
“It is a serious cause for concern that 256 455 of the learners have disappeared from the system. This is an annual trend. In the first place, it proves that the lowering of pass requirements does not convince learners to continue attending school up to matric.”
“Secondly, even with matric, a large number of young people are not truly employable, due to the poor quality of education they received and these low standards that are set for learners to pass. Without a matric certificate, it will be even more difficult for them to create a sustainable future for themselves and contribute to the national economy.
“This explains why South Africa’s official youth unemployment rate at the end of 2022 was a dangerously high 59.6% ‒ a major reason for apprehension about the future social stability of the country,” she said.
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