By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Department of Basic Education Director-General Hubert Mathanzima Mweli said during the technical briefing that the country had never appeared this healthy in the history of education.
Mweli hosted a technical briefing ahead of the 2024 matric results announcement on Monday evening.
“We have never experienced this in our lifetime. Out of 75 districts, 73 had a pass of 80% and above. The lowest-performing district obtained 78%,” he said.
Mweli said the class of 2024 was unique and cautioned about comparing this class with previous classes because it had not been exactly the same experience. He said bachelor passes had been on an uninterrupted upward trajectory since 2014. The class of 2024 obtained 47.8% bachelor’s, an increase from last year’s 40.9%.
The class of 2024 received extraordinary learner support programmes, he said, and there had been an increase in the number of learners who benefited from extra tuition. Mweli said the learner support programmes inherited the systems which had been developed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“They received extraordinary and unprecedented learner support programmes. They benefited from what was developed from those who went to school in Grade 12 at the height of Covid-19 in 2020, where we continue to plug in the gaps that they experienced as a result of the disruptions during Covid,” he said.
Mweli said there had been an improvement in the throughput rate and cautioned that the pass rate was not the same as throughput. A pass rate is the number of learners who have been successful in a particular exam, while throughput rate is the number of learners who enter the system against the number of learners who exit the system. A total of 1.2 million pupils enrolled in Grade 1 in 2013, and 740,876 came through to Grade 12.
Concerns
The South African throughput rate stands at 64%, which Mweli says is a healthy figure because middle-income countries are expected to be around 60%.
“While we acknowledge that more can be done to keep learners from falling out of the schooling system, that is not our major problem. Our major problem is the failure and repetition rate. It is too high compared to other countries. We’re looking to improve our throughput rate even further, but we appreciate that there is a geometric improvement,” he said.
The department is concerned about BSM subjects – business studies, accounting and economics. The department is equally concerned about the enrolment in mathematics, which saw a decline of 12,000, the highest in recent years.
Mweli said President Cyril Ramaphosa had given the department a clear instruction to find ways to improve enrolment in technical subjects and maths.
“We need more plumbers. We need more electricians to come and create jobs … as a country, this is the direction that we should go, “he said.
Gaps between schools decreasing
Mweli said the gap was closing between fee-paying schools and no-fee schools, with 85.8% of pupils in no-fee schools passing and a 90.3% pass rate in fee-paying schools.
In 52 subjects, candidates’ raw marks were accepted. In 13 subjects, marks were adjusted downwards and in two subjects, marks were adjusted upwards.
“Standardisation is important for the health of the system to create that balance. At times, papers can become too difficult, sometimes they become too easy, and so that’s the reality, that’s what standardisation is about. We sometimes don’t like the outcomes, but we respect them because the final decision is for quality assurance,” said Mweli.
Mweli said the Western Cape achieved the highest pass rate in mathematics, at 78%, followed by North West at 73.9%, and the Free State at 73.2%.
He said Limpopo led the pack in mathematics participation with 44.1%, followed by the Eastern Cape at 42.9% and Mpumalanga at 40.7%.