Education experts have lambasted schools that artificially inflate their matric results by deliberately failing or “culling” weaker pupils in grades 10 and 11.
This comes as most grade 12 pupils start writing their national senior certificate (NSC) exams tomorrow.
A total of 921,879 pupils, 753,964 full-time and 167,915 part-time, registered to write the exams at 6,307 schools and 578 independent centres.
While the Free State was declared the top performing province over the past three years, the number of pupils it retained in matric this year from its grade 10 cohort in 2020 is the lowest in the country.
Only 63.8%, or 37,969 pupils out of 59,517, who were in grade 10 made it to matric this year, while the rest either failed and are still in the system or dropped out of school.
Nationally, just over 20% of pupils who were in grade 10 in 2020 failed to enter matric this year, according to figures released by the basic education department this week.
Jonathan Jansen, a distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University, said “culling” is one of the most effective ways to dramatically improve matric results in the short term by holding back or ejecting students from the school in grades 10 and 11.
“The grade 9 exit certificate being planned for 2025 and the streaming of students into occupational and vocational options, away from the academic stream, is another way of artificially inflating the grade 12 results.”
He said the political pressure to put a positive spin on the final results is relentless, “as Umalusi officials will tell, even at the point of reviewing the raw data after the NSC examinations”.
“This is why students who do enter university fail and flounder in the first year.” Those who persevered often required one or two extra years to complete a three-year degree.
Jansen said the the marketplace, where youth unemployment remained “staggeringly high”, was not fooled by glowing matric marks.
His colleague Nic Spaull, an associate professor in economics at Stellenbosch University, said there were huge differences between provinces in their grade 10 enrolment in 2020 and grade 12 figures in 2022.
“Some provinces practise informal ‘gatekeeping’ ... preventing weaker learners proceeding to higher grades through repetition and then dropout.
Until we stop the unnecessary and unhelpful fanfare around the matric results, as if it is a TV show, we won't be able to get to the core issues
— Nic Spaull, associate professor in economics at Stellenbosch University
“The greater the gatekeeping, the higher the matric pass rate. The Free State is especially problematic. It was lauded as the province with the highest matric pass rate in 2021, yet also has the greatest prevalence of gatekeeping or culling.
“Until we stop the unnecessary and unhelpful fanfare around the matric results, as if it is a TV show, we won't be able to get to the core issues, like the fact that 80% of grade 4 kids can't read for meaning,” said Spaull.
Professor Mary Metcalfe, a senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg, said the “overemphasis on the competition between provinces is a serious distortion of the many factors that make up the quality of education”.
“It may well lend itself to practices which are focused much more on the provincial pass mark than building a solid education basis for all learners through primary school and in the first years of secondary school.
“I would love to see less emphasis on the winning province and less competition between the MECs to be the winning province.”
Professor Chika Sehoole, dean of the education faculty at the University of Pretoria, said it was “concerning” that the Free State dropped 36.2% of pupils in two years.
“One can only suspect this is not a natural attrition but could be engineered to make the results of the province look good. Some schools nationally could be engaging in gatekeeping and this is not only an initiative of the principal but it is done at the behest of circuit and district officials.”
Sylvan Blignaut, a professor in the postgraduate studies department at Nelson Mandela University, said: “It is sad that the system has become so examination-driven with this focus on high-stakes exams. Certain prestigious schools are also known for gatekeeping to boost their matric pass rates.”
Western Cape education MEC David Maynier said: “The purpose of the matric exams is not to give a province bragging rights. We want to do everything we possibly can to support our learners to start their careers or further studies with a high-quality qualification.”
Free State education department spokesperson Howard Ndaba did not respond to queries.
National education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said provinces “operate under different circumstances, each with their own dynamics”.
“It is for this reason the department has sought to explore other performance indicators that are inclusive when considering the overall performance of a province. The department is working on it.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.