The number of pupils who wrote the so-called “easy” subject of maths literacy jumped by 108,642 between 2020 and 2022 compared to pure maths, which increased by only 36,419.
Pupils who wrote maths literacy recorded a pass rate of 85.7% from 74.5% in 2021 while the maths results dipped from 57.6% in 2021 to 55%.
The pass rate in business studies also decreased from 80.5% to 76.7%.
According to the school subject report, the number of candidates who wrote accounting dropped by 1,096 while business studies dropped by 1,854 and economics by 1,534.
Basic education department director-general Mathanzima Mweli has expressed concern at the drop in enrolment in accounting, business studies and economics.
Presenting a technical briefing on the results on Thursday Mweli said: “If there’s any message I would like to convey to places of worship and to social gatherings, it’s for parents to encourage their children to enrol for these subjects.
“Sooner or later we will be importing CAs (chartered accountants) and economists if we do not get more and more learners enrolling for these subjects,” he said.
He said the economies of countries that are doing well are based on an education system that provides for 60% occupational and vocational education and 30% to 40% for academics.
Schools are shifting learners to maths literacy because of inadequate foundations or because it’s an easier choice
— Prof Nadine Petersen, executive dean of education faculty, University of Johannesburg
But Jonathan Jansen, distinguished professor in education at Stellenbosch University, said Mweli’s comment on importing chartered accountants was “irresponsible because the number of differentials in one year are too small to make such bald statements given the size of the cohort”.
“We need a trend analysis over several years to see whether cumulatively there is a crisis. I have not yet heard from these professions that there is a shortage of demand for jobs.”
Asked whether he felt more pupils should study commercial subjects he said he did not know but there was a time when these had been the most popular subjects at school and university level.
“One would need historical data as well as input from the professions,” he said.
Jansen said he believed universities were offering the right mix of qualifications, but added: “Whether they are broadly preparing students with the graduate attributes to be productive employees and good citizens is another matter altogether.”
Prof Nadine Petersen, executive dean of the education faculty at the University of Johannesburg, said without a real conceptual understanding “we have fewer and fewer learners able to manage maths in high school”.
“Schools are shifting learners to maths literacy because of inadequate foundations or because it’s an easier choice. There needs to be more support for maths teaching in the early years.”
Prof Chika Sehoole, dean of the education faculty at the University of Pretoria, said pupils’ performance in different subjects depended on the availability of teachers and the quality of teaching and support available.
He said universities were offering the right mix of qualifications but the question was whether the market was able to absorb the graduates.
“The only shift which I recommend to universities is that where applicable there must be more focus on entrepreneurship and job creation rather than on producing job seekers.”
Prof Vimolan Mudaly, deputy academic leader in the school of education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the number of chartered accountants and economists produced depended on the quality of passes pupils achieved.
“We will always have more CAs and economists than we need but there are certainly other vocations related to these subjects that will slowly become depleted.”
He said the drop in the maths pass rate was to be expected because there had been an error in the maths paper.
“Many learners would have spent a lot of time trying to work on a question that was incorrect and hence time wasted translates to other questions not completed,” he said.
Mudaly said the onus was on pupils to choose “the right vocational trajectory”.
Azar Jammine, chief economist at Econometrix, said the real challenge was to have enough artisans such as builders, welders, mechanics, plasterers, electricians and plumbers.
“We are obsessed with matric results without concentrating on the development of artisanal skills that are absolutely vital and in short supply in the economy,” he said.
“It’s a way people can have a decent living without being brilliant at maths and science.”
His colleague, Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group, said more emphasis needed to be placed on computer literacy and maths.
“If you do, you will produce more scientists, CAs and business science people. However, overall, the quality of South Africa’s education is really not good and we need to overhaul everything,” he said.
The class of 2022 recorded an 80.1% pass rate up from 76.4% in 2021. A total of 278,814 pupils achieved a bachelor pass.
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