On Thursday, basic education minister Angie Motshekga will for the 13th consecutive year formally announce the national matric results.
The function will no doubt follow the convenient script of past such announcements. The pomp and ceremony of the day — with top achievers and brilliant individual outliers front and centre — will serve to mask the real story that repeats itself each year.
Contrived, high-level numbers, manipulated to obfuscate and evade accountability, will be released and reported on without any meaningful interrogation or analysis.
And so, the steady decline of our country’s education system will survive another year, alongside the criminally underperforming Motshekga. Here’s what minister Motshekga is not telling you.
Matric results reflect “base pass marks”, formally called the National School Higher Certificate Standard. This is the lowest common denominator and the official matric pass rate is based on this low standard.
The basis of that pass rate announcement is as follows: to get a certificate, a learner must obtain 30% in three subjects and 40% in three subjects.
The minimum mark learners must obtain to be considered to have “passed matric” is effectively 35%, aggregately. This is problematic on several fronts — practically, statistically and psychologically.
First, it is an inappropriate and unfair pass mark measure. Second, it serves to cover up the underperformance of the department of basic education (DBE). And third, it has a detrimental impact on the learners.
Let’s begin by asking what an objectively fair assessment of passing matric ought to be in a mature and competent society. Any educator will aim to transfer as close to 100% skill and knowledge to students as possible.
This is accepted throughout society. A driving instructor does not want a student to learn some measure of driving; rather that the student knows how to drive competently and safely.
Moreover, our expectations of a pilot or doctor are not that they partially know their disciplines. We demand complete knowledge and skill. While not everyone is going to acquire the ultimate level of knowledge, surely it is fair and rational to expect at least half of the knowledge.
It’s puzzling that while a pass mark for subjects at South African universities is 50% and a pass mark for matric is 50% in many other countries, there are some willing to defend a 30% pass.
Let’s be frank, three out of 10 is not a standard of competency or accomplishment.
Moreover, it ignores chance (one could get marks in multiple-choice exams by guessing) and external assistance (one could get assistance in continuous assessment projects from others).
Let’s be frank, three out of 10 is not a standard of competency or accomplishment
The expectation that a matric student who has participated in an academic programme should know at least half of the content is reasonable, considering 12 years of continuous learning. Therefore, 50% is a fair metric.
Most nefariously, a 30% pass mark is a cover-up for the poor performance of the DBE.
Accountability is key, especially for a ministry that receives more than R200bn in taxpayers’ money every year. It is a non-negotiable that education administrators are held directly responsible for the performance of the system in the same way that shareholders hold the executive of a company responsible for its performance in the market. `
Let’s use mathematics as an example. When the maths pass rate is announced on the basis of a 30% pass mark, the average pass rate over the past five years is 53.9%, according the DBE’s own diagnostics report.
On face value, it appears that more than half of all matrics pass maths. However, when using a 50% pass mark, the average pass rate over the same period falls to a meagre 21.5% — so roughly one-fifth of matrics pass maths with 50% or more. Only 6.4% achieve 70% or more and just 2.7% achieve an “A” in maths — 80% or more.
More widely, the diagnostics report shows that the overwhelming majority of students who take crucial subjects in matric pass those subjects with less than 50%.
The data shows that between 2015 and 2020, a concerningly small percentage of students who passed matric achieved 50% or higher in crucial subjects.
These are: mathematics (21.3%); physical science (27.1%); accounting (28.8%); life sciences (29.6%); economics (20.7%); and business studies (28.4). It is no wonder we have a shortage of engineers, scientists and science subject teachers as we fail to equip people to meet the market needs.
And a low pass mark has a detrimental impact on learners. Developmental psychology is clear on this: low expectations drive down excellence in achievement as a collective. The standards tell our learners that 30% and 40% are acceptable achievements.
We must set high expectations and exceed them; we must communicate to our learners that we believe in them and that we have high expectations of them.
No human being has achieved extraordinarily by aiming low. This is not how Caster Semenya became a champion athlete, it is not how Elon Musk created the most valuable car company in the world and disrupted space travel, and it is not how Steve Jobs modernised computing.
Playing small does not serve our young people, and there is no smaller ambition than announcing national academic performance on the basis of 30% and 40%.
There is no deeper systemic message of disbelief in potential than telling more than 12-million students that you expect only the bare minimum from them.
With SA at the top of the youth unemployment crisis globally, the matric pass mark requirement of 30% and 40% cannot continue a day longer.
A meagre 30% pass mark hurts our pupils, the education system, and the economy. A 30% pass mark undermines the intellect of SA’s youth.
Finally, while this single issue is an important one, we cannot ignore the overall systemic issues that need to be addressed. In the coming days I will present my vision of how we can rescue the South African education system. This is a comprehensive plan that I believe will set us on the right path for success.
We dare not falter in building an inclusive education system that prepares students for a future economy, opportunities for lifelong learning and for a career of their choice.
• Maimane is leader of the One SA Movement
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