The 2024 matric results to be released on January 13 will be scrutinised for signs of improvement in performance in maths and physical science, two critical gateway subjects for university admission.
Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) graduates are likelier to find employment than those with humanities degrees, and the industries they find work in are important drivers of the economy. For this reason, the government’s medium-term strategy framework sets targets for the number of matric candidates achieving at least 60% for maths and science, rather than goals for the percentage who pass matric.
Universities would like candidates to get at least 60% in maths and science to pursue degrees in STEM disciplines, but some have had to lower their standards to fill places. That ramps up pressure on academic staff to help new students who lack the foundation needed.
“Universities are scraping around for people,” says Martin Gustafsson, an associate professor at the University of Stellenbosch, who has worked extensively with the department of basic education.
The number of matric candidates attaining 60% or more for maths rose to 41,273 in 2023 from 23,796 four years earlier. But they remain a small fraction of the more than 900,000 who wrote the exams. Only about 3,000 candidates managed to score above 80% for maths, he says.
SA’s poor performance in the 2023 Trends in International Maths and Science Study highlights deep problems in the education system. Local grade 5s ranked last among participating countries, and scores slid in every category except grade 9 maths, which saw the average score improve to 397 out of a possible 1,000 compared with 389 in 2019. Gustafsson says this seemingly modest improvement is on a par with other developing countries.
“I’ve looked at international trends, and ... unless you have divine intervention this is how fast school systems improve,” he says. “We are on a par now with Morocco and Botswana, and that wasn’t true 20 years ago.”
Servaas van der Berg, director of research in social and economic policy unit at the University of Stellenbosch, says the problem with the education system extends beyond its failure to produce sufficient matriculants who perform well in maths and science. He questions whether those who meet university admission requirements are suitably prepared for the demands of tertiary education.
The majority of the class of 2024 started high school (grade 8) in 2020, the year the coronavirus struck. The government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, which included intermittent school closures and rotational learning, caused extensive and enduring learning losses.
Research in the Western Cape, based on annual systemic tests it administers in grades 3, 6 and 9, shows the system has not yet recovered fully, Van der Berg says.
The education department introduced more lenient requirements for grade promotion during the pandemic, including assessing learners only on content they had covered rather than the full curriculum. In maths, the usual promotion requirement of 40% was dropped. The policy change accelerated the flow of learners through the grades despite learning losses, and led to an unprecedented increase in the number of students writing matric and attaining a bachelor’s pass and university entrance.
That the matric pass rate did not drop despite the learning losses suggests teachers in grade 12 focused on getting students to pass exams rather than ensuring they are equipped for the demands of university, says Van der Berg.
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