The matric class of 2024 is to be congratulated for completing school despite the immense challenges introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The vast majority of the candidates who sat the national senior certificate exams last October and November had just started high school when the first Covid-19 case was identified in SA, precipitating huge disruption to their education over the following two years. There is much to celebrate in their individual achievements.
Yet there is also a great deal to worry about. The glowing headlines about the 87.26% pass rate, the highest yet recorded in democratic SA, mask a worryingly low throughput rate, which the basic education department puts at a mere 63%. The throughput rate measures the proportion of students in a cohort who complete school in the expected 12 years.
While a number of pupils leave school at the end of grade 9 (the last year of compulsory schooling) to study at further education and training colleges or quit education altogether, the main concern about a low throughput rate is that it indicates high levels of grade repetition. While some students genuinely need to repeat a year, others are deliberately held back by unscrupulous teachers and principals in order to boost the school's pass rate.
The fact that the 2024 pass rate rose about five percentage points year on year (it was 82.9% in 2023), while the throughput rate fell three percentage points (it was 66% in 2023) is thus extremely concerning. So too is the lauding of Free State, which consistently reports the highest provincial pass rate (91% last year) and either the lowest or second-lowest throughput rate (55% last year).
One of the most troubling aspects of the matric results is the continued failure of the basic education system to produce enough candidates with quality passes in the gateway subjects required for university admission to undergraduate degrees in science, maths, engineering and technology (STEM) disciplines. Graduates in these fields go on to pursue careers in industries that are vital for economic growth.
The government quite sensibly set targets in its five-year medium-term strategic framework for these matric subjects. It overshot the rather modest goal of ensuring 35,000 candidates scored 60% or higher for maths by 2024, but fell woefully short in physical science, for which just 31,345 candidates achieved 60% or above. By the department’s own admission (in its 2024 sectoral review) there are so few candidates with quality passes for maths and physical science that many universities are forced to lower their admission requirements to ensure they meet their enrolment targets.
The maths and physical science results are also a stark reminder of SA’s enduring inequality gap. Not only is there a gulf between the attainments of students at private schools compared with those at public schools, but a yawning gap endures between fee-paying schools serving relatively well-off communities and no-fee schools serving children from the poorest families. In maths, for example, the pass rate at private schools offering exams administered by the Independent Examination Board was 95.9%. But at public schools, the pass rate was just 77.1% at fee-paying schools and 65.1% at no-fee schools.
The state must close this gap. Not only does the economy need more young people with a solid grasp of maths and science, but it has a duty to ensure bright young people complete school without unnecessary restrictions on their future opportunities.
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