Politicians doubt the matric class of 2015 will achieve a 70% pass rate amid revelations of poor national performance.
Umalusi, the body responsible for quality assurance in the education system, announced at a media briefing in Pretoria yesterday that this year’s matriculants had performed more poorly than the class of 2014.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will officially announce the results on January 5.
Umalusi council chairman Professor John Volmink said the poor performance of “progressed” pupils – those who were sent from Grade 11 to 12 although they had not passed – had impacted on the results.
In the Eastern Cape, the number of condoned pupils was about 13000 of the 93115 candidates who wrote.
Volmink said other factors also played a role. This included tough papers, improved marking and increased vigilance.
Provincial education portfolio committee chairman Fundile Gadi said he was concerned about the high number of progressed pupils in the province.
“However, I think we will be able to maintain the 65% pass rate we had in 2014.”
DA MPL Edmund van Vuuren said: “I don’t want to sound pessimistic but I don’t see us getting above 70% – maybe 65%, especially if those progressed learners are with the full-time candidates.”
United Democratic Movement MPL Thando Mpulu said the number of progressed pupils was high.
“There is no way that we can perform better than last year. The department has been saying we will get 75% but that baseline is flawed because there were no systems to support progressed learners.”
He also said there were no teachers for critical subjects at some schools.
Independent education expert Graeme Bloch said he hoped there would be an increase in the pass rate in the Eastern Cape.
Volmink said it was clear that the 2015 class had “departed quite significantly” from the average historical pupil performance profile.
“Together with the DBE , we are in the process of identifying the possible causal factors that led to this performance…”
He said their analysis was based on the raw scores of the 2015 results, which demonstrated that the performance of progressed pupils accounted for an increase in the failure rate of at most 3.5%.
“In most of the high-enrolment subjects the increased failure rate compared to 2014 exceeds 3.5%. In other words, if we exclude the progressed learners, the class of 2015 still performed worse than the class of 2014. The drop in performance is particularly pronounced in accounting, geography, history and mathematical literacy.
“The conclusion is that while the performance of the progressed learners has led to an increase in the failure rate in 2015, it does not fully explain the drop in performance.” — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
Increase in matric pass rate unlikely
Umalusi, the body responsible for quality assurance in the education system, announced at a media briefing in Pretoria yesterday that this year’s matriculants had performed more poorly than the class of 2014.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will officially announce the results on January 5.
Umalusi council chairman Professor John Volmink said the poor performance of “progressed” pupils – those who were sent from Grade 11 to 12 although they had not passed – had impacted on the results.
In the Eastern Cape, the number of condoned pupils was about 13000 of the 93115 candidates who wrote.
Volmink said other factors also played a role. This included tough papers, improved marking and increased vigilance.
Provincial education portfolio committee chairman Fundile Gadi said he was concerned about the high number of progressed pupils in the province.
“However, I think we will be able to maintain the 65% pass rate we had in 2014.”
DA MPL Edmund van Vuuren said: “I don’t want to sound pessimistic but I don’t see us getting above 70% – maybe 65%, especially if those progressed learners are with the full-time candidates.”
United Democratic Movement MPL Thando Mpulu said the number of progressed pupils was high.
“There is no way that we can perform better than last year. The department has been saying we will get 75% but that baseline is flawed because there were no systems to support progressed learners.”
He also said there were no teachers for critical subjects at some schools.
Independent education expert Graeme Bloch said he hoped there would be an increase in the pass rate in the Eastern Cape.
Volmink said it was clear that the 2015 class had “departed quite significantly” from the average historical pupil performance profile.
“Together with the DBE , we are in the process of identifying the possible causal factors that led to this performance…”
He said their analysis was based on the raw scores of the 2015 results, which demonstrated that the performance of progressed pupils accounted for an increase in the failure rate of at most 3.5%.
“In most of the high-enrolment subjects the increased failure rate compared to 2014 exceeds 3.5%. In other words, if we exclude the progressed learners, the class of 2015 still performed worse than the class of 2014. The drop in performance is particularly pronounced in accounting, geography, history and mathematical literacy.
“The conclusion is that while the performance of the progressed learners has led to an increase in the failure rate in 2015, it does not fully explain the drop in performance.” — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
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