Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle has called for a probe into the province’s failure to reach a 70% matric pass rate.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Monday announced that the province was at the bottom of the national class yet again after only managing a 65.4% pass rate.
This is a slight uptick compared with 64.9% in 2013 but the education department has for three years failed to reach its 70% target.
Despite the slight increase in the 2014 results, Masualle wants answers from education bosses on the dismal performance and how to turn the situation around.
“Setting a target must not be a joke. We must mean it. In that area, the department must do very serious introspection,” said Masualle.
“I want a convincing report that says what made us not reach the target and what measures are put to ensure that we meet it.
“The people of the province will be satisfied with answers – not just answers that do not carry any weight as sometimes we do when we want a report.”
The premier warned that it was a serious matter and the report must not be compiled by a junior official.
Masualle was speaking at a media briefing at the East London Education Institute in Stirling yesterday where the province’s 2014 matric results were unpacked.
His comments came after education MEC Mandla Makupula downplayed the Eastern Cape’s failure to reach the 70% target.
Makupula said the department had been marred with instability for years, with more than nine MECs and countless heads of department at its helm since 1994.
“In the Eastern Cape, we have a challenge of playing the player, not the ball. I am not saying this because you retained me, premier,” Makupula said to Masualle.
Education authorities conceded that matric drop-outs continued to be a problem, stating that of the 69294 full-time candidates registered, only 66923 wrote final exams – a loss of more than 2000 pupils.
The premier said Makupula should also deal with the problem of small, unviable schools, which painted the wrong picture of a 100% pass rate, for instance in some schools there was only one pupil registered.
Acting education HoD Ray Tywakadi said dropouts were a national concern, with reasons differing from district to district.
“Learner registration for matric really starts in Grade 10 and this is where the carnage in the system can be traced to because this is where they are tracked with the school-based assessments. We lose a portion in Grade 10 and Grade 11, and the smallest portion in Grade 12.
“One of the things that hit us very hard is that after the initiation period in June, many of them fail to get back to school. For some its because of sickness, amongst other cases.”
He said there were huge dropout numbers between grades 1 and 12.
Announcing the results per districts, Makupula said:
lThe worst-performing districts included Mount Frere with 55.1%, Fort Beaufort with 56.9% and Butterworth with 57.1%. Maluti had the biggest decrease – from 70.4% 61.7%;
lThe three most improved districts were Qumbu with 75%, Grahamstown with 71.9% and Cradock with an increase from 73.5% in 2013 to 82.3% in 2014; and
lThe three best performing districts were Cradock with 82.3%, Uitenhage with 75.5% and Qumbu with 75%.
Premier demands answers
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Monday announced that the province was at the bottom of the national class yet again after only managing a 65.4% pass rate.
This is a slight uptick compared with 64.9% in 2013 but the education department has for three years failed to reach its 70% target.
Despite the slight increase in the 2014 results, Masualle wants answers from education bosses on the dismal performance and how to turn the situation around.
“Setting a target must not be a joke. We must mean it. In that area, the department must do very serious introspection,” said Masualle.
“I want a convincing report that says what made us not reach the target and what measures are put to ensure that we meet it.
“The people of the province will be satisfied with answers – not just answers that do not carry any weight as sometimes we do when we want a report.”
The premier warned that it was a serious matter and the report must not be compiled by a junior official.
Masualle was speaking at a media briefing at the East London Education Institute in Stirling yesterday where the province’s 2014 matric results were unpacked.
His comments came after education MEC Mandla Makupula downplayed the Eastern Cape’s failure to reach the 70% target.
Makupula said the department had been marred with instability for years, with more than nine MECs and countless heads of department at its helm since 1994.
“In the Eastern Cape, we have a challenge of playing the player, not the ball. I am not saying this because you retained me, premier,” Makupula said to Masualle.
Education authorities conceded that matric drop-outs continued to be a problem, stating that of the 69294 full-time candidates registered, only 66923 wrote final exams – a loss of more than 2000 pupils.
The premier said Makupula should also deal with the problem of small, unviable schools, which painted the wrong picture of a 100% pass rate, for instance in some schools there was only one pupil registered.
Acting education HoD Ray Tywakadi said dropouts were a national concern, with reasons differing from district to district.
“Learner registration for matric really starts in Grade 10 and this is where the carnage in the system can be traced to because this is where they are tracked with the school-based assessments. We lose a portion in Grade 10 and Grade 11, and the smallest portion in Grade 12.
“One of the things that hit us very hard is that after the initiation period in June, many of them fail to get back to school. For some its because of sickness, amongst other cases.”
He said there were huge dropout numbers between grades 1 and 12.
Announcing the results per districts, Makupula said:
lThe worst-performing districts included Mount Frere with 55.1%, Fort Beaufort with 56.9% and Butterworth with 57.1%. Maluti had the biggest decrease – from 70.4% 61.7%;
lThe three most improved districts were Qumbu with 75%, Grahamstown with 71.9% and Cradock with an increase from 73.5% in 2013 to 82.3% in 2014; and
lThe three best performing districts were Cradock with 82.3%, Uitenhage with 75.5% and Qumbu with 75%.
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