Matric results: South Africa’s record school pass rates aren’t what they seem – what’s really happening in the education system
SOUTH Africa’s matric (grade 12) class of 2023, which wrote final school-leaving exams late last year, has been hailed by the country’s minister of basic education for achieving “extraordinary” results. Of the 691,160 candidates who wrote the National Senior Certificate exams, 82.9% – that’s 572,983 – passed, up from 80.1% of the class of 2022. And more candidates than ever before obtained marks that allow them to study for a bachelor’s degree. MICHAEL LE CORDEUR, Professor and Vice-dean Teaching and Learning, Education Faculty, Stellenbosch University All of the country’s nine provinces managed to improve on their 2022 pass rates. This…