As the country lauds the 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) overall pass rate of 80.1%, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the real 2022 matric pass rate is actually 54.6%, an increase from 2021’s 50.4%.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced the matric pass rate on Thursday.
Motshekga said the 80.1% matric pass rate was an improvement of 3.7% on the pass rate the Class of 2021 achieved.
‘Real matric pass rate’
While the party disputes the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) pass rate of 80.1%, they are very proud of each and every pupil that successfully completed grade 12, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Baxolile Nodada told The Citizen.
“The real 2022 matric pass rate is only 54.6%, an increase from 2021’s 50.4%. This is very concerning. We do dispute the pass rate is 80.1% because it doesn’t take into consideration the number of learners in this cohort particularly that started grade 10 but were meant to finish matric.”
“Over 337,000 have doped out of this cohort, which drops completely the matric pass rate from 80.1% to 54.6%,” he said.
Nonetheless, Nodada did congratulate the class of 2022.
“These learners had surmounted often-overwhelming challenges in the past three years to reach this milestone.”
Dropout rate
The party calculates the real matric pass rate by bringing into account the number of learners that dropped out and never made it to matric, Nodada said.
Some learners opt out of schooling at the end of grade 9 to pursue their education through technical and vocational education and training (TVET), but a large number simply stop their education entirely, he said.
The Northern Cape had the highest dropout rate of 41.6%, followed by Free State with 40.6%, while the Western Cape had the lowest dropout rate of 27.6%, Nodada said.
“The province with the highest pass rate was the Free State. The Western Cape was the leader in distinctions with 6.2%.”
“What makes the national 45.4% fail rate and high dropout rate particularly concerning is that many of those learners contribute to the country’s staggering youth unemployment of 59.6%.”
Listen to the comment by DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Baxolile Nodada
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Bright futures
The DA believes that every learner deserves the best possible chance to have a bright and dignified future, Nodada said.
“The high dropout rate and the country’s poor quality of education is the first of many obstructions hindering that ideal. It is time the Minister and her Department match the hard work of the learners they are meant to provide for. Hiding behind misleading pass rates will only cause more harm.”
“Like the 2022 matriculants, the Minister can look forward to receiving her own report card on Friday,” he said.
ALSO READ: Matric class of 2022 a unique group ‘unacquainted with the concept of failure’
