South Africa celebrated a historic achievement this year with a matric pass rate of 87,3%. Markedly, this was the highest pass rate in three decades. While this is cause for celebration, a closer look reveals a deeply concerning reality: almost half of the learners who were in Grade 10 two years ago did not pass matric.
Huge concern over education system
The thousands of 2022 Grade 10 learners not sitting for matric exams in 2024, indicate a concerning issue within the education system. Despite an overall improvement in matric pass rates, a significant portion of learners are still falling through the cracks.
These learners, say experts, will probably leave the school system without matric and become part of South Africa’s high unemployment rate. According to Maroela Media, 36% (almost 400 000) of learners who were in Grade 10 in 2022, dropped out just before they could sit for the final matric exams. Additionally, almost 90 000 of 2022’s Grade 10s who did write matric failed. Together, these figures reveal that 46% of learners who were in Grade 10 two years ago did not pass matric.
Dropout rate adding to unemployment
Melanie Buys, Head of Development at Solidarity School Support Centre, said that the reality is that most of these learners will also not pass matric later. Subsequently, they will most likely become part of the many unemployed youth in the country. Currently, unemployment among the youth is more than 45%. Buys stated that it is often the case that learners who do not do well in Grade 11 are deliberately prevented from writing the matric exams so that a better pass rate can be achieved.
What is the Department of Education saying about dropout rate?
In an attempt to explain the high dropout rate, the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, referred to learners who leave high school to attend an FET-college instead.
However, Dr Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of South African School Governing Bodies (Fedsas), said that this number is very small – it accounts for only about 25 000 learners.
Deacon believes that a major cause of the high dropout rate is heads of education departments and schools that place too much emphasis on a 100% pass rate and consequently push out learners who are not academically strong out of the education system.
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