Director-General of Basic Education Mathanzima Mweli says failure and repetition rates are higher in South Africa. He says not the same number of pupils who enter Grade 1 finish Grade 12. Over 1 million candidates participated in the end-of-year examinations, with the National Senior Certificate accounting for 78.5% of that number. He says the Class
Director-General of Basic Education Mathanzima Mweli says failure and repetition rates are higher in South Africa. He says not the same number of pupils who enter Grade 1 finish Grade 12.
Over 1 million candidates participated in the end-of-year examinations, with the National Senior Certificate accounting for 78.5% of that number.
He says the Class of 2024 was a unique class, adding that the throughput rate in South Africa has improved and is sitting at 64%.
The throughput rate is defined as the rate at which a student cohort successfully completes a qualification within the stipulated timeframe for that qualification.
Mweli acknowledges that more can be done to keep learners from dropping out of the schooling system.
The Department of Basic Education gives a technical briefing ahead of the 2024 Matric Results:
Decline in key subject choices
During a technical briefing, Mweli highlights the DBE’s concern over fewer matric learners selecting subjects like Mathematics, Sciences, Economics, and Accounting.
Last year, 255 762 learners enroled in pure maths, a decrease of more than 12 300 learners compared to the Class of 2023. Physical sciences saw a drop of more than 6 900 learners, while Life Sciences saw a drop of more than 5 800 learners compared to the previous year.
Mweli stresses, “Enrolment per subjects, we are concerned about BCM subjects. BCM subjects are business studies, accounting, and economics, we are equally concerned about the enrolment in mathematics. When we briefed the president yesterday, he raised a red flag around this and he gave us very clear instructions as to what is it that we need to do to grow these numbers in the subjects that are experiencing a geometric decline.”
IEB
The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) achieves an overall pass rate of 98.47% in the 2024 matric exam. This is the highest pass rate recorded in the past five years.
All candidates, who successfully completed the 2024 IEB matric exams, obtained a pass that qualifies them for tertiary study.
At SAHETI school, east of Johannesburg, there were tears of joy for many matric learners as the results were announced.
SAHETI achieves 285 distinctions, with top achiever Jason Barbis excelling across 9 subjects with a remarkable 98% average.
Barbis says these are the results he was aiming for. “I was aiming for 9 distinctions – the 98. I was aiming as high as I possibly could for that. I have been top throughout high school but it’s something I had to maintain. I’m thinking of going to UCT to do a maths degree. Maybe Actuarial or applied maths.”
Online education
Meanwhile, online education provider Brainline has seen an increase in matric pass rates for the Class of 2024. Their matric results increased from 88.2% in 2023 to 88.8% in 2024.
Original Story by www.sabcnews.com
