The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2018 | 页面 3
COMMENT
Does SA have passable education?
W
Kim Kemp - editor
[email protected]
ho remembers when achieving
six distinctions in matric was,
well — distinctive?
By the matric results published in January
2018, this now appears old hat; but do not
be fooled. Back in circa 1990s, the pass for
any subject was 50% and that included maths
and science, whereas now, the percentage for
many subjects has plummeted to 30% and
dropped even further for maths, to 20% as
from January 2017.
Pushing students through the
machinations of the educational system
does not bode well for the country, given
the paucity of skills within a medley of
sectors, including engineering.
South Africa’s Minister of Basic Education
Angie Motshekga announced that the
National Senior Certificate (NSC)
examination pass rate in 2017, including
progressed learners, stood at 75.1%. Within
this nestled a total of 161 081 distinctions,
including in key subjects, such as accounting,
business studies, economics, mathematics,
and physical science.
In response, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of
Basic Education, Nomsa Marchesi, criticised
the results for not being a true reflection of
the ‘real’ pass rate, drawing attention to how
many Grade 10s from two years ago have
passed matric — and the unacceptably high
figure of dropouts.
“The 2017 national matric pass rate for
candidates who wrote the exams was 75.1%,
while the ‘real’ pass rate — the number of
Grade 10s from 2015 who passed matric in
2017 — was only 37.3%,” Marchesi added.
Marchesi also referenced the recent
Progress in International Reading Literacy
Studies (PIRLS) 2016 study, which saw
South Africa placed last in Grade 4 reading
skills out of 50 countries. The study revealed
that 78% of South African Grade 4 pupils
are illiterate.
The question begging is, how eager
would business be to take on a graduate
who skimmed through a course riding on
a 30% pass?
While it is true that to pass matric,
students need to achieve 30% in some
subjects, this requirement does not apply
to all subjects and will not guarantee entry
into a public university.
According to the Department of Basic
Education’s website [www.education.gov.
za/Curriculum/NationalSeniorCertificate
(NSC)], a matric pass requires 40% in three
subjects, one of which is an official language
at home language level, and 30% in three
subjects. Entry to a university degree course,
however, requires a rating of 4 (Adequate
Achievement, 50–59%) or better in any
four of the designated subjects: accounting,
information technology, agricultural
sciences, languages, business studies, life
sciences, consumer studies, mathematics,
dramatic arts, mathematical literacy,
economics, music, engineering graphics and
design, physical sciences, geography, religion
studies, history and visual arts.
Diplomas and study at a Further
Education and Training (FET) or Technical
and Vocational Education Training (TVET)
require less stringent entry criteria.
Under Zuma’s stewardship, though, the
matric pass rate showed an astounding
improvement, soaring to an all-time high
of 78.2% in 2013 — something that sent
concerned reverberations through the
academic world that, in 2014, claimed
the concept of a matric pass rate was “an
illusion and a farce”, not reflecting any real
substance in academic performance, and
lacking tangible evidence of improvement in
education quality over time.
According to Frans Cronje, deputy CEO at
the South African Institute of Race Relations
(SAIRR), in an article for the Independent
Education, the official magazine of the
Independent Schools Association of South
Africa, “At the most basic level of education,
roughly the same proportions of children
pass today as at any other time over the past
50 years. This suggests that, on a basic level,
the quality of education provided in South
Africa’s schools may not have shifted much
over the past 50 years. What should also be
of concern is that the overall school pass
rate remained relatively static, even as the
university pass rate fell. This may suggest a
dumbing down of the former.”
Indeed, it is concerning that as South
Africa struggles with a skills deficit, we are
not upping the ante within the education
system to become truly competitive in
the international arena, to reignite
flagging business confidence, and boost
the turgid economy. nn
CEC February 2018 - 1