While KwaZulu-Natal has received the nod for being one of the best-performing provinces for the matric Class of 2022, the DA in the province says the picture does not reflect the true reality on the ground, insisting that the figures do not add up.
“We firmly believe that the real matric pass mark can only be achieved by looking at the entire cohort of 2022 matriculants, those who started grade one 12 years ago or at the intake for the grade 10 Class of 2020.
Leading academics have long supported this method of calculating the numbers,” Imran Keeka, party spokesperson on education, said on Friday.
During the announcement of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results on Thursday evening, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga singled out the province for having significantly improved, recording an 83% pass rate, an increase of 6.2% when compared to the 2021 academic term.
The province also received the nod along with Gauteng for having boosted the national pass rate. But the DA said there was nothing worthy to write home about.
“Last year, the DA’s calculations revealed that the 2021 matric pass rate in KZN was only 54.7%, rather than the 76 8% which was announced. We will, in the coming days, calculate the 2022 KZN matric true pass rate and make this figure public.
“This figure will take into account the entire cohort and will demonstrate a more accurate figure and reflections of the performance of this group of learners.”
Key districts under eThekwini metro including uMlazi and Pinetown declined in performance while there were surprising improvement in rural districts with uMkhanyakude one of the best performers.
Soon after the release of the results on Thursday evening, DA MP Baxolile Nodada congratulated the Class of 2022 matriculants, lauding them for their hard work amid continuous loadshedding.
“The DA wishes to congratulate the Class of 2022 matriculants on passing their matric examinations. These learners had surmounted often-overwhelming challenges in the past three years to reach this milestone,” said Nodada
“Not only did they have to suffer interrupted schooling due to the Covid lockdowns and devastating floods, many of them also had to face increasingly difficult circumstances at home brought on by South Africa’s economic difficulties and continuous rolling blackouts.
“We also wish to thank all the teachers that went the extra mile to ensure that learners had the best possible preparation for their examinations, and the parents for their support and encouragement.”
However, Nodada said the DA disputes the 80.1% pass rate distributed, alleging that the real pass rate is 54.6%. “The real 2022 matric pass rate is only 54.6%, an increase from 2021’s 50.4%. This is very concerning,” Nodada said.
“Every year the DA calculates the real matric pass rate by bringing into account the number of learners that dropped out and never made it to matric. To bring the TVET learners into account the DA calculates the real matric pass rate from the grade 10 cohort that ought to complete matric.”
Mugwena Maluleke, South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) general-secretary, said the union welcomes the results, emphasising the improvement made by the Class of 2022.
“Sadtu welcomes the 2022 National Senior Certificate results released by the Department of Basic Education. The teachers and support personnel must be commended for the recorded improvement under the most trying conditions,” said Maluleke.
“It is worth noting that the improvement that has been recorded for the Class of 2022, from 74.4% to 80.1%, is an indication that the system is gaining the required resilience to deal with the challenges of the day.”
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