The National Senior Certificate examinations in 2009 involved a total of 580,577 full time candidates writing a total of 197 papers in nearly 7,000 centres marked by more than 30,000 markers. The national pass rate was 60.7%, 2% lower than in 2008. (www.education.gov.za)
This week’s theme: Back to school
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It is almost 3% down. The drop is 2 percentage points not 2%!
Correct (62.5% down to 60.7%)
The words for this fact came from the speech by the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshegka (see http://www.education.gov.za/dynamic/dynamic.aspx?pageid=306&id=9311).
She also got the the proportion of candidates who qualified for higher education all wrong. She initially said it was 32%, then backtracked to a much more believable (and consistent with last year) 19.8% (see http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/local/article253790.ece).
I wonder what’s next.
The fact that the pass-rate is down is really shocking & regrettable, but, what would be very important to know is this; what level of percentage is required to be able to achieve an acceptable pass-mark in the various grades, including Matriculation? It seems that, in many cases, those who possess the required diplomas and certificates are not successful in finding permanent employment; this because of their being totally incapable of performing satisfactorily in the positions that they are appointed to. Many are unemployed because they are, in truth, simply unemployable. Something very urgently needs to be done about improving our National education system. Poor academic achievement can no longer be accommodated!