Progressed Matriculants blamed for dismal district pass rate

THE Department of Education (DOE) uThungulu District has said that the Matric pass rate for 2015, which was the lowest since 2008, is due to the high number of progressed learners who failed.

A total of 176 out of 302 progressed learners failed to pass their National Senior Certificate examinations, which contributed to the districts ‘shameful’ 54.6% pass rate, compared to 64.03% in 2014 and 72.7% in 2013.

According to statistics released by the DOE, this is the worst results have been since the class of 2007 only managed a 48.73% pass rate and 52.91% in 2008.

uThungulu DOE District Director David Chonco said the lower pass rate was also due to the exams themselves being more challenging.

‘Previous examination papers would most of the time encourage text book answering and limited in-depth analysis,’ he said.

‘The 2015 questions shifted cognitive levels where candidates were expected to apply their minds in responding to questions rather than giving straight-forward answers.’

Progression leads to regression

In terms of the Guidelines for the implementation of Promotion and Progression, a Grade 10 or 11 learner who fails to meet the minimum promotion requirements of the NSC, but meets certain basic criteria can be progressed.

The learner must have failed and repeated Grade 10 or 11, must have passed the Language of Learning and Teaching as well as three other subjects and must have attended school on a regular basis.

Absenteeism in excess of 20 days a year without valid reason would disqualify a learner for progression.

Of the 126 progressed learners who passed their NSC exams, only 58 earned exemptions to study BA degrees.

‘As a district we acknowledge the decline in results and we have embarked on a strategy to improve the support to schools, educators and learners,’ said Chonco.

‘It will be back to basics – teachers teach and learners learn. Our operation will be focussed on bouncing back.’