This follows after Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the 2018 matric pass rate was 78.2%, a 3.1% increase from the 2017 pass rate. It looks good on paper, but the real matric pass rate is a lot lower than that when one considers how many children drop out of school before they reach matric.

Forum 4 leader Mbahare Kekana said they “demand the 50% pass mark in all subjects” and added that F4SD is concerned about the “approximately 68% learners who drop out every year and disappear within the cracks.”

He calls on the government to “find out where they are going and how to rescue and resuscitate their dreams.” DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Nomsa Marchesi expressed the same concern in a press release:

“If these learners aren’t finishing their exams, they are just being dropped from the system to inflate provincial pass rates. A good quality, timely matric qualification is essential for school leavers to further their education and training and secure jobs to put an end to the cycle of poverty.”

In the same camp is political commentator Pieter Howes, who said that a 33% mark is unacceptable as it telling the youth that they don’t need to aspire to anything higher.

I feel like we are saying to them: “We don’t believe in you. We don’t believe you’re capable of more than 33%.”



Of course, in order to facilitate a rise in the pass mark, the basic education department and system needs a major overhaul. Make this a priority Pres @CyrilRamaphosa. — Pieter Howes (@PieterHowes) January 3, 2019

He feels that the pass mark should be raised to 50% while allowing students who achieve between 40% and 49% to opportunity for a rewrite. “Thus, anything below 40% would be an outright fail,” he added.

The pass rate has caused a lot of controversy in the media. However, Africa Check reported that the public’s understanding of the pass requirements is skewed and that it’s misguided to believe “that you only need a 30% average to pass matric.”

According to their report, only a small percentage of pupils pass at the lowest possible level. Four years ago, that percentage was only 0.1%. It is important to remember that “averages don’t determine whether a learner passes matric,” as there are no averaging of marks in matric exams.