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AfriForum congratulates all who passed matric in 2024 and thanks the teachers who made it possible with their dedication and hard work, despite many challenges in the education sector.

At the same time, the organisation also expresses its concern about the matric pass rate that has just been announced. At first glance, this sounds like an excellent achievement, but AfriForum is concerned about the group of learners who disappeared from the school system before they could even write the matric exam. According to the Department’s technical report, the number of matriculants who wrote the exam are 36% less than the number who were in grade 1 in 2013.

This trend become evident annually and proves that lowering requirements for passing does not convince learners to continue attending school up to matric. Unfortunately, however, it has a detrimental effect on the employability of many matriculants. The Department’s assurance that the 36% dropout rate is “normal” in comparison to other countries similar to South Africa is not reassuring when looking at the findings of comparative education surveys.

According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, the Department of Basic Education’s performance and ability to improve remains an obstacle. “The findings of international performance measurements such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) and the 2024 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss) prove that most South African schools are performing too poorly to be internationally competitive at all. This will create major challenges for the country’s economy and social stability in the future.”

Bailey referred to the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (Bela) and stated that its content will not address this underperformance. “This poses a threat to mother-language education, contains vagueness about discipline in schools and places a greater administrative burden on teachers,” she states.

AfriForum also expresses concern regarding the leaked matric results. “That the results could be leaked and financial advantage was taken from gullible matriculants, is unacceptable. AfriForum welcomes that the Hawks are leading the investigation and hopes that those responsible will be brought to justice soon,” concludes Bailey.

Issued by AfriForum