Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane has accused basic education minister Angie Motshekga of deepening the skills deficit in the country by allowing one of the final matric pass marks to be 30%.
With less than a week to go before matric results are released, the independent political platform’s leader launched a petition calling for the pass mark for each subject to be 50%.
Maimane argued that the entire education system needed to be overhauled. He said the low benchmark for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) undermined the intellect of the country’s youth.
The fact that three-quarters of the postgraduate population were joining the unemployment queue was unacceptable, Maimane added.
Matriculants awarded an NSC either qualified for a higher certificate, diploma or bachelor’s degree pass.
According to the Department of Basic Education, acquiring a bachelor’s degree pass required pupils to pass with 40% for a home language, 50% for four other subjects, and 30% for one subject.
And for a pupil to obtain a higher certificate, they needed to pass with at least 40% for their home language, 40% for two other subjects, and 30% in at least three subjects.
Maimane said given the right circumstances, the majority of pupils were capable of passing above 50%.
“We can’t ignore the fact that we are creating a pipeline of unemployment, and we know unemployment among graduates is low. So, surely we ought to be making sure that our kids are at least passing at a level that allows university entrance.”
The results for the class of 2022 will be released on 18 January for independent schools, and 20 January for public schools.
-EWN
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