Matric pass rate worries grow

POLITICIANS expressed doubts yesterday that the matric class of 2015 would achieve a 70% pass rate. They were speaking after the body responsible for quality assurance, Umalusi, said in Pretoria yesterday that this year’s matriculants performed worse than the class of 2014 when the pass rate was 75.8%. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will officially announce the results on Tuesday. Umalusi council chairman Professor John Volmink said the poor performance of progressed pupils – those condoned from Grade 11 to Grade 12 – had affected the results. In the Eastern Cape, the number of condoned pupils was about 13 000 out of the 93 115 candidates who wrote.

Volmink said Umalusi’s analysis was based on the raw scores of this year’s results, which demonstrated that the performance of progressed pupils accounted for an increase in the failure rate of at most 3.5%. “In other words, if we exclude the progressed learners the class of 2015 still performed worse than the class of 2014,” Volmink said. Other factors also played a role. These included tough papers, improved marking and increased vigilance. Eastern Cape education committee chairman Fundile Gadi said he was concerned about the high number of progressed pupils in the province. “However, I think we will be able to maintain the 65% pass rate we had in 2014.” He was referring to the provincial matric pass rate for last year of 65.4%. But DA MPL Edmund van Vuuren believed the pass rate could possibly drop as low as 65% if progressed learners were included.