Sharp drop in northern areas results

VIOLENT protests, teacher shortages, poor attitudes and significant numbers of progressed pupils who had been pushed into Grade 12 last year are among the factors blamed for a massive drop in the 2015 matric pass rates in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas. This emerged as the results for Nelson Mandela Bay schools were released yesterday, showing drastic pass rate declines at northern areas schools compared with the 2014 results. Not one school in the area achieved a 100% pass rate. In July, the Northern Areas Education Forum (NAEF) – which represented 56 schools affected by issues such as teacher shortages, the non-payment of teachers and over-crowded classrooms – held a peaceful protest which quickly escalated into three days of violence. The 2015 results show that Chatty High School dived 29.6 percentage points to a shocking 26% compared with 2014. Gelvandale High School’s pass rate dropped 20.5 percentage points to 52.1%, Sanctor High fell 22.2 percentage points to 65%, and Booysen Park High declined 19.1 percentage points to 60.7%. Chapman High School dropped 14.4 percentage points to 81.8%, while Westville Senior Secondary dropped 11.4 percentage points to 78.9%. Bethelsdorp Comprehensive School dropped only slightly by 1.2 percentage points to 76.6%. St Thomas High School in Gelvandale and Bertram Secondary School in Bloemendal were among only a few northern areas schools to manage slight increases this year, with the schools rising by 0.4 percentage points to 89.2% and 1.6 percentage points to 68.9%, respectively. NAEF secretary Richard Draai said the area’s matric results were disappointing and an indication of the education department’s unwillingness to assist the schools. “The whole system is not conducive to quality education,” Draai said. “Our MEC does not have a clue [about] what is happening in our schools. “Our department is the weakest in the country and no one is stepping in to do anything about it.” Draai said schools in the northern areas had faced protests and closures and had been calling for Department of Education intervention since 2010, meaning that last year’s protest could not be blamed for the poor results. DA MPL Edmund van Vuuren said he was not surprised by the drop in the pass rates in the area. “[In 2014] these schools in the northern areas collectively achieved a pass rate in the region of 80%,” he said. “Looking at these results, the blame should be laid with the MEC [Mandla Makupula], who ignored our requests to fill vacant posts at these schools. “When we highlighted the shortages, he simply said there were shortages at other schools as well. “It is so sad because education is the only way to help our children out of poverty. “The MEC made no effort to ensure that these posts were filled, even with the education protests. “Additional posts would have assisted these schools greatly.” Principals attributed the decreasing figures to a variety of factors, including progressed pupils, more difficult exam papers, unmotivated pupils and the education protest in July.

Sanctor High School principal Apollis January said the school’s pass rate had dropped about 20 percentage points from 2014’s 85%. “We have grown accustomed to receiving above 80%, so to receive 65% is very disappointing,” he said. “As much as there were a number of factors which contributed, including the protests in July, progressed learners – of whom we had 27 out of 234 matrics – were among the main factors. “But the biggest contributing factor would probably be the attitude of the pupils towards their work. “All of these factors will be discussed and tackled as we prepare for the new year.” Booysen Park High School principal Ivan Martins said the drop in his school’s pass rate to 61% from 74% had been expected. “Of our 156 pupils, 79 were progressed pupils, so the results are pretty much what we thought they would be,” Martins said. “It is very hard to prepare pupils in matric for the year ahead when they entered the year with only a 12% overall average. “The teachers do all they can for the pupils, but the kids are simply not ready for that level of work. “And this year we have even more progressed pupils [82]. “But we will just have to adapt and do all we can for those pupils to ensure this [decline in the pass rate] is not repeated,” Hillside High School recorded a drop of more than 15 percentage points, deputy principal William Jansen said. “Last year, we had a 79% pass rate; this year we got 63.6%,” he said. “This year, there were several challenges though. “Our matric classes were double the size compared with last year, we had 34 progressed pupils and the protests saw pupils lose critical time.” Paterson High School principal Sivan Pillay said: “Our pass rate dropped by about 5% from last year’s 75%. “However, of our 122 matrics, 21% were progressed pupils, which creates a constant struggle as the teachers are willing to do extra but the kids refuse.” Among the disappointed pupils who gathered at Sanctor High School yesterday was Marcus Newfeldt, 18, who expressed frustration at failing maths and science. He was one of 27 pupils at the school who did not pass and are looking to write supplementary exams. “Science paper one was okay, but paper two was very difficult. It really surprised me,” he said He said the protests in July had contributed to his lack of success. Although he had no problems with the teaching, as the school offered winter schooling, extra classes and other help, he said there was only one physical science teacher, who had been under immense strain. – Additional reporting by Athena O’ Reilly