South Africa’s education crisis: Rethinking matric pass marks and vocational training
South Africa’s record matric pass rate of 88% in 2025 masks crises in the education system which require urgent intervention, the author says.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Media
As South Africa reflects on the latest matric results, some in jubilation, some in sadness, academia faces a very harsh reality in that if we are, as a society, to succeed on a socio-economic level, we need to urgently rethink passing grades and a singular focus on university degrees.
It is time to have a national dialogue involving key stakeholders from government, business, academia, and civil society as to whether we are doing our youth and – as a result, our future leaders – a disservice through keeping the pass mark at 30% and 40%, even if only a minuscule percentage achieve that bare minimum in matric.
To pass, students must achieve 40% in a home language, 40% in a further two subjects and 30% in another three additional subjects.
This is not a new debate; the perception that South Africa’s education system has low standards has long been a discussion topic.
Doesn’t add up
The literacy and numeracy crisis runs deep. The 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study shows 81% of South African Grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning in any language; ranking last among 43 countries surveyed.
We fare no better in numeracy: the 2024 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study shows South African students comparing badly with international counterparts in Mathematics and Science, despite some improvement in Grade 9 Mathematics. Both studies highlight the devastating effects of COVID-19 school closures on learning outcomes.
The Basic Education Department’s own review of progress in the basic education sector to 2024 report, dated September 15, 2024, review admits COVID-19 led to policy changes that effectively passed students upwards to the next grade regardless of readiness.
Broader context
This policy decision must, however, be understood in the broader context of less than half of the 1,250,791 pupils who began school in Grade 1 in 2014 having passed matric at the end of last year.
On the face of it, this figure shows an alarming drop-out rate, yet it masks the multitude of reasons why our young people do not complete basic schooling. And those reasons are numerous, ranging from poverty and drug addiction to being disinterested in school.
– Professor HB Klopper, Academic Dean, Belgium Campus iTversity
