DA concerned at credibility of matric results

The DA congratulates all matrics who passed the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations and achieved the goals they set themselves. We also pay tribute to the many great teachers who go the extra mile to help our country's children succeed.

The DA is however concerned at the credibility of the matric results announced this evening by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Using the pass rate as the main yardstick to assess performance is simply not a credible measure of the quality of education. This is a view shared by more and more education policy experts in our country.

The problem with focusing on the pass rate is that it does not take into consideration the number of students who drop out of the system before they write the National Senior Certificate examinations.

Focusing on the pass rate also masks other crucial indicators of learner performance such as the number qualifying for tertiary education, the quality of passes and the number of maths and science passes.

Some may view the matric results announced tonight as a cause for celebration, but we believe they are a cause for concern. In particular, we believe that the spike in some province's pass rates may be as a result of factors other than improved learner performance.

We will be studying the results in more detail before issuing further comment.

Statement issued by Annette Lovemore MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, January 6 2014

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