Basic education minister Angie Motshekga announced this evening that the matric 2014 national pass rate has decreased by 2.4%, to 75.8%, 2013's 78.2%.
Motshekga applauded the country's education districts for an "excellent performance" in the 2014 matric exams, which saw the first set of matriculants sit for the new curriculum, called Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (Caps). The more stringent requirements meant that learners had to cope with a more difficult curriculum, she said, adding that government could not postpone raising the bar.
While Mokshekga did not give a breakdown of pass rates for specific subjects, she did highlight that distinctions attained by 2014 matriculants increased by 4.1% for maths literacy and 1.8% for physical science.
Last year, Mokshekga was specifically pleased with the pass rates for maths and physical science, which showed a significant improvement year-on-year. However, while the class of 2013's pass rates show that 59.1% of those who wrote mathematics passed, this figure drops to 40.5% when looking at passes with more than 40%. Similarly, while 67.4% passed science with 30%, this drops to 42.7% when looking at passes at 40% and above.
For 2014 matriculants, both Umalusi and the Department of Basic Education are expecting a dip in maths results. This is due to changes in the curriculum during 2014, where a large section of the 2014 exams was not previously in the curriculum.
Speaking to City Press before the announcement of the results, professor John Volmink, head of the council of standards body Umalusi, said the overall matric pass rate drop could be attributed to a failure rate of 48% (without adjustments) in maths literacy, compared with 20% in 2013; a drop of between 5% and 6% in the pass rate for mathematics and physical science; and a drop in home language pass rates.
The Department of Basic Education is expected to publish a full breakdown of matric results on Tuesday morning.
Share