Serious intervention is needed in how SA schools teach specialised IT subjects, if the country is to fully take advantage of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
In her results announcement of the matric class of 2025, basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube noted that “quality is measured by what learners can do, and by whether opportunity stays open in gateway subjects”.
Yet an analysis of key IT subjects in the matric marks shows only a basic understanding of learners’ ability to identify, dissect and solve problems, according to Jacqui Muller, a researcher at Belgium Campus iTversity and a PhD candidate in computer science and information technology with information ystems.
The class of 2025 achieved a record pass rate of 88%. Of the more than 900 000 matric candidates, only 2 751 wrote finals in the three key IT-related technical subjects of computer applications technology (CAT), information technology (IT), and technical mathematics.
High passes, vanishing distinctions
The 1 460 learners studying CAT have been receiving consistently high pass rates, having improved steadily since 2022, when there was a pass rate of 92.4%. 2025 marks the first flat-to-slight decline after three years of gains as it declined 0.1 percentage points to 95.1% when compared with 2024.
In addition, this year’s cohort achieved a very low distinction rate at less than 0.5%, indicating that, while most learners pass, high-end performance remains rare.
When it comes to IT, learners demonstrated that it was one of the strongest-performing technical subjects in the National Senior Certificate, with a pass rate that gained 0.4 percentage points year-on-year to 96.7%, showing continuous improvement from 92.1% in 2022.
Yet, distinction numbers are extremely low, coming in at zero in both 2024 and 2025. This subject remains niche, as only 28 learners wrote final exams.
Technical mathematics, studied by 1 263 learners, shows the most dramatic improvement of the three subjects, with the pass rate gaining 1.5 percentage points. The success rate is up from 81.8% in 2022, indicating systemic improvement and not a one-year anomaly.
Despite this, distinction rates remain very low at 0.1% in 2025, even with the higher overall passes.
Problem-solving skills deficit
Muller says the current state of the pass rate for each subject shows that learners have a basic understanding of the core components used to solve problems.
“However, the low distinction rates are still alarming as they show that learners are not yet mastering their ability to identify, dissect and solve problems to the level that is required,” she adds.
IT, CAT and mathematics are three of the subjects needed to foster problem-solving skills at the further education and training phase, says Muller. “Problem-solving skills are one of the most difficult skills to foster at the tertiary education level, which is why IT-related degrees rely heavily on higher maths and IT marks for acceptance into these programmes.”
Muller adds “in an evolving technological landscape where we are becoming more reliant on technology, there is a greater need for our learners to be able to fully grasp and adapt to these technologies so that we can accelerate our growth as a society”.
Gateway to economic transformation
SA’s ICT and Digital Economic Master Plan, initially developed by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies in 2020, aims to improve digital infrastructure, create digital skills, encourage digital innovation, strengthen e-government services, stimulate digital commerce, increase cybersecurity, and promote digital transformation across vital industries.
The plan built on work by the President’s Commission on the 4IR, which focused on making the country globally competitive, inclusive, and technologically advanced through interventions in human capital, infrastructure, innovation, and policy.
Muller says that taking advantage of emerging technologies such as AI to grow the economy through technology means training more learners to be problem solvers. “We require more distinctions. We need to implement strategies and initiatives that help us build on the core knowledge learners already have, to dramatically increase the number of distinctions,” Muller states.
“There should also be more focus on the way content and assessments are conducted to nurture the skills and shape the learners so that they are ready for tertiary.”
DBE’s dual approach
The Department of Basic Educations (DBE’s) 2025/26 Annual Performance Plan states its current focus is not on scaling up ICT subjects, such as coding and robotics, but rather on “improving literacy and numeracy in the foundation phase”. In doing so, the department aims to build a solid foundation so that learners can move into specialised subjects such as mathematics with stronger skills.
At the same time, the DBE is expanding access to specialised learning environments for learners with strong technical or scientific aptitude.
What needs to happen in schools is to improve the method and practice of teaching as well as assessment practices that enable learners to achieve 75% and above, while also adequately preparing them for further education or enabling them to become meaningful entrepreneurs as they exit the education system, Muller says.
“Maybe we could even encourage more ‘hackathons’ like there are Olympiads, but we need more of them,” Muller says.
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