Daily Dispatch Editorial

Last year the country achieved a 60.6 percent pass rate – a drop of about 10 percent from the 70.7 percent achieved just five years earlier. The matric pass rate has been declining since 2004.

Of the 500000 or so matrics who wrote the exam last year, 217331 failed. This represents a failure rate of 39.4 percent and in the Eastern Cape the situation is worse. In this province 70622 candidates enrolled for the National Senior Certificate Exams at the beginning of last year but only 68129 wrote the exam. Of these only 51 percent passed, representing a 0.4 percent improvement from 2008.

Clearly the youth in this country are facing a crisis comparable to that of 1976. But at a time when we need their leaders to roll up their sleeves, dirty their hands and take a prominent role in implementing a turn around strategy, what do we have? The ANC Youth League in this province is yet to table a clear programme and spell out its role in improving the fortunes of the class of 2010. Worse than that, the ANCYL is in turmoil with two of its most senior leaders, who should be at the forefront of attempts to deal with the education crisis, jostling for power ahead of the party’s elective conference to be held in March.

The Dispatch reported yesterday that provincial secretary Ayanda Matiti had been suspended following a brawl between him and his deputy, Banzi Silinga, last year. Provincial chairperson Mlibo Qoboshiyane confirmed the suspension but Matiti denied it before launching an attack on the rest of the provincial leadership.

At a time when the future of the youth is in jeopardy our wannabe politicians’ preoccupation with self is shocking. Not only that, but because of their infighting they are missing a clear opportunity to make themselves relevant to the tens of thousands of young people who will be sitting for their matric exams at the end of 2010.

The ANCYL’s leadership has done nothing but fight itself for the last three years. And if not busy with internal fights, its members have been prominent in waging factional leadership battles within the mother organisation, for example the bruising contest for provincial chairmanship between Health MEC Phumulo Masualle and his Finance counterpart Mcebisi Jonas.

The ANCYL in the Eastern Cape is making itself irrelevant to its core constituency – the youth. If it is too blind to see that, then it deserves what comes its way.