'Nice numbers' cannot hide sad matric realities

06 January 2015 - 02:05 By The Times Editorial
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Now that the matric results are out and the champagne has been popped, the real work of giving our schoolchildren hope that their dreams will one day be realised has begun.

It will not help this nation to look at the percentages alone, or at the nice numbers trumpeted by the minister of education yesterday. The real work must begin - working out how to manoeuvre through the difficulties ahead.

With the high unemployment rate continuing to worsen, and our economy on its knees, it is appropriate that we ask difficult questions about our education system.

Is the new system going to address the challenges we face as a nation? Are our schoolchildren going to be prepared for a fast-moving world?

The ANC has tried several different systems over the past 20 years but they have all proved to be expensive failures.

The matric cheating scandal that the Sunday Times reported at the weekend tells us that there is a great deal of rot in our schools.

The focus on numbers, and the attempts by government officials to paint a glowing picture of Grade 12 performances, hides the fact that more and more children are abandoned in the lower grades and forced to leave school early.

The real problems in our education system are not being addressed.

The government must not focus only on matrics but must do much more for pupils from Grade 1. It is in the lower grades that the most important work is needed.

The dismal results of the annual national assessment of the literacy and numeracy of pupils in Grades 1 to 6, and Grade 9, indicate that we are in big trouble. The percentage of matric passes in maths and maths literacy has dropped since last year.

If this nation is to stop epitomising the "cappuccino model" - in which the cream sits on top and the rest sink to the bottom - difficult questions must be asked and answered.

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