Matric students from all over the country were on Tuesday morning scrambling to find out their results. This as SA’s national matric pass rate for 2020 dropped by 5.1 percentage points — from 81.3% in 2019 to 76.2% — in what was a tumultuous year.
According to findings by the UN Educational Science and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), as much as two-thirds of the 2020 academic year was lost on average worldwide due to Covid-19 school closures. SA in particular lost 19 weeks of schooling, making 2020 a truly unique and difficult year for its matrics and other students.
Associate professor in the department of childhood education at the University of Johannesburg Nicky Roberts calls for 2021 to be the “year of compassion” when dealing with students across the board in SA. She reminds us that for many who do not have access, lost teaching time is lost forever.
Listen to what she had to say:
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