'Gap in education system needs to be addressed': Maimane on IEB and NSC matric results

Build One SA (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane says South Africa’s education system continues to highlight deep divides between the urban and rural communities.

“We cannot win as a country with a divided and unequal education system,” he said.

Maimane made these comments on Twitter after the release of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results on Monday.

Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube, in her briefing, said the NSC pass rate for the class of 2024 was 87.3%, making it the highest in South Africa's history. The IEB recorded a pass rate of 98.47% for the class of 2024.

The private schooling sector saw 89.37% of its pupils achieving university entrance passes, while government schools were far behind, with 47.8% of pupils qualifying for university admission.

Maimane highlighted the difference between the outcomes of pupils in private vs public schooling systems.

“We should be worried. Here is the real gap in our education system that needs to be addressed.”

While some areas are sending almost every child to university, other communities are faced with alarming dropout rates.

“We cannot win while one side of town has children who all go to university and the other side of town has 45% who do not finish high school and 47% of those who stay can get into [university].”

Maimane said this is a betrayal of the youth who died in the 1967 Soweto uprising protesting against the use of Afrikaans as medium of instruction in black schools.

“This is ANC-manufactured Bantu education and it is a betrayal of the Freedom Charter and everything the youth of 1976 died for.”

At the announcement of Gauteng’s 2024 matric results on Tuesday, education MEC Matome Chiloane and premier Panyaza Lesufi voiced support for merging the educational sectors under one examination system.  

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