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A PERSPECTIVE ON THE EASTERN CAPE

2013 MATRIC RESULTSMATRIC RESULTS

T A B L E O F

CONTENTS1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................................2

2. Background....................................................................................................................................................2

3. Statisticalanalysis..........................................................................................................................................2

3.1Overviewoftheresults.............................................................................................................................2

3.2Enrolment................................................................................................................................................5

3.3Subjectperformanceandlevelofachievement........................................................................................6

3.4Candidatesqualifyingforbachelordegrees..............................................................................................7

3.5Passratebygender..................................................................................................................................8

4. Factorspossiblyaffectingresults...................................................................................................................10

4.1Qualityineducation.................................................................................................................................10

4.2Historicalandpoliticalfactors...................................................................................................................11

5. Howcanwerespondtotheseissues?...........................................................................................................11

6. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................12

List of Tables

Table1:Passratewithindifferentpercentagecategories,2013...................................................................................4

Table2:Full-timeandpart-timeNSCenrolmentsperprovincein2013.....................................................................5

Table3:Numberand%offull-timelearnerswhowroteandpasstheNSC

examinationin2013......................................................................................................................................6

Table4:EasternCapesubjectperformanceandlevelofachievementin2013..........................................................6

Table5:PercentageandtrendofcandidateswhoqualifiedforBachelorstudies:

2008-2013....................................................................................................................................................8

Table6:OverallachievementandcandidatesqualifyingforBachelorstudiesby

gender,2013..................................................................................................................................................9

Table7:Educationbudget:learnersandperlearnerfundinginheritedbytheEasternCapeDepartmentof

Education1994/1995.....................................................................................................................................10

List of figures

Figure1.Grade12passrate:EasternCapeversusSouthAfrica,2013............................................................................2

Figure2:Grade12passratesbyprovince,2013............................................................................................................3

Figure3:Matricpassratebyarea,2013........................................................................................................................6

Figure4NumberofcandidatesqualifyingforBachelorstudies,2013...........................................................................7

Figure5:NSCexaminationpassratesbygenderintheEasternCape.............................................................................8

Figure6:CandidatesqualifyingforBachelorstudiesbygender,2013.............................................................................9

AnnexureAnnexure1:Grade12passratesbyarea,2013

KEY FINDINGS

Thematricpassrateinthecountryandintheprovincehassignificantlyimproved.IntheEasternCapeitimprovedfrom50.6%in2008to64.9%in2013whileforthecountryasawholeitimprovedfrom62.2%in2008to78.2%in2013.Suchachievementhasnotbeenreachedoverthepastdecade.

Whileacknowledgingthatmatricpassratehasimproved,achievementintheEasternCapehasremainedthelowestinthecountry.

In2013,Malepassrate(68.5%)washigherthanthatofFemale(62.1%).TheperformancegapbetweenMaleandFemalewidenedfrom0.6percentagepointsin2008to6.4percentagepointsin2013.

Thetopfiveeducationdistrictthatperformed70%andaboveintheEasternwere:PortElizabeth,Cradock,EastLondon,Cofimvaba,andMaluti.

In2013,theEasternCapecontributed13.5%oftotalNSCenrolment,12.8%ofallwhowrotetheNSCexamination,and10.0%ofallwhopassedtheNSCexamination.Thesecontributionsareinlinewiththeprovince'sshareof13%ofthenationalpopulation.

Fulltimeenrolmentincreaseby8.4%in2013,anindicationthateffortstoenhanceaccesstoeducationintheEasternCapearebearingfruit.

In2013,3.9%ofschoolsintheEasternCape(8.3%forRSA)performedatexactly100%and24.0%ofschoolsintheEasternCape(49.0%forRSA)performedbetween80%to100%

STEM(Science,Technology,Engineering,andMathematics)isregardedasapriorityareabytheDepartment

ofEducation.However,between2010and2013,therewasadeclineinthenumberofpupilswhowrotemathematics(6.5%)andphysics(7.1%).Shouldthistrendpersist,thetechnicalskillspipelinewillcontinuenottoseeimprovements.

In2013,theEasternCapehad2860learnerswhodropped-outinGrade12(4%drop-outrate,thehighestinthecountry).Therewere25298learnerswhofailed(35.1%failurerate,alsothehighestinthecountry).Thosewhodropped-outandthosewhofailedmakeupatotalof28158potentialrepeaters(37.5%potentialrepetitionrate).Someoftheseyoungpeoplemightgetdiscouragedandaddtothepoolofyouthunemployedandoutoflearninginstitutions.

1

1. IntroductionThisreportprovidesaperspectiveontheEasternCape2013Matricresults.Itcapturestheperformanceofthe72138

candidateswhowrotetheNationalSeniorCertificateaftertwelveyearsofschooling.Thereportdrawsdatafromthe

NationalSeniorCertificate(NSC).ToamplifycertainresultsandseekexplanationswealsodrawontheAnnualNational

Assessments(ANA).TheresultshowsthatalthoughtheEasternCapehasimprovedtheGrade12passratefrom50.6%in

2008to64.9%in2013,itsachievementremainsthelowestinthecountry.Thereportpresentsastatisticaloverviewofthe

2013Matricresults;explorefactorspossiblyaffectingtheresultsandsuggestsaresponsetoissuesaffectingeducation.

2. BackgroundMatric resultsevokemuch fanfareeveryyearas it symbolises the litmustest for thestateof theeducationsystem.

Announcementsabouttheprogressionofpassratesaswellasrelativeperformanceofrespectiveprovincesarealways

commentedon.TheNationalSeniorCertificate2013(NSC)passrateof64.9%fortheEasternCapeand78.2%forSouth

Africaareconsideredsignificantachievements.Thematricresultsalsotendtobringintofocushowthestateperformsas

farasprovidingeducationisconcernedandhowsucheducationenables,ordisables,economicgrowth.

Therelationshipbetweeneducation,trainingandhowbigindustriesaresupportedwithskillsareamongtheissuesthat

thematricresultsmomentraise.Thusmatricresultssymbolisemuchmorethanamereannouncementofwhetherthereis

animprovementinpassrates,itsymbolisesarangeofpolitical,socialandeconomicrelations.Onesetoftheserelations

havebearingonthestateanditsroleinprovidingeducationforeconomicends.Thedatainthisreportshowsthatthe

EasternCapeisperformingwellbelowotherprovinces.ThisreportseekstocontextualisetheEasternCape'sresults.

3. Statistical analysis AccordingtothetechnicalreportoftheDepartmentofEducation(2014)theEasternCapehasproducedthelowestmatric

passrateoverthepastdecade(SeeFigure1).Thisreportoffersastatisticalanalysisandasetofpossiblefactorsto

hopefullydeepenourunderstandingofwhytheEasternCape'smatricresultsfallbehindtheotherprovinces.

3.1 Overview of the results

TheEasternCapewitnessedadecliningmatricpassratein2003-2009,withaturnaroundin2009-2013;givingrisetoa

“V-shape”trend.Between2003and2013,theEasternCapefollowedthenationaltrend,butwasconsistentlybelowthe

nationalaveragebyplusminus10percentagepoints.

Figure 1. Grade 12 pass rate: Eastern Cape versus South Africa, 2013

2

80.0

75.0

70.0

65.0

60.0

55.0

50.0

45.0

40.02003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

EC RSA

78.2

73.3

60.662.2

WeseeinFigure1thatGrade12passratesinthecountryimprovedby16.0percentagepointsfrom62.2%in2008to

78.2%in2013.IntheEasternCape,theGrade12passratealsoimprovedby14.3percentagepointsfrom50.6%in2008to

64.9%in2013.However,ithasremainedlowcomparedtotheaveragepassrateinthecountry.

ClosecorrelationbetweentheEasternCapeandSouthAfrica'sperformancesshowsthatthepoorresultsarenotonlya

provincialproblem,butalsoanationalsystemicissue.

TheperformanceofNSCexaminationpassrateisunequalamongprovinces,apatternwhichismanifestamongschoolsas

well.Figure2showsthatin2013,Grade12passratesrangedfromaslowas64.9%fortheEasternCape,to87%inthree

provinces,namelyGauteng,NorthWest,andFreeState.Itaveragedto78.2%forthecountryasawhole.

Figure 3: Matric pass rate by area, 2013

Figure 2: Grade 12 pass rates by province, 2013

Source: DBE –National Senior Certificate: Technical Report, 2013

3

Port Elizabeth

Cradock

East London

Cofimvaba

Maluti

Uitenhage

Ngobo

Graaff-Reinet

Mthatha

Lady Frere

Queenstown

MT Fletcher

KWT

Grahamstown

Dutywa

Libode

Lusikisiki

Butterworth

MT Frere

Mbizana

Sterspruit

Fort Beaufort

Qumbu

50

53

57

5759

59

59

59

60

61

63

65

6566

67

67

68

68

69

70

71

74

74

73

55 60 65 70 75

78.2

64.9

TheperformanceofNSCexaminationpassrateisnotonlyunequalamongprovincesbutalsoamongvariouseducation

districts.Thefivedistrictsthatperformed70%andabovein2013intheEasternarePortElizabeth,Cradock,EastLondon,

Cofmvaba,andMaluti.ThelowestperformancewasinFortBeaufortandQumbu(SeeFigure3andAnnexure1).

Adifferentpictureemergeswhenwecomparetheperformancebetween2010and2013.Areaswherepassratesimproved

by10percentagepointsandabovebetween2010and2013were:Cofimvaba,Libode,FortBeaufort,KingWilliamTown,

ButterworthandPortElizabeth.Areaswherepassratedeclinedbetween2010and2013were:Qumbu,Graaff-Reinet,

Cradock,andGrahamstown(SeeAnnexure1).Hence,ablanketstatementaboutpoorperformanceinruralareascannotbe

made.

LookingatthematricperformanceinSouthAfrica,theprovinceandtheeducationdistricts,itappearsthattheintra-

provincialdifferencesareaslargeasinter-provincialdisparities.Similarly,asexpected,thetwometrosintheEasternCape

performedverywell.

Table 1: Pass rate within different percentage categories, 2013

Table1showsthatin2013,almostathird(31.3%)ofschoolsintheEasternCapescoredbetween60%and79.9%pass

rates.Aquarter(24.0%)ofschoolsintheprovincescoredbetween80%and100%passrates.Intheprovince,3.9%of

schoolsscoreaexactly100%.Overall,almosthalf(49.0%)ofschoolsinthecountryasawholescorebetween80%and

100%.

Numberofschools

Exactly0%

Exactly100%

0to19.9%

20to39.9%

40to59.9%

60to79.9%

80to100%

EasternCape 918 0.3 3.9 3.2 13.2 28.4 31.3 24.0FreeState 332 0,0 15.1 0,0 0.3 2.4 19.0 78.3Gauteng 806 0.1 15.1 0.1 0,0 4.3 22.2 72.5KwaZulu-Natal 1723 0.1 6.7 1.3 5.5 15.8 30.8 46.6Limpopo 1413 0.1 3.6 1.8 6.7 19.5 37.4 34.5Mpumalanga 539 0,0 4.6 0.4 1.9 15.2 35.3 47.3NorthWest 380 0,0 12.6 0,0 0.3 29.9 21.1 75.8NorthernCape 134 0,0 10.4 0,0 2.2 15.7 32.1 50.0WesternCape 431 0.2 20.6 0.2 0.5 5.8 22.5 71.0

TotalRSA 6676 0.1% 8.3% 1.2% 5.0% 14.8% 29.9% 49.0%


4

Full-time Part-time Total

DifferenceFull-time2012-2013

Full-timeenrolment growthrate2012-2013

EasternCape 74998 20536 95534 5 799 8.4%

FreeState 28019 3208 31227 3 259 13.2%

Gauteng 99504 41408 140912 8 029 8.8%

KwaZulu-Natal 150154 24888 175042 17 882 13.5%

Limpopo

83594

16993

100587

5

412

6.9%

Mpumalanga

51206

7391

58597

2

217

4.5%

NorthWest

29539

3604

33143

1

964

7.1%

NorthernCape

10693

1760

12453

1

412

15.2%

WesternCape

48783

10858

59641

3

181

7.0%

TotalforRSA

576490

130646

707136

49155

9.3%

Table 2: Full-time and part-time NSC enrolments per province in 2013


3.2 Enrolment

AccordingtotheDepartmentofBasicEducation,the2013NationalSeniorCertificateexaminationhasbeenthelargest

since 2008with a total enrolment of 707 136,which includes 576 490 full-time candidates and 130 646 part-time

candidates.TheEasternCapefull-timeandpart-timeNSCenrolmentsaccountfor13.5%oftotalenrolmentinSouth

Africa.Thisenrolmentcontribution(13.5%)mirrorstheEasternCapepopulation'scontribution(13.0%)toSouthAfrica's

totalpopulation.

Table2showsthatbetween2012and2013,thefull-timeNSCenrolmentgrewby49155learnersor9.3%inSouthAfrica

andby5799learnersor8.4%intheEasternCape.Thisgrowthisanindicationthateffortstoenhanceaccesstoeducation

arebearingfruit.TheincreasedenrolmentinGrade12isaresultofincreasingenrolmentinthelowergrades.Thegrowth

inNSCenrolmentswashighestintheNorthernCape(15.2%)andlowestinMpumalanga(4.5%).

EmergingfromTable3areissuesofdrop-out,failurerateandrepetitionrate.Ofthe74998full-timecandidateswho

enrolledintheEasternCapefortheNSCexaminationin2013(Table2),72138candidateswrotetheexamination(Table3).

Thismakesadifferenceof2860full-timecandidates(4%)whoenrolledfortheNSCbutdidnotwritetheexamination.The

4%differenceintheEasternCape(2.6%forRSA)wasthehighestinthecountry.Thishighdrop-outratehasanimpacton

youthvulnerabilityandreasonsfordrop-outneedsfurtherinvestigation.Itisimportanttoascertainwheretheselearners

whodrop-outgoto.Dotheyaddtothenumberofyouthwhoareunemployedandoutoflearninginstitutions?

Table3showsthattheEasternCapeaccountedfor12.8%ofallwhowrotetheNSCexaminationbutitrepresentedonly

10.0%ofallwhopassedGrade12.Ofthe72138learnerswhowrote,46840learnerspassed(64.9%)and25298learners

failed(35.1%).Thisfailurerateisthehighestinthecountry.Togetpotentialrepetitionrate,werelookatthe74998

learnerswhoenrolledforNSCexaminationagainst the46840 learnerswhopassed.There isadifferenceof28158

potentialrepeaters(37.5%potentialrepetitionrate).).TheDoEdoesnothaveasystemtore-accommodatetherepeaters

withinthepublicschoolingsystem.Theyhavetofindforthemselvesotherlearninginstitutions,whicharenormallyprivate

institutions,wheretheycangetassistancetopreparetore-writeandimprovetheirmatricresults.

ThenumberofcandidateswhoenrolledandthosewhowrotetheNSCexaminationinrelationtohowmanypassedfor

eachprovinceshowsconsistentlythatthousandsoflearnersdonotmatriculateacrossallprovinces.

5

Table 3: Number and % of full-time learners who wrote and pass the NSC examination in 2013

3.3 Subject performance and level of achievement in the Eastern Cape

Foranalyticalpurposes,subjectscanbegroupedinthreecategories,namely:Commerce(Businessstudies,Economics,

Accounting); social sciences (Life science, History, Geography); and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics). Subject performance affects demand and supply of skills. A shortage in engineering skills and poor

performanceinSTEMcouldinalongruncausetheprovincetoimporttheseskillsfromelsewhere,whiletheprovince's

unemploymentrateremainshigh.

Mathematicsandphysicalscience(partofSTEM)arebeingidentifiedbytheDepartmentofBasicEducationaspriority

subjects.However,thesearealsothesubjectswheremostlearners'performanceismediocre.

Table 4 Eastern Cape subject performance and level of achievement in 2013

Between2010and2013,thenumberofpupilswhowrotemathematicsintheEasternCapedroppedby6.5%from38

801in2010to38067in2011andfrom37038in2012to36274in2013.Thosewhopassedmathematicswith40%

andabovefluctuatedbetween21.3%in2010to19.6%in2011andfrom21.9%in2012and26.9%in2013(SeeTable

4).

Similarly,between2010and2013,thenumberofpupilswhowrotephysicalscienceintheEasternCapedroppedby7.1%

from27163in2010to26387in2011andfrom25603in2012to25218in2013.Thosewhopassedmathematicswith

40%andaboveimprovedto23.5%;25.9%;27.0%and29.9%respectivelyin2010,2011,2012and2013.

Pickinguponesubjectineachofthethreeareas(commerce,socialscienceandSTEM),Table6showsthat57.2%ofpupils

whowroteaccounting(commerce)attained30%andabove;81.9%ofpupilswhowrotehistory(socialscience)attained

Learnerswhowrote Learnerswhopass

%Achieved Number %Share Number %Share

EasternCape 72138 12.8 46840 10.0 64.9FreeState 27105 4.8 23689 5.0 87.4Gauteng 97897 17.4 85122 18.1 87.0KwaZulu-Natal 145278 25.8 112403 23.9 77.4Limpopo 89184 14.7 82483 19.0 71.1Mpumalanga 50053 8.9 38836 8.3 77.6NorthWest 29140 5.2 25414 5.4 87.2NorthernCape 10403 1.9 7749 1.6 74.5WesternCape 47615 8.5 40542 8.6 85.1

TOTALRSA 562112 100.0 439779 100.0 78.2


Numberoflearnerswho

wrote

Numberoflearnerswho

achieved30%to100%

Percentageoflearnerswho

achieved30%to100%

Numberoflearnerswho

achieved40%to100%

Percentageoflearnerswho

achieved40%to100%

Mathematics 36274 15753 43.4 9564 26.4

PhysicalScience 25218 14061 55.8 7534 29.9 Accounting 18104 10359 57.2 5843 32.3 BusinessStudies 25596 18511 72.3 11590 45.3 Economics 20686 12068 58.3 5823 28.1 Geography 27645 19334 69.9 11088 40.1 History 15667 12825 81.9 9312 59.4 Lifescience 41368 26659 64.4 14870 35.9 MathLiteracy 36520 28557 78.2 17517 48.0


6

30%andabove;and43.4%ofpupilswhowrotepuremathematic(STEM)attained30%andabove.

Ifschoolingsystem/performanceisweakinaspecificareas,theskillspipelineinthatareawillbeaffectedanditsimpact

willbefeltontheeconomyasawhole.

3.4 Quantifying number of candidates for bachelor degrees

TheEasternCapegraduated13686bachelordegreecandidatesin2013.ThisismorethanNorthernCape,FreeState,

NorthWestandMpumalanga.EasternCaperanksfifthingraduationofbachelorcandidatescomparedtootherprovinces,

itishoweverthethirdmostpopulousprovince.ButdespitebeingrakedthelastintermsofNSCresults,theEasternCape

continuestomakeasignificantcontributiontothepoolofskilledpeople inSouthAfrica.Theprovinceneedsaskill

retentionstrategythatensureoptimalutilisationofskillsandpreventoutmigrationofyoung,educatedandskilledpeople.

AccordingtotheCensus2011,theEasterCapehadthehighestoutmigrationrate.

AlthoughtheFreeStatehasthehighestpassrateinthecountry(87.4%),itscontributiontothenumberoflearnerswhoare

eligibleforBachelorstudiesissignificantlylowercomparedtotheEasterCape,duetotheprovincebeingsmaller.Ofthose

eligibleforBachelorStudies,theNorthernCapehas2424candidateswhiletheEasternCapehas13686(SeeFigure4).

Figure 4 Number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies, 2013

Table5showsthatbetween2008and2013thepercentageoflearnerseligibletofurthertheirstudiesatauniversity

levelincreasedsignificantlyby10.5percentagepointsinSouthAfricaandby4.6percentagepointsintheEastern

Cape.

Putdifferently,ofthe72138candidateswhowrotethe2013NSCexaminationintheEasternCape,13686candidates

or19%qualifiedforfurtherstudiesatuniversity.IntheWesternCape40.9%qualifyforbachelorscomparedto30.6%

forthecountry.Thismeansthatforevery10learnerswhowrotetheexaminationintheEasternCape,only2become

eligibleforuniversityprogramme.InSouthAfrica,3outofevery10learnerswritingtheexamqualifyforuniversity.


7

5,0002,424

8,96110,166

12,954

18,781 19,477

38,104

47,202

13,686

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

NC FS NW MPL EC LMP WP GT KZN

2013 2012 2011 2010

2008%Difference

(2013-2008)

EasternCape 19.0 17.6 15.7 16.0 14.4 4.6

FreeState 33.1 28.6 26.3 21.4 21.0 12.1

Gauteng 38.9 36.2 35.2 33.9 30.5 8.4

KwaZulu-Natal 32.5 27.3 22.4 25.7 18.2 14.0

Limpopo 22.8 19.8 17.6 15.6 12.6 10.2

Mpumalanga 25.9 19.7 18.4 15.8 13.1 12.8

NorthWest

34.9

27.4

28.3

27.7

19.4

15.4

NorthernCape

23.3

23.0

19.9

21.1

20.1

3.2

WesternCape

40.9

36.5

38.1

31.5

33.0

7.9

TOTALRSA

30.6%

26.6%

24.3%

23.5%

20.1

10.5

Table 5: Percentage and trend of candidates who qualified for Bachelor studies: 2008 - 2013


3.5 Pass rate by Gender

IntheEasternCape,theGrade12passrateperformanceisunequalbetweenmalesandfemales.

Figure 5: NSC examination pass rates by gender in the Eastern Cape

Thegapbetweenmaleandfemaleperformanceislargerin2013comparedtowhatitwasin2008.InSouthAfrica

(2013),itwashigherformales(80.0%)comparedtofemales(76.8%).IntheEasternCape,itwas68.5%formalesand

62.1%forfemales(SeeFigure5).Theseresultsareincontrasttothesignificantlyhighernumberoffemales(40128)

comparedtomales(32010)whowrotetheNSCexamination.

A similar pattern occurs when examining the learners who qualify for Bachelor studies, particularly in the poorer

provinces.


8

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

50.0 50.0

56.1

60.8

64.1

59.7

62.1

68.5

59.6

52.3

57.3

51.6

70.0

65.0

60.0

55.0

50.0

45.0

40.0

MaleFemale

Possiblereasonscouldbepregnancyrelated,orrelatedtosupportfromparentsandguardiansforgirl’seducation.Girls

continuetohavemoreresponsibilitiesforchildcareandhouseworkandlesstimeforstudyingthanboys.Thesegendered

inequalitiesineducationcontinueintoadulthoodandgenderedinequalitiesinthelabourmarket,thehomeandsociety

morebroadly.Genderinequalitiesmustbeaddressedintheschoolingsystem,aswellasthroughchanginggendered

powerrelationsinsociety.

Figure 6: Candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, 2013


Table 6: Overall achievement and candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, 2013

Female(%) Male(%)

Overall

Achievement

QualifiedforBachelorStudies

OverallAchievement

QualifiedforBachelorStudies

EasternCape 62.1 17.9 68.5 20.3Limpopo 68.4 20.4 75.7 25.6NorthernCape 73.4 23.4 75.8 23.2Mpumalanga 75.8 24.1 79.7 28.0FreeState 86.0 32.8 89.0 33.3KwaZulu-Natal 76.8 32.8 78.0 32.2NorthWest 85.9 34.1 88.8 35.8Gauteng 86.5 40.6 87.5 36.9WesternCape 84.3 41.7 86.3 39.8RSA 76.8 30.4 80.0 30.8Source: DBE –National Senior Certificate: Technical Report, 2013

9

45.0

40.0

35.0

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

FEMALE MALE

Easte

rn C

ape

Lim

popo

Nor

th W

est

Gau

teng

Wes

tern

Cap

e

Kwa

Zulu

Nat

al

Mpu

mal

anga

Nor

ther

n Cap

e

Free

State

4. Factors possibly affecting results

Therearemanyfactorsthatcanpossiblyaffectmatricresults.Theyrangefromhistorical,political,socio-economicfactors,

language,infrastructure,curriculum,gender,qualityineducation,teachersandlearners,etc…

Inthissection,webrieflylookattwofactors,namely,thequalityineducationandhistoricalfactors.

4.1 Historical and political factors

Theapartheidsystemdeliberatelysetouttounderminepeople'shumanworthandlawstosubjugatepeopletranslated

into all aspects of life, including education.Manifestations of apartheid persist in terms of academic performance,

infrastructureandsettlementdemographics.Apartfromanemergingmiddleclasslayer,thelargemajorityofpeoplewho

wereoppressedduringapartheidremainmiredinsimilarsocialconditionsinpost-apartheidSouthAfrica.

Table7showstheseparateeducationdepartmentsoftheformerregime.Itexposestheunevendistributionofresources

ineducation.Unequalplanningexcludedthemajorityofpeoplefromtheupperechelonsoftheeconomy.Resource

deprivationaccompaniedbyimposedracialidentitieswerewaystodenythemajorityofpeopleofadecenteducation.

Desegregationofschoolingafter1994didnotdoawaywiththeracialidentitiesimposedonschools.Suchidentitieslargely

correlatewithsocio-economicandsocialstatusandlocation.Table7showshowresourcingandracialcategorisation,in

theformofseparateeducationdepartmentsentrenchedlowqualityandunevendevelopment.Indescendingorderof

privilegethedepartmentswereasfollows;TheHouseofAssembly(HoA)wastheinstitutionthatrepresentedthemost

privilegedracialgroup insociety followedbyHouseofDelegates (HoD),HouseofRepresentatives (HoR)andat the

DepartmentofEducationandTraining(DET).

Thistablerepresentstheapartheid'sracialclassificationsofsocalled“white”(HOA),“indian”(HOD)“coloured”(HOR),

“black”(DET).Thesepotentiallyoffensivetermsarestatedapologeticallyhere,toputthistableinitshistoricalcontext.

Table 7: Education budget: learners and per learner funding inherited by the Easter Cape Department of Education 1994/1995

EasternCapechildrenreceivedroughlyonefifthofwhatwasspentontheprivilegedgroupintheHouseofAssembly

(HOA),i.e.,R1,635perchildcomparedtoR5,323perchild.Accompanyingsuchunequalallocationwerearangeofother

factorssuchasanimpoverishedcurriculumandamentalitythat,generallyspeaking,schoolssocialisedchildreninto

takingon inferiorconceptionsofthemselvesandfeedingthemintoacheap labourpool.Theexceptionwascertain

missionschoolsoftheearlytomid-20thcenturythatprovidedhighacademicstandards.However,fewpeopleaccessed

thiseducationandsuchstandardswerenotobtainableinmostschools.

Thepost-apartheideraabolishedtheapartheidlawsanddesegregatedtheschoolingsystem.Howevermuchmoreneeds

tobedonetoestablishanewhistoricalcommunity.Thisincludesamongotherthings,deracialisingsocietyandshaping

freshidentitiesthatarecharacterisedbycommunitiesthemselvesowningschoolsandshapingtheschoolingexperience.

HoA HoD HoR DET Transkei Ciskei EC

Budget

(R’000)

404,996 9,438 472,822 805,678 1,663,519 578,375 3,934,828

Learners 76,079 2,041 132,225 334,909 1,580,089 281,244 2,406,587

Per Learner

R5,323 R4,624 R3,576 R2,406 R1,053 R2,056 R1,635

10

4.2Qualityineducation

Accesstoqualityandsuccessineducationisatthecentreofwhatneedstobeaddressedintheeducationsystemacross

thecountry.Bynomeansdoestheincreaseinpassratesmeanbetteraccesstoqualityandsuccessineducation.Quality

ineducationisratherasetofattributesthatreferstoastudent'sabilitytothinkcriticallyandactindependently.This

meanshe/shecanapplywhatislearnttorangeofcontextswhichincludestheabilitytolocateyourselfinbroadersociety.

Theeducationsystemisnotgeared,onanumberoflevels,todevelopthesetwoqualitiesinyoungpeople.

Theeducationsystemisbasedonasecondlanguageoronwhatisoftenessentiallyaforeignlanguage.Thismeansthat

childrenlearninalanguagethatthey,theirparentsandoftentheteachersarenotfullyproficientin.Learninginasecond

languagemeansthatchildrenarenotallowedtothinkcreativelyanddevelopintuitively.Literacyisnotdevelopedfullyin

anylanguage,includingthefirstlanguage.Itfollowsthenthateducationisanalienatingexperienceforover80%of

EasternCapechildren.Over80%ofschoolinggoingpopulationintheECspeakisiXhosaastheirfirstlanguage.Aperson's

firstlanguageprovidesthecodeforculturalandintellectualexpression.Expressioninone'shomelanguageallowsfor

spontaneityculturallyandcognitivelybutEnglishisusedexclusivelyasthelanguagetoaspiretoandtolearnin.This

contradictstheLanguage-in-EducationPolicy(1997)thatstateslearninginones'homelanguageisthebasisforoptimal

conceptualdevelopment.

CompetenceinEnglishisanecessaryrequirementforacompleteeducationsowehavetopursuethatasaneducational

goal; intheverysamewayAfricanlanguages, isalsonecessaryforacompleteeducation.ThehegemonyofEnglish

displacesAfricanlanguagesasLanguagesoflearningandteachingfromveryearlyon,whichisproblematiconmany

levels.Pedagogylevelisparticularlyimportanthereasitplacesanadditionalburdenonlearnerswhogenerallystruggle

onasocio-economicleveland;byhavingtolearninalanguagemediumwheretheyhavetostrugglewiththegrammar

andvocabularymakesprocessingconceptsandthinkingcreativelyextremelydifficult. Thiscrucialfactor-thelanguage

mediumfactor-affectstheabilityofmostEasternCapechildrentolearnandthereforethequalityofeducationsuffers.

Withaprovincethatmanifestsahugedisparitybetweenhome language (isiXhosa,Sotho,Afrikaans)and language

medium(English),isoneofthefactorsweraisehere.Theintegralrelationshipbetweenlanguagemediumpracticesand

literacydevelopmentenablesstudentstolearnmoremeaningfully.

Factorsrelatingtothehistorical-politicalcontextandtheextenttowhichthelanguagemediumpracticescontradictthe

experienceschildrenbringtoclassroomsarekeyinsettingtheEasternCapeupforitsrelativelowperformancerelativeto

other provinces. Embedded in these twobroad areas are organisational cultures that seem to perpetuate volatile

leadership,unsupportedteachersand less thaneffectiveadministrativeandprovisioningsystems.Otherprovinces,

particularlythemoreurbanones,havemadeeasieradjustmentstotheintegrationofdepartmentsandtheassociated

efficiencyandstandardsofaccountabilitythatsuchadevelopmentimplies.

Humanresourcefulness,basicmaterialresources,literacydevelopment,andhistoricallegacyappearunevenlyacross

provinceswhichissuggestiveofhowoppressionlingers.Comparingthematricresultsoftherespectiveprovincesmakes

farmoresenseifitisputinitshistoricalcontext.

Accesstoqualityandsuccessineducationisthereforeshapedbyhowhistoricalforcesataprovinciallevelinfluence

possibilitiesineducation.

5 How can we respond to these issues?

TheextenttowhichProvincialEducationDepartmentsensurelearnersreadinesstoundertaketheNSCexamination

remainsofutmostimportance.The2013interventionstrategiesfocusedonGrade12teachersupport,thedevelopment

ofresources,supplementarytuition,andenhancedassessmentinterventionsthatwereanticipatedtoimpactpositively

onthe2013NSClearneroutcomes.TheProvincialEducationDepartmentalsofocusesonspecificchallengesinlow

performingsubjectsinformedbythepreviousNSCtechnicalreports.

11

Grade11and12interventionsareimportantforimprovingresults,However,preparationforNSCexaminationstartsatthe

beginningoftheformalschoolingsystem.Indeeditstartswithasafe,caringandnurturinginfancyandchildhood,withan

increasingemphasisbeingplacedonEarlyChildhoodEducation.Hereweraisefourcriticalissuesthatmustbeaddressedto

increasestheprospectforqualityandsuccessineducationintheEasternCape.

Access:providingaccesstoqualityandsuccessineducationthataddresseshistoricalinequalitiesalonggender,raceand

classispivotaltobuildingabettereducation.

Curriculum:deliveringacurriculumthatismeaningfulandthatdevelopstheculturalidentitiesthatchildrenbringtoschools,

iscentraltodevelopinganalyticalmindsandaliterategeneration.

Leadership:foregroundinglearningthatconnectsclassroompracticestothekindofsocietythatweseektobuildisessential

toelevateeducationasapublicgoodforeverybody.

Accountability:Developinginstitutionalculturesthatfostermutualaccountabilityamongparents,teachersandstudents

willenablehigherlevelsoffunctioningatschools,especiallyhigherlevelsofeducationalstandards.

6 Conclusion

Inthisreport,aperspectiveontheEasternCape2013matricresultswerepresented.Thereportrevealedthatthecountry's

achievementpeakedin2013.Suchperformancehasnotbeenreachedsince2003.MatricresultsattainedintheEastern

Capealso improvedsignificantly.Thepass rate in theprovincewashigher formale than for female.Even though the

province'sachievementwasthelowestinthecountry,enrolmentintheEasternCapecontinuedtogrowconsiderably,

signallingthatmoreyouthareaccessinglearninginstitutions.

TheDepartmentofEducationcannotfoldarmswhilematricresultsremainbelowtheaverageforthecountryasawhole.

The DoE has implemented a strategy that focuses on Grade 12 teacher support. The strategy concentrates on the

developmentofresources,supplementarytuition,andenhancedassessmentinterventionsthatwereanticipatedtoimpact

positivelyonthe2013NSClearneroutcomes.

Qualityineducation,asakeyfactorinupliftingeducation,isillusivewhenconsideredsuperficiallyagainstprovincialmatric

scores.Ithastobeunderstoodwithinaprovince'shistoricalandsocialcomplexities.ProvincialparticularitiesintheEastern

Capesuchas implementingeducationallysoundlanguagemediumpractices,attemptingtofurtherprofessionalisethe

bureaucracy,developingtransformationalleadershipfromschooltoheadoffice.Viewingeducationasapublicgoodto

benefitsocietywhereteachingandlearningareatthe“epi-centre”ofthesystem.

Moreconcretely,thepointsraisedhereaboutleadership,languagemediumpracticesandthecontentandmethodof

deliveringthecurriculum,allpointtothekindofteacherweenvisage.Weneedtoinvestindevelopingteacherswhoare

knowledgeable,caringandcommittedtoabuildingadifferentkindofsociety.

WroteAchieved%Achieved Wrote Achieved%Achieved Wrote Achieved%Achieved Wrote Achieved%AchievedTOTAL 64090 37364 58.3 65359 37997 58.1 63989 39443 61.8 72138 46840 61.9

Butterworth 3 339 1 559 46.7 3 813 1 746 45.8 3 925 2 115 53.9 4 407 2 596 58.9

Cofmvaba 1 746 995 57.0 1 379 955 69.3 1 560 1 131 72.5 1 839 1 300 70.7

Cradock 747

563

75.4

814

601

73.8

896

648

72.3

853

627

73.5

Dutywa 3 146

1 627

51.7

3 186

1 617

50.8

3 188

1 625

51.0

3 540

2 152

60.8

East London 5 608

3 754

66.9

6 284

4 006

63.7

5 811

3 995

68.7

6 138

4 488

73.1

Fort Beaufort 1 986

874

44.0

1 927

804

41.7

1 857

830

44.7

1 911

1 082

56.6

Graaff-Reinet 814

584

71.7

810

571

70.5

724

517

71.4

824

557

67.6

Grahamstown 901

579

64.3

904

626

69.2

861

583

67.7

1 060

662

62.5

King Williams Town 5 112

2 701

52.8

4 984

2 864

57.5

4 977

2 830

56.9

5 232

3 414

65.3

Lady Frere 1 249

756

60.5

1 131

760

67.2

1 323

833

63.0

1 417

942

66.5

Libode 4 891

2 295

46.9

5 772

2 299

39.8

3 653

2 169

59.4

5 580

3 356

60.1

Lusikisiki 2 497

1 508

60.4

2 978

1 739

58.4

3 592

2 133

59.4

3 792

2 240

59.1

Maluti 1 427

990

69.4

1 331

955

71.8

1 707

1 227

71.9

1 799

1 267

70.4

Mbizana 2 634

1 312

49.8

2 929

1 609

54.9

2 931

1 689

57.6

3 210

1 885

58.7

MT Fletcher 1 374

755

54.9

1 183

810

68.5

1 351

911

67.4

1 654

1 081

65.4

MT Frere 1 916

1 011

52.8

2 371

1 118

47.2

2 350

1 166

49.6

2 329

1 370

58.8

Mthatha 5 531

3 469

62.7

5 464

3 464

63.4

5 690

3 739

65.7

6 718

4 518

67.3

Ngcobo 1 180

776

65.8

1 312

918

70.0

1 503

910

60.5

1 729

1 174

67.9

Port Elizabeth 8 147

5 233

64.2

7 012

4 755

67.8

6 877

4 890

71.1

7 575

5 609

74.0

Queenstown 2 815 1 659 58.9 2 780 1 588 57.1 2 559 1 587 62.0 2 732 1 800 65.9

Qumbu 1 905 1 085 57.0 1 748 1 039 59.4 2 107 1 035 49.1 2 547 1 339 52.6 Sterspurit 2 110

1 171

55.5

2 140

1 050

49.1

1 996

1 120

56.1

2 133

1 219

57.1

Uitenhage 3 015

2 108

69.9

3 107

2 103

67.7

2 551

1 760

69.0

3 119

2 162

69.3

2010 2011 2012 2013

Eastern Cape Grade 12 pass rate in selected education districts: 2010-2013ANNEXURE

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