Cape Town - The 98.42% matric pass rate for the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) private schools comes as no surprise, according to academics and education experts.
The IEB results released on Wednesday show a pass rate slightly higher than last year’s 98.39%.
All of the IEB National Senior Certificate (NSC) candidates who passed achieved good enough grades to proceed to tertiary education at one of the three levels.
All of the IEB National Senior Certificate (NSC) candidates who passed achieved good enough grades to proceed to tertiary education at one of the three levels.
About 89.32% of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, compared to 89.2% in 2021.At least 7.52% qualified for entry to diploma study, compared to 7.82% in 2021, and 1.57% compared to 1.37% in 2021 achieved entry for study at a higher certificate level.
The assessment body saw 12 580 full-time candidates and 945 part-time candidates at 232 exam centres write the IEB NSC exams in October and November 2022.
This was less than the 12 857 full-time candidates and 968 part-time candidates in 2021.
IEB results are being published after the quality assurance examination board, Umalusi, announces the approval of the release of the 2021 NSC exam results on Monday.
The Department of Basic Education is expected to release the highly anticipated public schools results on Thursday.
“The performance of the 2022 cohort of students has been outstanding. There is enough credible research on the impact of Covid-19 on the educational aspects of children to provide insight into where we are at, in coming out of the pandemic almost three years later.
“It is fair to say that this cohort of learners were hardest hit by the impact of the pandemic when it broke in 2020 in their Grade 10 year.
“Various strategies have been employed to try and mitigate these.
“This includes moving teaching online, pen and paper distance education, catch-up programmes, weekend school lessons. Some more successful than others,” IEB chief executive officer Anne Oberholzer said.
Oberholzer said that while this class had seen how previous Grade 12 classes managed to adapt to a new reality, they missed out the most in their Grade 10 and Grade 11 years, which were fundamentally important to success in Grade 12 performance.
“The social and emotional impact of the pandemic on learners cannot be overlooked, the impact of lockdown, the absence of normal social interaction with friends and engagement in the social activities of teenagers should not be underestimated.
“The dedication of the teaching community to implement various strategies to support their classes during this black swan event is exemplary. “The IEB congratulates the candidates, their teachers and parents for a job extraordinarily well done,” said Oberholzer.
The closing date for applications for remarking is expected to be on January 31, and the results from re-marking will be released on March 1.
Applications for the pupils who qualify to enrol for the May/June exams will be open from March 1 until March 15.
According to the deputy academic leader of the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Professor Vimolan Mudaly, in private and independent schools the improved pass rate was “easily expected”.
“There is a greater level of accountability in these schools. In the public school sector, on the other hand, an increase in the pass rate is not anticipated. We want to see our learners perform better but they are faced with so many difficulties during the course of the year that it becomes almost impossible for many to even complete their exams. Community protests and crime also have a serious negative effect on these pass rates,” said Mudaly.
He believes that it will take another two to three years for public schools to settle down after the Covid-19 disruptions.
“Hopefully, with carefully planned interventions, schools can overcome their problems sooner rather than later. The pass rate of the IEB schools does not reflect the growth, development and success in public schools. The public schools are still seriously constrained by a lack of resources and humane facilities. Schools are dilapidated, and basic human requirements are still not available. Schools operate under difficult conditions and the recent years of Covid-19 disruption might show a reduced pass rate,” said Mudaly.
UKZN Professor Labby Ramrathan said the increase in the pass rate for private schools was marginal.
“Learners from independent schools … spend more learning time. I expect a marginal increase in the pass rate for learners in the public school system. There has not been any substantial changes in public schools to support learners, and as such the pass rate would be very similar to the 2021 pass rates,” he said.
Education activist Hendrick Makaneta said generally the IEB schools were privileged with all necessary tools, hence the improvement.
“Given the fact that pupils in public school also received support, including weekend and after school classes, I expected the performance to also have a slight increase,” he said.
Cape Times