Article: Matric pass rate improved in 2012

I just cannot believe that not knowing 2 out of every three things you should know is still good enough for a pass.
 
JungleBoy said:
Forcing learners into subjects that they don't have the aptitude for is counterproductive as failure leads to low self esteem. The world is not uniform and Maths/Science are not the only fields of study.
Click to expand...

Lack of a proper education system & well trained teachers does not equal a lack of aptitude on the pupils part.

Lets look at this along the lines of former model C schools (& private schools) or whatever they are called and then lets compare them to the mostly 'black' schools. I'm willing to bet my nuts that the 'C/private' schools have a pretty decent pass rate for maths compared to the 'black' schools where I suspect math lit will be more prominent. This is not because black people can't do math but because the education system in this country has failed the kids. The majority of kids CAN do math, saying hey they don't have the aptitude is BS & kinda like saying you are stupid, don't expect to much for yourself in life and you won't amount to much beyond a grocery packer etc. Now you tell which one leads to lower self esteem?

Why is passing math a problem all of a sudden for so many people? In my day you had to do math and the majority did pass it. Did the kids get dumber or did the system get broken.

Sorry I don't agree with your view on this as I have higher expectations for the kids.
 
ponder said:
Lack of a proper education system & well trained teachers does not equal a lack of aptitude on the pupils part.

Lets look at this along the lines of former model C schools (& private schools) or whatever they are called and then lets compare them to the mostly 'black' schools. I'm willing to bet my nuts that the 'C/private' schools have a pretty decent pass rate for maths compared to the 'black' schools where I suspect math lit will be more prominent. This is not because black people can't do math but because the education system in this country has failed the kids. The majority of kids CAN do math, saying hey they don't have the aptitude is BS & kinda like saying you are stupid, don't expect to much for yourself in life and you won't amount to much beyond a grocery packer etc. Now you tell which one leads to lower self esteem?

Why is passing math a problem all of a sudden for so many people? In my day you had to do math and the majority did pass it. Did the kids get dumber or did the system get broken.

Sorry I don't agree with your view on this as I have higher expectations for the kids.
Click to expand...

Kids can't do maths nowadays because the foundations are not there. Basic arithmetic is something they have to think about, instead of something that is ingrained and etched into their brains forever.
Times tables? I remember by Standard 3 we had to have all the times tables up to 12 in our heads, ready for instant recall. Now I know kids in grade 8 who still have to think about "what is 7x6", and still get the wrong number.

We didn't get access to calculators until we did trigonometry. Now, kids can add stuff on a calculator in grade 6 ...

Shaky foundations = collapse later.
 
Sinbad said:
Kids can't do maths nowadays because the foundations are not there. Basic arithmetic is something they have to think about, instead of something that is ingrained and etched into their brains forever.
Times tables? I remember by Standard 3 we had to have all the times tables up to 12 in our heads, ready for instant recall. Now I know kids in grade 8 who still have to think about "what is 7x6", and still get the wrong number.

We didn't get access to calculators until we did trigonometry. Now, kids can add stuff on a calculator in grade 6 ...

Shaky foundations = collapse later.
Click to expand...

You sure it wasn't earlier than that?

Anyway the system is broken, that is why the majority of kids can't do math. Those who lack aptitude make up a very small percentage.
 
ponder said:
Lack of a proper education system & well trained teachers does not equal a lack of aptitude on the pupils part.

Lets look at this along the lines of former model C schools (& private schools) or whatever they are called and then lets compare them to the mostly 'black' schools. I'm willing to bet my nuts that the 'C/private' schools have a pretty decent pass rate for maths compared to the 'black' schools where I suspect math lit will be more prominent. This is not because black people can't do math but because the education system in this country has failed the kids. The majority of kids CAN do math, saying hey they don't have the aptitude is BS & kinda like saying you are stupid, don't expect to much for yourself in life and you won't amount to much beyond a grocery packer etc. Now you tell which one leads to lower self esteem?

Why is passing math a problem all of a sudden for so many people? In my day you had to do math and the majority did pass it. Did the kids get dumber or did the system get broken.

Sorry I don't agree with your view on this as I have higher expectations for the kids.
Click to expand...
I don't know the detailed breakdown of the statistics so I cannot confirm or deny your assertions. However this year's top 3 Maths perfomers are all from Limpopo, the worst performing province. Also, 15 of the top 27 are from Limpopo. The mind boggles.
It just goes to show that the gifted will always rise above the odds.
 
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/no-matric-passes-at-seven-schools-1.1447574#.UOafxW89PL8

Johannesburg - At seven high schools, nobody passed matric.

One of those schools is in Gauteng, two are in Limpopo, two in KwaZulu-Natal, and there is one in each of the Eastern Cape and North West.

The worst school was Mangala Senior Secondary in Libode in the Eastern Cape, where all 56 matrics failed.

In North West, at Sunshine Christian Private in Bojanala, all 27 matrics failed. In Gauteng, the sole matric at Wavelength High in Joburg south failed.

In KwaZulu-Natal, at Ntuli Combined in Ilembe, none of the 16 matrics passed, and at Kwadonsa in Umkhanyakude, the sole candidate failed.

In Limpopo’s Capricorn district, at Alapha Secondary, none of the 20 matrics passed, and at Lehlasedi Combined, none of the nine passed.

Those are among the 126 schools that couldn’t manage a pass rate of even 20 percent. Another 485 schools managed 20 to 39 percent, and 1 224 (a fifth of all schools) had pass rates of 40 to 59 percent.

The zero-pass-rate schools are a tiny fraction of the 6 591 public high schools that wrote the exams.

There were other schools that managed to pass a few pupils but whose results were just as bad.

For example, at Mpingana Senior Secondary in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, 82 of the 86 pupils who wrote matric failed. At Mpontsheng Secondary in Ekurhuleni, only 81 of 167 matrics passed. It’s one of Gauteng’s worst results.

A badly written note from the principal on Mpontsheng’s website indicates the situation there.

“There were number of challenges that I encountered when I took over as head master; but; unfortunately they were resolved,” says the bizarre note.

“The academic results of the school turn to fluctuate on number of occasions, nevertheless in 2003 we obtained 69 percent pass rate. These results were good because educators were committed and willingly wish to make a difference. But immediately after that; We dropped because of lack of commitment and absenteeism on the part of the educators.”
Click to expand...
 
JungleBoy said:
However this year's top 3 Maths perfomers are all from Limpopo, the worst performing province. Also, 15 of the top 27 are from Limpopo. The mind boggles.
It just goes to show that the gifted will always rise above the odds.
Click to expand...

Do you know which schools they went to? Did they have extra lessons outside of school etc
Maybe they worked really hard at it (some kids do work their asses off) which has nothing to do with gifted.
 
ponder said:
That one about english communication/writing everybody has to do these days :p
Click to expand...
Don't badmouth those modules; they're trying their best to fix another one of the many problems of basic education that gets propagated to tertiary level.
 
JungleBoy, that's why maths standard grade was there. It was already substantially easier than higher grade, but it wasn't primary school level. You're setting people up for failure if you consistently lower the standards. I agree that people don't know what they're going to do after school by matric. Some have it figured out, but I'd venture that most don't. You can still move up the ladder from SG maths, but maths literacy is a hole you'll have immense difficulty getting out of, thus severely limiting the directions you can go in.
 
ponder said:
Do you know which schools they went to? Did they have extra lessons outside of school etc
Maybe they worked really hard at it (some kids do work their asses off) which has nothing to do with gifted.
Click to expand...

Mbilwi Seconday School in Sibasa.
 
OrbitalDawn said:
JungleBoy, that's why maths standard grade was there. It was already substantially easier than higher grade, but it wasn't primary school level. You're setting people up for failure if you consistently lower the standards. I agree that people don't know what they're going to do after school by matric. Some have it figured out, but I'd venture that most don't. You can still move up the ladder from SG maths, but maths literacy is a hole you'll have immense difficulty getting out of, thus severely limiting the directions you can go in.
Click to expand...

The fact is many learners left matric without any Maths at all. They neither took HG or SG. I have said before that Maths was not compulsory (at least not when I was at school). Maths Literacy is NOT a substitute for Standard Grade Maths, in fact it is meant for those that would have avoided Maths altogether.
 
Last edited:
JungleBoy said:
The fact is many learners left matric without any Maths at all. They neither took HG or SG. I have said before that Maths was not compulsory (at least not when I was at school). Maths Literacy is NOT a substitute for Standard Grade Maths, in fact it is meant for those that would have avoided Maths altogether.
Click to expand...
With Maths Literacy you may as well have no maths at all.
 
porchrat said:
With Maths Literacy you may as well have no maths at all.
Click to expand...

Sorry, disagree strongly.

With maths lit you at least know how to do basic stuff like working out areas, percentages, etc...
 
DreamKing said:
Master of Science.

may be you can tell me which course from department of science didn't have "maths". :p
Click to expand...
Firstly it is a Faculty of Science, not a Department of Science and secondly a lot of the so called "soft sciences" in the Biology track side of science don't need maths and if they do will only require it in the first year.

Having a tertiary education in the sciences you should be aware of this.
 
Last edited:
ponder said:
You sure it wasn't earlier than that?

Anyway the system is broken, that is why the majority of kids can't do math. Those who lack aptitude make up a very small percentage.
Click to expand...

Std One, it was required that you could rattle off your times tables and random ones, up to 12x12.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X