The class of 2017 matric results were presented in a misleading and overtly positive manner‚ according to experts. When announcing the results‚ Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga spoke of poor schools doing better than wealthy schools‚ lauded the Free State as the top performing province and ignored the skyrocketing number of high school and university drop outs. But experts have called her out. Stellenbosch University academic and educational economist Nic Spaull noted on his blog that the Free State had a huge number of pupils drop out during and after Grade 10. He argues the province achieved the top pass rate of 86% of pupils passing‚ because those who would fail never made it through to Grade 12. If one looks at the number of Grade 10s‚ who remained in the system and passed matric‚ Free State only had a pass rate of 36%. The best provinces are in fact Gauteng and the Western Cape. If one looks at the number of Grade 10s who remained in the system and passed matric‚ Wes...
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