Speaking at a keynote address in Centurion on Monday, Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga finally clarified her reasoning behind the “20% maths pass rate” and warned South Africans against\u00a0falling into trap of making maths the “be-all and end-all” of education system.<\/p>\n
This follows an executive decision made by\u00a0Motshekga at the end of 2016, which would allow\u00a0Grade 7, 8 and 9 pupils in South Africa\u00a0to obtain as little as 20%<\/a><\/strong> in mathematics\u00a0and still progress to the next year of learning.<\/p>\n “I can assure South Africans that nobody of sane mind can argue against the importance of mathematics education\u201a or mathematics and science-based careers,” said Motshekga.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all honesty\u201a we came to the policy decision to let thousands of learners progress to the next grade without having passed mathematics, because the effects of grade repetition are dire.”<\/p>\n She noted that the Basic Education Department used scientific research when deciding to lower the pass rate, stating that when repeating a grade, pupils would lose interest\u201a drop out\u201a become problematic\u201a and “act out”.<\/p>\n Motshekga also noted that the decision was once-off and was unlikely to happen again.<\/p>\n “We are alive to the fact that grade repetition enormously increases inefficiencies in the system as a whole. In short, there are no 20 percent promotional requirements anywhere in our system”.<\/p>\n
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