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Fixing the South African Education Crisis
No other African country spends as much as 5.4% of gross domestic product on education. No-fee schools constitute 64% of all South African schools in which, theoretically, learners do not pay.
Despite this substantial investment, the evidence is consistent over a number of years that our education system is one of the least productive in the region. The most common indicators show a repeat pattern of low productivity: enrolments drop sharply from near-universal attendance up to age 15 to only 78% for 18-year-olds; grade repetition remains high, starting in the first grade and with 51.5% of pupils repeating one or more years in grades 10 to 12; more than 4% of students across grades miss a year or more of school; close to 20% of learners in the senior years of high school are above the age-grade norms for their grade; and drop-out rates are very high as learners move into high school, with 20% of 18-year-olds not in school and not completing grade 12.
The picture looks much bleaker when performance outcomes are taken into account. It must be emphasised that senior certificate (formerly matric) results are almost irrelevant as a measure of the effectiveness of the school system. Take the 2010 results: 173030 candidates who wrote the grade 12 exam failed; less than a quarter of the candidates (23.5%) qualify, on paper, to do a first degree at university; fewer pupils (by a margin of 8756) passed mathematics than in the previous year; and fewer than half the pupils who start grade 1 reach grade 12.
- Events Calendar
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JulSep 
- PUKU Chat Latest
March 23, 2011, 10:28 am
Nonikiwe - Editor is reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
March 12, 2011, 10:28 pm
lamoesther on Nigerians Shocked at NECO Examination's 2% Pass RateI will rather look at the bigger picture of the [...]
March 3, 2011, 1:19 pm
Chelsea is reading Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
February 8, 2011, 8:00 am
Chelsea is reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
December 29, 2010, 2:30 pm
paulineblah on Bontle is reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman CapoteHii ( paulineblah@yahoo.in ) I saw your profile today and became [...]
December 29, 2010, 2:29 pm
paulineblah on Nonikiwe - Editor is reading The Seed Children by Bontekanye BotumileHii ( paulineblah@yahoo.in ) I saw your profile today and became [...]
October 27, 2010, 11:46 am
Nonikiwe - Editor is reading The Seed Children by Bontekanye Botumile
September 8, 2010, 11:29 am
Bontle is reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
August 27, 2010, 3:31 pm
Coin is reading 1984 by George Orwell
August 27, 2010, 3:21 pm
Coin on Bontle is reading A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee WilliamsHow did you find it?
