A PERSPECTIVE ON THE EASTERN CAPE

Transcription

1 A PERSPECTIVE ON THE EASTERN CAPE 2013 MATRIC RESULTS Contact ECSECC Physical Address: 12 Gloucester Road, Vincent, East London, 5247 Postal Address: Postnet Vincent, P/Bag X9063, Suite No 302, Vincent, 5247 Telephone: +27 (0) Fax: +27 (0)

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction...2 Background...2 Statistical analysis Overview of the results Enrolment Subject performance and level of achievement Candidates qualifying for bachelor degrees Pass rate by gender...8 Factors possibly affecting results Quality in education Historical and political factors...11 How can we respond to these issues?...11 Conclusion...12 List of Tables Table 1: Pass rate within different percentage categories, Table 2: Full-time and part-time NSC enrolments per province in Table 3: Number and % of full-time learners who wrote and pass the NSC examination in Table 4: Eastern Cape subject performance and level of achievement in Table 5: Percentage and trend of candidates who qualified for Bachelor studies: Table 6: Overall achievement and candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, Table 7: Education budget: learners and per learner funding inherited by the Eastern Cape Department of Education 1994/ List of figures Figure 1. Grade 12 pass rate: Eastern Cape versus South Africa, Figure 2: Grade 12 pass rates by province, Figure 3: Matric pass rate by area, Figure 4 Number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies, Figure 5: NSC examination pass rates by gender in the Eastern Cape...8 Figure 6: Candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, Annexure Annexure 1: Grade 12 pass rates by area, 2013

3 KEY FINDINGS The matric pass rate in the country and in the province has significantly improved. In the Eastern Cape it improved from 50.6% in 2008 to 64.9% in 2013 while for the country as a whole it improved from 62.2% in 2008 to 78.2% in Such achievement has not been reached over the past decade. While acknowledging that matric pass rate has improved, achievement in the Eastern Cape has remained the lowest in the country. In 2013, Male pass rate (68.5%) was higher than that of Female (62.1%). The performance gap between Male and Female widened from 0.6 percentage points in 2008 to 6.4 percentage points in The top five education district that performed 70% and above in the Eastern were: Port Elizabeth, Cradock, East London, Cofimvaba, and Maluti. In 2013, the Eastern Cape contributed 13.5% of total NSC enrolment, 12.8% of all who wrote the NSC examination, and 10.0% of all who passed the NSC examination. These contributions are in line with the province' s share of 13% of the national population. Full time enrolment increase by 8.4% in 2013, an indication that efforts to enhance access to education in the Eastern Cape are bearing fruit. In 2013, 3.9% of schools in the Eastern Cape (8.3% for RSA) performed at exactly 100% and 24.0% of schools in the Eastern Cape (49.0% for RSA) performed between 80% to 100% STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is regarded as a priority area by the Department of Education. However, between 2010 and 2013, there was a decline in the number of pupils who wrote mathematics (6.5%) and physics (7.1%). Should this trend persist, the technical skills pipeline will continue not to see improvements. In 2013, the Eastern Cape had learners who dropped-out in Grade 12 (4% drop-out rate, the highest in the country). There were learners who failed (35.1% failure rate, also the highest in the country). Those who dropped-out and those who failed make up a total of potential repeaters (37.5% potential repetition rate). Some of these young people might get discouraged and add to the pool of youth unemployed and out of learning institutions. 1

4 1. Introduction This report provides a perspective on the Eastern Cape 2013 Matric results. It captures the performance of the candidates who wrote the National Senior Certificate after twelve years of schooling. The report draws data from the National Senior Certificate (NSC). To amplify certain results and seek explanations we also draw on the Annual National Assessments (ANA). The result shows that although the Eastern Cape has improved the Grade 12 pass rate from 50.6% in 2008 to 64.9 % in 2013, its achievement remains the lowest in the country. The report presents a statistical overview of the 2013 Matric results; explore factors possibly affecting the results and suggests a response to issues affecting education. 2. Background Matric results evoke much fanfare every year as it symbolises the litmus test for the state of the education system. Announcements about the progression of pass rates as well as relative performance of respective provinces are always commented on. The National Senior Certificate 2013 (NSC) pass rate of 64.9% for the Eastern Cape and 78.2% for South Africa are considered significant achievements. The matric results also tend to bring into focus how the state performs as far as providing education is concerned and how such education enables, or disables, economic growth. The relationship between education, training and how big industries are supported with skills are among the issues that the matric results moment raise. Thus matric results symbolise much more than a mere announcement of whether there is an improvement in pass rates, it symbolises a range of political, social and economic relations. One set of these relations have bearing on the state and its role in providing education for economic ends. The data in this report shows that the Eastern Cape is performing well below other provinces. This report seeks to contextualise the Eastern Cape's results. 3. Statistical analysis According to the technical report of the Department of Education (2014) the Eastern Cape has produced the lowest matric pass rate over the past decade (See Figure 1). This report offers a statistical analysis and a set of possible factors to hopefully deepen our understanding of why the Eastern Cape's matric results fall behind the other provinces. 3.1 Overview of the results The Eastern Cape witnessed a declining matric pass rate in , with a turnaround in ; giving rise to a V-shape trend. Between 2003 and 2013, the Eastern Cape followed the national trend, but was consistently below the national average by plus minus 10 percentage points. Figure 1. Grade 12 pass rate: Eastern Cape versus South Africa, EC RSA

5 We see in Figure 1 that Grade 12 pass rates in the country improved by 16.0 percentage points from 62.2% in 2008 to 78.2% in In the Eastern Cape, the Grade 12 pass rate also improved by 14.3 percentage points from 50.6% in 2008 to 64.9% in However, it has remained low compared to the average pass rate in the country. Close correlation between the Eastern Cape and South Africa's performances shows that the poor results are not only a provincial problem, but also a national systemic issue. Figure 2: Grade 12 pass rates by province, The performance of NSC examination pass rate is unequal among provinces, a pattern which is manifest among schools as well. Figure 2 shows that in 2013, Grade 12 pass rates ranged from as low as 64.9% for the Eastern Cape, to 87% in three provinces, namely Gauteng, North West, and Free State. It averaged to 78.2% for the country as a whole. Figure 3: Matric pass rate by area, 2013 Port Elizabeth Cradock East London Cofimvaba Maluti Uitenhage Ngobo Graaff-Reinet Mthatha Lady Frere Queenstown MT Fletcher KWT Grahamstown Dutywa Libode Lusikisiki Butterworth MT Frere Mbizana Sterspruit Fort Beaufort Qumbu

6 The performance of NSC examination pass rate is not only unequal among provinces but also among various education districts. The five districts that performed 70% and above in 2013 in the Eastern are Port Elizabeth, Cradock, East London, Cofmvaba, and Maluti. The lowest performance was in Fort Beaufort and Qumbu (See Figure 3 and Annexure 1). A different picture emerges when we compare the performance between 2010 and Areas where pass rates improved by 10 percentage points and above between 2010 and 2013 were: Cofimvaba, Libode, Fort Beaufort, King William Town, Butterworth and Port Elizabeth. Areas where pass rate declined between 2010 and 2013 were: Qumbu, Graaff-Reinet, Cradock, and Grahamstown (See Annexure 1). Hence, a blanket statement about poor performance in rural areas cannot be made. Looking at the matric performance in South Africa, the province and the education districts, it appears that the intraprovincial differences are as large as inter-provincial disparities. Similarly, as expected, the two metros in the Eastern Cape performed very well. Table 1: Pass rate within different percentage categories, 2013 Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape Total RSA Number of schools Exactly 0% % Exactly 100% % 0 to 19.9% % 20 to 39.9% % 40 to 59.9% % 60 to 79.9% % 80 to 100% % Table 1 shows that in 2013, almost a third (31.3%) of schools in the Eastern Cape scored between 60% and 79.9% pass rates. A quarter (24.0%) of schools in the province scored between 80% and 100% pass rates. In the province, 3.9% of schools score a exactly 100%. Overall, almost half (49.0%) of schools in the country as a whole score between 80% and 100%. 4

7 3.2 Enrolment According to the Department of Basic Education, the 2013 National Senior Certificate examination has been the largest since 2008 with a total enrolment of , which includes full-time candidates and part-time candidates. The Eastern Cape full-time and part-time NSC enrolments account for 13.5% of total enrolment in South Africa. This enrolment contribution (13.5%) mirrors the Eastern Cape population's contribution (13.0%) to South Africa's total population. Table 2: Full-time and part-time NSC enrolments per province in 2013 Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape Total for RSA Full-time Part-time Total Difference Full-time Full-time enrolment growth rate % 13.2 % 8.8 % 13.5 % 6.9 % 4.5 % 7.1 % 15.2 % 7.0 % 9.3 % Table 2 shows that between 2012 and 2013, the full-time NSC enrolment grew by learners or 9.3% in South Africa and by 5799 learners or 8.4% in the Eastern Cape. This growth is an indication that efforts to enhance access to education are bearing fruit. The increased enrolment in Grade 12 is a result of increasing enrolment in the lower grades. The growth in NSC enrolments was highest in the Northern Cape (15.2%) and lowest in Mpumalanga (4.5%). Emerging from Table 3 are issues of drop-out, failure rate and repetition rate. Of the full-time candidates who enrolled in the Eastern Cape for the NSC examination in 2013 (Table 2), candidates wrote the examination (Table 3). This makes a difference of full-time candidates (4%) who enrolled for the NSC but did not write the examination. The 4% difference in the Eastern Cape (2.6% for RSA) was the highest in the country. This high drop-out rate has an impact on youth vulnerability and reasons for drop-out needs further investigation. It is important to ascertain where these learners who drop-out go to. Do they add to the number of youth who are unemployed and out of learning institutions? Table 3 shows that the Eastern Cape accounted for 12.8% of all who wrote the NSC examination but it represented only 10.0% of all who passed Grade 12. Of the learners who wrote, learners passed (64.9%) and learners failed (35.1%). This failure rate is the highest in the country. To get potential repetition rate, we relook at the learners who enrolled for NSC examination against the learners who passed. There is a difference of potential repeaters (37.5% potential repetition rate). ). The DoE does not have a system to re-accommodate the repeaters within the public schooling system. They have to find for themselves other learning institutions, which are normally private institutions, where they can get assistance to prepare to re-write and improve their matric results. The number of candidates who enrolled and those who wrote the NSC examination in relation to how many passed for each province shows consistently that thousands of learners do not matriculate across all provinces. 5

8 Table 3: Number and % of full-time learners who wrote and pass the NSC examination in 2013 Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape TOTAL RSA Learners who wrote Number % Share Learners who pass Number % Share % Achieved Subject performance and level of achievement in the Eastern Cape For analytical purposes, subjects can be grouped in three categories, namely: Commerce (Business studies, Economics, Accounting); social sciences (Life science, History, Geography); and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Subject performance affects demand and supply of skills. A shortage in engineering skills and poor performance in STEM could in a long run cause the province to import these skills from elsewhere, while the province's unemployment rate remains high. Mathematics and physical science (part of STEM) are being identified by the Department of Basic Education as priority subjects. However, these are also the subjects where most learners' performance is mediocre. Table 4 Eastern Cape subject performance and level of achievement in 2013 Number of learners who wrote Mathematics Physical Science Accounting Business Studies Economics Geography History Life science Math Literacy Number of learners who achieved 30% to 100% Percentage of learners who achieved 30% to 100% Number of learners who achieved 40% to 100% Percentage of learners who achieved 40% to 100% Between 2010 and 2013, the number of pupils who wrote mathematics in the Eastern Cape dropped by 6.5% from in 2010 to in 2011 and from in 2012 to in Those who passed mathematics with 40% and above fluctuated between 21.3% in 2010 to 19.6% in 2011 and from 21.9%in 2012 and 26.9% in 2013 (See Table 4). Similarly, between 2010 and 2013, the number of pupils who wrote physical science in the Eastern Cape dropped by 7.1% from in 2010 to in 2011 and from in 2012 to in Those who passed mathematics with 40% and above improved to 23.5%; 25.9%; 27.0% and 29.9% respectively in 2010, 2011, 2012 and Picking up one subject in each of the three areas (commerce, social science and STEM), Table 6 shows that 57.2% of pupils who wrote accounting (commerce) attained 30% and above; 81.9% of pupils who wrote history (social science) attained 6

9 30% and above; and 43.4% of pupils who wrote pure mathematic (STEM) attained 30% and above. If schooling system/performance is weak in a specific areas, the skills pipeline in that area will be affected and its impact will be felt on the economy as a whole. 3.4 Quantifying number of candidates for bachelor degrees The Eastern Cape graduated bachelor degree candidates in This is more than Northern Cape, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga. Eastern Cape ranks fifth in graduation of bachelor candidates compared to other provinces, it is however the third most populous province. But despite being raked the last in terms of NSC results, the Eastern Cape continues to make a significant contribution to the pool of skilled people in South Africa. The province needs a skill retention strategy that ensure optimal utilisation of skills and prevent outmigration of young, educated and skilled people. According to the Census 2011, the Easter Cape had the highest outmigration rate. Although the Free State has the highest pass rate in the country (87.4%), its contribution to the number of learners who are eligible for Bachelor studies is significantly lower compared to the Easter Cape, due to the province being smaller. Of those eligible for Bachelor Studies, the Northern Cape has 2424 candidates while the Eastern Cape has (See Figure 4). Figure 4 Number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies, ,202 45, ,104 35, , ,000 8, ,000 12,954 13,686 MPL EC 18,781 19,477 LMP WP 10,166 2,424 NC FS NW GT KZN Table 5 shows that between 2008 and 2013 the percentage of learners eligible to further their studies at a university level increased significantly by 10.5 percentage points in South Africa and by 4.6 percentage points in the Eastern Cape. Put differently, of the candidates who wrote the 2013 NSC examination in the Eastern Cape, candidates or 19% qualified for further studies at university. In the Western Cape 40.9% qualify for bachelors compared to 30.6% for the country. This means that for every 10 learners who wrote the examination in the Eastern Cape, only 2 become eligible for university programme. In South Africa, 3 out of every 10 learners writing the exam qualify for university. 7

10 Table 5: Percentage and trend of candidates who qualified for Bachelor studies: % Difference ( ) % 26.6% 24.3% 23.5% Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape TOTAL RSA 3.5 Pass rate by Gender In the Eastern Cape, the Grade 12 pass rate performance is unequal between males and females. Figure 5: NSC examination pass rates by gender in the Eastern Cape Female Male The gap between male and female performance is larger in 2013 compared to what it was in In South Africa (2013), it was higher for males (80.0%) compared to females (76.8%). In the Eastern Cape, it was 68.5% for males and 62.1% for females (See Figure 5). These results are in contrast to the significantly higher number of females (40 128) compared to males (32 010) who wrote the NSC examination. A similar pattern occurs when examining the learners who qualify for Bachelor studies, particularly in the poorer provinces. 8

11 Figure 6: Candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, FEMALE MALE pe Ca te rn au te W es No G rth Na lu Zu Kw a ng t ta W es l e at St ee Fr pu M er rth m n al an Ca ga pe po po m Li No Ea st er n Ca pe 10.0 Possible reasons could be pregnancy related, or related to support from parents and guardians for girl s education. Girls continue to have more responsibilities for childcare and housework and less time for studying than boys. These gendered inequalities in education continue into adulthood and gendered inequalities in the labour market, the home and society more broadly. Gender inequalities must be addressed in the schooling system, as well as through changing gendered power relations in society. Table 6: Overall achievement and candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies by gender, 2013 Female (%) Overall Achievement Eastern Cape Limpopo Northern Cape Mpumalanga Free State KwaZulu-Natal North West Gauteng Western Cape RSA Male (%) Qualified for Bachelor Studies Overall Achievement Qualified for Bachelor Studies

12 4. Factors possibly affecting results There are many factors that can possibly affect matric results. They range from historical, political, socio-economic factors, language, infrastructure, curriculum, gender, quality in education, teachers and learners, etc In this section, we briefly look at two factors, namely, the quality in education and historical factors. 4.1 Historical and political factors The apartheid system deliberately set out to undermine people's human worth and laws to subjugate people translated into all aspects of life, including education. Manifestations of apartheid persist in terms of academic performance, infrastructure and settlement demographics. Apart from an emerging middle class layer, the large majority of people who were oppressed during apartheid remain mired in similar social conditions in post-apartheid South Africa. Table 7 shows the separate education departments of the former regime. It exposes the uneven distribution of resources in education. Unequal planning excluded the majority of people from the upper echelons of the economy. Resource deprivation accompanied by imposed racial identities were ways to deny the majority of people of a decent education. Desegregation of schooling after 1994 did not do away with the racial identities imposed on schools. Such identities largely correlate with socio-economic and social status and location. Table 7 shows how resourcing and racial categorisation, in the form of separate education departments entrenched low quality and uneven development. In descending order of privilege the departments were as follows; The House of Assembly (HoA) was the institution that represented the most privileged racial group in society followed by House of Delegates (HoD), House of Representatives (HoR) and at the Department of Education and Training (DET). This table represents the apartheid's racial classifications of so called white (HOA), indian (HOD) coloured (HOR), black (DET). These potentially offensive terms are stated apologetically here, to put this table in its historical context. Table 7: Education budget: learners and per learner funding inherited by the Easter Cape Department of Education 1994/1995 HoA HoD HoR DET Transkei Ciskei EC 404,996 9, , ,678 1,663, ,375 3,934,828 Learners 76,079 2, , ,909 1, ,244 2,406,587 Per Learner R5,323 R4,624 R3,576 R2,406 R1,053 R2,056 R1,635 Budget (R 000) Eastern Cape children received roughly one fifth of what was spent on the privileged group in the House of Assembly (HOA), i.e., R1,635 per child compared to R 5,323 per child. Accompanying such unequal allocation were a range of other factors such as an impoverished curriculum and a mentality that, generally speaking, schools socialised children into taking on inferior conceptions of themselves and feeding them into a cheap labour pool. The exception was certain mission schools of the early to mid-20th century that provided high academic standards. However, few people accessed this education and such standards were not obtainable in most schools. The post-apartheid era abolished the apartheid laws and desegregated the schooling system. However much more needs to be done to establish a new historical community. This includes among other things, deracialising society and shaping fresh identities that are characterised by communities themselves owning schools and shaping the schooling experience. 10

13 4.2 Quality in education Access to quality and success in education is at the centre of what needs to be addressed in the education system across the country. By no means does the increase in pass rates mean better access to quality and success in education. Quality in education is rather a set of attributes that refers to a student's ability to think critically and act independently. This means he/she can apply what is learnt to range of contexts which includes the ability to locate yourself in broader society. The education system is not geared, on a number of levels, to develop these two qualities in young people. The education system is based on a second language or on what is often essentially a foreign language. This means that children learn in a language that they, their parents and often the teachers are not fully proficient in. Learning in a second language means that children are not allowed to think creatively and develop intuitively. Literacy is not developed fully in any language, including the first language. It follows then that education is an alienating experience for over 80% of Eastern Cape children. Over 80% of schooling going population in the EC speak isixhosa as their first language. A person's first language provides the code for cultural and intellectual expression. Expression in one's home language allows for spontaneity culturally and cognitively but English is used exclusively as the language to aspire to and to learn in. This contradicts the Language-in-Education Policy (1997) that states learning in ones' home language is the basis for optimal conceptual development. Competence in English is a necessary requirement for a complete education so we have to pursue that as an educational goal; in the very same way African languages, is also necessary for a complete education. The hegemony of English displaces African languages as Languages of learning and teaching from very early on, which is problematic on many levels. Pedagogy level is particularly important here as it places an additional burden on learners who generally struggle on a socio-economic level and; by having to learn in a language medium where they have to struggle with the grammar and vocabulary makes processing concepts and thinking creatively extremely difficult. This crucial factor-the language medium factor- affects the ability of most Eastern Cape children to learn and therefore the quality of education suffers. With a province that manifests a huge disparity between home language (isixhosa, Sotho, Afrikaans) and language medium (English), is one of the factors we raise here. The integral relationship between language medium practices and literacy development enables students to learn more meaningfully. Factors relating to the historical-political context and the extent to which the language medium practices contradict the experiences children bring to classrooms are key in setting the Eastern Cape up for its relative low performance relative to other provinces. Embedded in these two broad areas are organisational cultures that seem to perpetuate volatile leadership, unsupported teachers and less than effective administrative and provisioning systems. Other provinces, particularly the more urban ones, have made easier adjustments to the integration of departments and the associated efficiency and standards of accountability that such a development implies. Human resourcefulness, basic material resources, literacy development, and historical legacy appear unevenly across provinces which is suggestive of how oppression lingers. Comparing the matric results of the respective provinces makes far more sense if it is put in its historical context. Access to quality and success in education is therefore shaped by how historical forces at a provincial level influence possibilities in education. 5 How can we respond to these issues? The extent to which Provincial Education Departments ensure learners readiness to undertake the NSC examination remains of utmost importance. The 2013 intervention strategies focused on Grade 12 teacher support, the development of resources, supplementary tuition, and enhanced assessment interventions that were anticipated to impact positively on the 2013 NSC learner outcomes. The Provincial Education Department also focuses on specific challenges in low performing subjects informed by the previous NSC technical reports. 11

14 Grade 11 and 12 interventions are important for improving results, However, preparation for NSC examination starts at the beginning of the formal schooling system. Indeed it starts with a safe, caring and nurturing infancy and childhood, with an increasing emphasis being placed on Early Childhood Education. Here we raise four critical issues that must be addressed to increases the prospect for quality and success in education in the Eastern Cape. Access: providing access to quality and success in education that addresses historical inequalities along gender, race and class is pivotal to building a better education. Curriculum: delivering a curriculum that is meaningful and that develops the cultural identities that children bring to schools, is central to developing analytical minds and a literate generation. Leadership: foregrounding learning that connects classroom practices to the kind of society that we seek to build is essential to elevate education as a public good for everybody. Accountability: Developing institutional cultures that foster mutual accountability among parents, teachers and students will enable higher levels of functioning at schools, especially higher levels of educational standards. 6 Conclusion In this report, a perspective on the Eastern Cape 2013 matric results were presented. The report revealed that the country's achievement peaked in Such performance has not been reached since Matric results attained in the Eastern Cape also improved significantly. The pass rate in the province was higher for male than for female. Even though the province's achievement was the lowest in the country, enrolment in the Eastern Cape continued to grow considerably, signalling that more youth are accessing learning institutions. The Department of Education cannot fold arms while matric results remain below the average for the country as a whole. The DoE has implemented a strategy that focuses on Grade 12 teacher support. The strategy concentrates on the development of resources, supplementary tuition, and enhanced assessment interventions that were anticipated to impact positively on the 2013 NSC learner outcomes. Quality in education, as a key factor in uplifting education, is illusive when considered superficially against provincial matric scores. It has to be understood within a province's historical and social complexities. Provincial particularities in the Eastern Cape such as implementing educationally sound language medium practices, attempting to further professionalise the bureaucracy, developing transformational leadership from school to head office. Viewing education as a public good to benefit society where teaching and learning are at the epi-centre of the system. More concretely, the points raised here about leadership, language medium practices and the content and method of delivering the curriculum, all point to the kind of teacher we envisage. We need to invest in developing teachers who are knowledgeable, caring and committed to a building a different kind of society. ANNEXURE Eastern Cape Grade 12 pass rate in selected education districts: TOTAL 2011 WroteAchieved % Achieved Wrote Achieved % Achieved Wrote Achieved % Achieved Wrote Achieved % Achieved Butterworth Cofmvaba Cradock Dutywa East London Fort Beaufort Graaff-Reinet Grahamstown King Williams Town Lady Frere Libode Lusikisiki Maluti Mbizana MT Fletcher MT Frere Mthatha Ngcobo Port Elizabeth Queenstown Qumbu Sterspurit Uitenhage