“The Doors of Learning and Culture shall be opened.

”
Freedom Charter, 1955.1

The connection between education and economic and democratic

development is difficult to dispute. Parents the world over believe that

education provides the means through which their children can gain a

better life, a bigger salary, a nicer house. Opportunities for advancement

through education are often distributed unevenly and disadvantage the

people who need it most. Poverty and poor circumstance often place the

attainment of basic education beyond the reach of many. Furthermore

access to education has been used as a form of social control, allowing for

a government to dictate to students at all levels often to maintain their

social, political and economic standing. This was seen best in South Africa

during the years of Apartheid. The formal discrimination ensured that

opportunities through education were restricted to the white community,

and non white, particularly African students struggled to complete school,

and should they have succeeded there were few opportunities to actually

use that education in formal work. Consequently the African National

Congress (ANC) and its allies against apartheid held education as central

to their plans for far reaching social change. The above quote, from the

Freedom Charter2, embodies the notion that equal access to education

had been denied, and that it was a part of the united vision for a post

apartheid South Africa.

1
The Freedom Charter
2
Paul Hudson, "The Freedom Charter and the Theory of National Democratic Revolution "
Transformation 1 (1986 ).
The chance for this vision to come to fruition occurred in 1994 when the

ANC was elected to government in the first democratic elections in South

African history. However sixteen years has passed and the question must

be asked, has the government successfully opened the doors of learning

in South Africa? Or has the disparity continued? One way to answer this

question is by examining the national matriculation results, or the

attainment of the National Senior Certificate (NSC).

Academic discussion of the ANC government reforms to education is

one of widespread consensus and subtle debate. It is characterised by two

areas of discussion, the cultural legacy of Apartheid era education policy,

and the implementation of ANC education policy.

The cultural legacy of apartheid and segregation stands as an enormous

obstacle to the transformation of education policy. Abdi argues that

education transformation is difficult given the entrenched nature of the

inequality of education in South Africa. Sixteen years is little enough time

to change three and half centuries of apartheid3. Furthermore Abdi

suggests that there is a culture of non learning among the black

community in South Africa encapsulating both students and teachers, and

this culture has largely been ignored through the reform process4. Chislom

maintains that it is still the dream for many black people for their children

to receive quality education in order to bring about social change however

3
Ali A. Abdi, "Integrated Education and Black Development in Post-Apartheid South
Africa: Critical Analyses," Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education 31, no. 2 (2001).
P230
4
Ibid. p236
the AIDS epidemic further complicated that dream.5 Enslin and Pendlebury

point out that the necessity for qualified teachers with resources and

support has somehow been lost through the reform process in public

schools, and there can be no lasting transformation while this is being

ignored.6

The analysis of the implementation of education policy is more diverse.

Motala argues that education policies of the ANC led government have

successfully addressed many of the inequalities in education with formal

policy announcements, however the implementation of these policies, the

responsibility of provincial governments, has struggled to fully realise the

equality7. Van der Berg argues that it is not the policy that is lacking, but

rather it is the management of new funds within schools at a local level

that has perpetuated the cycle of disparity.8 Chisolm suggests further that

there has been a breakdown in communication and understanding

between the national and provincial governments and local school bodies,

policies have become rather idealistic in nature and have failed to fully

understand the local context particularly in more rural provinces, and

township schools.9 Sayed and Soudien add this is evident in the

contrasting elements to education policy. The idea of social inclusion has

5
Linda Chisholm, "South Africa's New Education System: Great Intentions - Harsh
Realities " in At the End of the Rainbow? Social Identity and Welfare State in the New
South Africa, ed. Patrick Mac Manus Gorm Gunnarsen, Morten Nielsen, Hans Erik Stolten
(Copenhagen African Contact 2006). P147
6
Penny Enslin and Shirley Pendlebury, "Transforming Education in South Africa?,"
Cambridge Journal of Education 28, no. 3 (1998). P 262
7
Shireen Motala, "Quality and Indicators of Quality in South African Education: A Critical
Appraisal," International Journal of Educational Development 21, no. 1 (2001). P64
8
Servaas van der Berg, "Apartheid's Enduring Legacy: Inequalities in Education," Journal
of African Economies 16, no. 5 (2007). P865
9
Chisholm, "South Africa's New Education System: Great Intentions - Harsh Realities ".
P150
been a driving force in ANC policy making generally, and education is no

different. However they see government attempts to decentralise

education, and the quest to be seen as fiscally responsible has lead to the

creation of areas of exclusion, particularly socio-economic standing10. Abdi

suggests however that the in this as well that the government has focused

on a few practical aspects of education reform with the allocation of

funding and resources, without fully attempting to bring about equality in

terms of the quality of education provided to all students in South Africa

and has therefore allowed for the disparities between the education of the

poor (largely black) and the education of the wealthy (formerly white, now

with the new black elite) be strengthened with the development of so

called independent schools. 11

Through using the achievement of the NSC or matric to frame a

succinct analysis of the education policy of the ANC government, this

essay will show that education reform has failed to open the same doors

for all learners regardless of race, gender and economic standing. The

disparity remains largely unchanged. Historical context is important and

understanding just how the gulf between white education and Africa

education emerged will be touched on briefly by looking at political events

and the levels of matric pass rates during apartheid. ANC education policy

has evolved and changed as the party has transitioned from liberation

movement to legitimate governing party, and this has had an enormous

10
Yusuf Sayed and Crain Soudien, "Decentralisation and the Construction of Inclusion
Education Policy in South Africa," Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education 35, no. 2
(2005). P119
11
Abdi, "Integrated Education and Black Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa:
Critical Analyses." P235
effect on its social policies including education. There have been a few

crucial changes including the Growth, Employment and Redistribution

strategy, the development of the NSC and a move towards Outcomes

Based Education (OBE). These changes can therefore be used as markers

that ought to have encouraged a change in the matric pass rate, and this

essay will then look at how the implementation of these policies has had

little if any positive effect on actual pass rates across South Africa.

Historical Context: the Challenge

Uneven and unequal education is deeply entrenched in South Africa.

When Apartheid was introduced in 1948 there were some opportunities

for non white people to attain a matric qualification, however they were

limited and expensive and often beyond the means of many African

people. Education had been used as a way to maintain the balance of

power in favour of the white minority.12 Following the introduction of

apartheid, education became a significant point of contention between the

African National Congress and the Apartheid Government of South Africa.

The quest for quality education provided a rallying point for many learners

(or students) to join the anti-apartheid movement and radicalised the

young to violence. The government had hoped that by providing non

white students with a limited curriculum, and by introducing measures to

actively discourage further learning, blacks, coloureds and Indians would

never be in a position to legitimately challenge the rule of the white

12
Chisholm, "South Africa's New Education System: Great Intentions - Harsh Realities ".
minority population. Inadequate facilities, unqualified teaching staff,

overcrowded classrooms and a lack of funding made basic education in

townships and homelands unattainable for many.13 In 1970s the

government introduced Afrikaans as the language of instruction in Bantu

(African) Schools there by mandating that students had to be fluent in

Afrikaans in order to study the subjects required to pass the matriculation

exams.14 A task that was difficult to begin with became next to impossible

for many. Learners became militant political activists and classes were

disrupted as protest activities took centre stage.15 These actions

continued through until the election in 1994. Throughout this unstable era

matriculation examinations continued, and while the access to education

was disrupted to political activities.

When looking into results of matriculation for black African learners, there

are two types of figures to look at, one is the raw data, actual numbers of

students both sitting and passing matriculation. The other is the

percentage of students who actually passed, and the students who

actually qualified to continue on to tertiary education. In 1955, just 598

sat the examinations, 43.5% (259) of students passed the examinations

and just 15% (91) qualified for university placements.16 With such a low

base it is no surprise that the 1960s saw a steady rise so that by 1965

nearly three times that number sat the matriculation exams. Of the 1 339

13
Enslin and Pendlebury, "Transforming Education in South Africa?."
14
David Everatt, "'School Reject or Eject?' Contextualizing 'out-of-School Youth' in the
New South Africa " Prospects 25, no. 3 (1995).
15
Ibid.
16
Frans Cronje, "Research & Policy Brief: Fifty-Year Review of Matric Results - 10th
September 2010," South African Institute of Race Relations, http://www.sairr.org.za/sairr-
today-1/research-and-policy-brief-fifty-year-review-of-matric-results-10th-september-
2010.
learners, 61% (827) students passed and 24.1% (323) qualified for

university17. Despite the political instability of the era the numbers of

students sitting and passing their exams continued to rise through the

1970s, with nearly 64% passing in 1975 and 41.5% qualifying for

university. 18

The class of 1980, who would have been young adolescents as student

activism intensified from 1976, witnessed a dramatic fall both in the

percentage of students sitting the exams, and those passing. While more

than 29 973 students who sat the examinations that year, just 53.2% (15

946) passed.19 The percentage to qualify for tertiary education also fell.

This downward trend continued through the 1980s. By 1990, as a broad

frame work from reform was beginning to take shape, just 43% of some

255 669 black students actually passed, with just 9% qualifying for further

study. 20

These figures clearly show the massive task ahead of the new

government in 1994. The systematic degradation of black education in

South Africa was just one aspect of social policy to be completely

overhauled. And while the actual number of students writing the matric

exams grew exponentially over the thirty five years of intense racial

discrimination, the pass rate peaked during the 1970s before falling to

below the 1955 figure in 1990.

17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
Section two: The Plan

The ANC had to redress the downward spiral of matriculation results for

black students from the beginning of their term in government. In January

1994 the ANC released a draft discussion paper, A Policy Framework for

Education and Training, outlining their plans for education reform nation-

wide.21 This paper highlights the party’s commitment to the deliverance of

affordable, quality education across the nation regardless of location and

race. Furthermore while there was to be a single national education

department, the actual implementation of government reforms in schools

would be left to the provincial government.22 The reorganisation of

education departments into one national department and nine provincial

departments streamlined succeeded both in ringing in the dawn of the

democracy in South Africa, while ensuring that education could be firmly

rooted in the local circumstance. This policy was then adopted and was

used as a part of the Reconstruction and Development Program for social

reform under the new government following the ANC’s April election

victory.23 This saw an infusion of money and resources into the education

sector, and especially into public schools.

By 1996 the reality of government had reached the ANC, the

movement was slowly transitioning from and idealistic liberation

organisation, to a governing political party. The necessity for responsible

21
African National Congress, "Anc Education Policy : A Policy Framework for Education
and Training ", ed. Education (Johannesburg: ANC 1994).
22
Linda Chisholm and Ben Fine, "Context and Contest in South African Education Policy:
Comment on Curtin," African Affairs 93, no. 371 (1994).
23
Michael Khan, "Five Years Gone: A Case Study of Education Policy Implementation in
the Transition to Democracy in South Africa," International Journal of Educational
Development 16, no. 3 (1996).
economic balance had to balance the idealistic dreams of freely

accessible education for all students. And so the ANC introduced the

Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) with a focus on

repaying international debt and encouraging private investment across

the board24. In education this took the shape of the South African Schools

Act 1996 which legitimised the former government’s attempt maintain an

elite level of education separate from the public school system.25 While

enrolments could no longer be determined on the basis of race, as per the

new constitution,26 the Act allowed for independent schools to introduce a

fee system thereby the boards of wealthy white schools could determine

the socio economic class of their students, language can also play a part

in enrolment decisions, with some schools deciding to teach in Afrikaans.

Furthermore there was a complete overhaul of the public school

curriculum in 1998 with the introduction of outcomes based education

(OBE).27 In just four years, the ANC government introduced a whole new

approach to education. This was an important symbolic break from the

past, which in many ways was much more important than the systematic

success or even implementation of the new curriculum.28 Not only had the

ANC abolished the different examinations and standards based on race

and deleted any mention of discrimination from the curriculum, but it had

introduced a new system of education. With this change, teachers could

24
Anthony Lemon, "Redressing School Inequalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa "
Journal of Southern African Studies 30, no. 2 (2004).
25
Sandile Ndaba, "Halos and Horns Reliving Constructions of Matric Performance in the
South African Education System " in Matric: What is to be done? (Johannesburg: 2005).
26
"The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa ", (South African Government
Information 1996).Chapter 2: Section 29c
27
Chisholm, "South Africa's New Education System: Great Intentions - Harsh Realities ".
28
Lemon, "Redressing School Inequalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa ".
now find a little flexibility in content and teaching methods. This change

has been said to have occurred with minimal consultation and left the

provincial education departments with the responsibility of adequately

sourcing brand new textbook and scrambling to help their teaching staff

understand the new system.29 Many teachers in some of the most

disadvantaged schools believed that they were not to teach basic reading,

writing and maths to their learners, and the system faced crisis after

crisis. Successive education ministers Kader Asmal and Naledi Pandor

attempted stabilise OBE through training and supplying appropriate

teaching aides.30 However the poor handling of the new curriculum was

further proof that the divisions within the education system in South Africa

could not be papered with ideals and simple restructuring or sugar coated

with fine speeches and new books and the levels of matriculation show

this to be evident.

Section Three: The Results

Government education policy and implementation has had some

impact on the results of the NSC. The raw number of students writing their

exams has steadily climbed since the 1950s and particularly with the end

of apartheid. Broader social and political changes have had an impact

however there can be no question as to the connection between the end

of apartheid and a rise in students reaching and completing matric. It is

29
Chisholm, "South Africa's New Education System: Great Intentions - Harsh Realities ".
30
Abdi, "Integrated Education and Black Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa:
Critical Analyses."
highly improbable that the numbers of students sitting for the matric

would ever have reached half a million under the apartheid regime.

Year Total Total Endorsem Total % % %

candidat passe ent Passes Failur Total Endorsem Total
es s es passe ent Passes Failur
s e
1991 409076 21614 70318 19292 52.8 17.2 47.2
7 9
1992 447904 24361 73328 20429 54.4 16.4 45.6
1 3
1993 470948 23955 67915 23139 50.9 14.4 49.1
6 2
1994 495408 28734 88497 20806 58.0 17.9 42.0
3 5
1995 531453 28374 78821 24771 53.4 14.8 46.6
2 1
1996 518032 27895 79768 23907 53.8 15.4 46.2
8 4
1997 555267 26139 69007 29386 47.1 12.4 52.9
9 7
1998 553151 27998 71808 27316 50.6 13.0 49.4
6 5
1999 511159 24983 63725 26132 48.9 12.5 51.1
1 8
2000 489941 28329 68626 20600 57.8 14.0 42.0
4 4
2001 449371 27720 67707 17212 61.7 15.1 38.3
6 6
2002 443821 30577 75048 13799 68.9 16.9 31.1
4 1
2003 440267 32249 82010 11760 73.2 18.6 26.7
2 4
2004 467985 33071 85117 13717 70.7 18.2 29.3
7 3
2005 508363 34718 86531 16099 68.3 17.0 31.7
4 6
2006 528525 35150 85830 17702 66.5 16.2 33.5
3 2
2007 564775 36821 85454 19655 65.2 15.1 34.8
7 8
2008 533561 33356 107462 20000 62.5 19.5 38.0
1 0
2009 580577 33455 109697 24602 60.6 19.8 39.4
7 0
Table 1. Source the Department of Education 200831, 200932,201033

Graph 1. Department of Education 2008, 2009, 2010

To gain a clearer understanding of any trends in matriculation results it

the percentage of students who achieve a pass as well as those who

achieve university endorsement that is most useful as it can be more

easily compared with results from the past. Jumps in the number of

students can have a negative impact on the proportion of student

attaining the NSC.34 Therefore it follows that has been only in recent years

that overall pass rates have inched ever close to the astronomical peaks

during the 1960s and 1970s.35

31
Trends in Education Macro Indicators: South Africa 2009.
32
Department of Education, "National Senior Certificate 2008 Results: Department of
Education Briefing " (Parliamentary monitoring Group 2009).
33
Angie Motshekga, "Briefing: Minister of Basic Education on 2009 National Senior
Certificate Grade 12 Examination Results " (Johannesburg: Parliamentary Monitoring
Group 2010).
34
Trends in Education Macro Indicators: South Africa
35
Cronje, "Research & Policy Brief: Fifty-Year Review of Matric Results - 10th September
2010."
Rates of university endorsements have remained relatively static with

between 12% and 20% of learners able to continue with formal education.

Indeed the proportion university endorsed passes in the first eight years

of the ANC government was actually lower than in 1955.

There are a few other factors to keep in mind when looking at these

results. Firstly is that this system of NSC is open to corruption and

scandal. Cases of widespread teaching in some provinces in 199736 and

again in 200837 must be taken into account when looking at these figures.

Interestingly one of these occurred in the year before the introduction of

the OBE in 1998. There are also allegations of provincial education

departments inflating their results in order to impress and potentially

cover up problems.38 Secondly these statistics are nationwide, and there is

a significant difference between levels of successful matriculation across

the provinces.39 Limpopo and Eastern Cape, two provinces that struggle

most with poverty and poor economic development, continue to have

lower levels of matric passes. And there continues to be a disparity

between white students and black students entering university.40 Thirdly,

matriculation is just a part of government education policies. These

statistics do not take into account adult illiteracy, unemployment among

36
van der Berg, "Apartheid's Enduring Legacy: Inequalities in Education."
37
Motshekga, "Briefing: Minister of Basic Education on 2009 National Senior Certificate
Grade 12 Examination Results ".
38
Nick Taylor, "Equity, Efficiency and Development of South African Schools " in
International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Inprovement ed. T Townsend
(Dordrecht: Springer 2010).
39
Jacque Keet, "Matric Results a Wake-up Call for Sa," Mail & Guardian January 7 2010
2010.
40
Johannes W. Fedderke, Raphael de Kadt, and John M. Luiz, "Uneducating South Africa:
The Failure to Address the 1910–1993 Legacy," International Review of Education 46, no.
3 (2000).
the 15-34 year old demographic, school drop-out levels or the impact of

the HIV/AIDs pandemic to name but a few.41

Section 4: The Debate

With the results from above as ammunition, criticism of ANC

education policy comes from all quarters. Many supporters and the ANC

believed that with the abolition of apartheid, education would be free,

equal and state run for their children.42 Technically, the South African

Government does indeed offer a minimal education for the first ten years

of schooling.43 The fact remains that with GEAR as a principle guideline,

education has not been nationalised and the quality of education is far

from equal regardless of socioeconomic and racial standing. The subtly

nuanced policy that now effectively legalises the continuation of apartheid

on the basis of class (with the imposition of parent contributions through

fees) is hardly understood by many hard line supporters, former ANC

fighters in some cases are completely disillusioned by the government’s

apparent abandonment of the ideals they struggled to achieve.44 At

present the government will pay for the first ten years of basic education

however for the final two years, the most important for the NSC, require

parents to pay often more than is possible for students within the lowest

41
Bongani Magongo, "The Effect of the Education System of Youth Development in South
Africa: The Nyda Challenge," Knowledge Brief 7, no. 1 (2010).
42
Anti-Privatization Forum, "The Anc Government's Gear Policy Is Denying Our Right to
Free, Quality Education ".
43
Sayed and Soudien, "Decentralisation and the Construction of Inclusion Education
Policy in South Africa."
44
Forum, "The Anc Government's Gear Policy Is Denying Our Right to Free, Quality
Education ".
socio-economic strata. Furthermore there is widespread belief that policy

is drafted and implemented with little understanding or comprehension of

the realities facing teachers in the public schools45 and while this

continues there is little hope for NSC pass rates to improve.

The value and effort of achieving the NSC has also been questioned as in

recent years with the drop in university endorsement levels. The National

Youth Development Agency published an article this year suggesting that

while the pass rates of matriculation are fairly stable with more than two

thirds of successful matric candidates actually passing their exams, the

concern is that fewer than twenty percent actually qualify for further

education.46

The complications of introducing a foreign OBE curriculum have also been

a contentious issue for the government. In early 2009, Cornia Pretorious

writing for the Mail & Guardian online newspaper talked of her

disappointment with the OBE. Citing the confusion it wrought among

teachers combined with a lower standard of exams has allowed for

another generation of learners “lost” to South Africa. Pretorious’ biggest

fear is that learners, who had been educated entirely under the OBE

curriculum and had passed matric exams, had done so without being

completely literate. The fall in the pass rate has not helped the credibility

of the OBE.

45
Everard Weber, "The Scholarship of Change " in Educational Change in South Africa:
Reflections on Local Realities, Practices and Reforms ed. Everad Weber (Rotterdam
Sense Publishers 2008).
46
Magongo, "The Effect of the Education System of Youth Development in South Africa:
The Nyda Challenge."
Education policy continues to command the largest slice of the national

budget, and yet there appears to be little return on this investment to

date. The unemployment level for the 15-34 year old demographic

continues to be close to 70%, close to half a class will dropout between

Grade 1 and the matriculation class at Grade 12.47 The question is of

whether this money has been effectively spent has been raised. Some

believe the money ought to have been spent training teachers and

improving facilities to ensure classes of less than forty five learners.48

Others believe that money currently allocated to education is a fraction of

what is truly required to completely close the gap between the education

of the wealthy and the education of the not so wealthy.49 Most agree that

current budget allocations are insufficient to bring about sustainable

systemic change the government is aspiring towards.

Conclusion:

Education policy is an important and complex part of the social

transformation the ANC is attempting to bring about in South Africa. This

government has for the last sixteen years, attempted to redress the

imbalance between black and white learners in South Africa. It has done

this by focussing on the most basic elements of education is South Africa –

the organisation of the education system and the curriculum, with little

notable success to date. The pass rate for NSC exams has shown that

these efforts have yet to completely open to doors of education for

47
Cornia Pretorious, "Confessions of a Lapsed Obe Convert," Mail & Guardian 2008.
48
Weber, "The Scholarship of Change ".
49
Abdi, "Integrated Education and Black Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa:
Critical Analyses."
everyone. And it is the implementation of these policies that has fallen

shortest of expectations. While decentralising the education departments

was supposed to empower education, it has proven to be more a

hindrance than a help. Government support for the development of so

called independent schools has allowed for socioeconomic segregation to

remain a reality. However the fact remains that in the years since 1994

more than 500 000 learners have attempt the NSC exams on a regular

basis with 40 – 50% passing.

It is important to note that there has only been sixteen years of attempted

democratic change in South Africa. The debilitating disparity in education

had close to three hundred years to evolve and it comes as no real

surprise that the ANC has failed to produce a magic policy capable of

allowing equal opportunities for all learners in South Africa. Educational

opportunity continues to be dependent on familial economic standing and

the gulf between the wealthy and the poor has never been greater. The

doors to learning are now ajar; let’s hope that in the next sixteen years,

they are swung wide open.

Primary Sources:

Congress, African National. "ANC Education Policy : A Policy Framework for

Education and Training ", edited by Education. Johannesburg: ANC 1994.
"The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa ". South African Government
Information 1996.
Forum, Anti-Privatization. "The Anc Government's Gear Policy Is Denying Our
Right to Free, Quality Education ".
Education, Department of. "National Senior Certificate 2008 Results: Department
of Education Briefing ": Parliamentary monitoring Group 2009.
Motshekga, Angie. "Briefing: Minister of Basic Education on 2009 National Senior
Certificate Grade 12 Examination Results ". Johannesburg: Parliamentary
Monitoring Group 2010.
The Freedom Charter, The Congress of the People, 1955

Trends in Education Macro Indicators: South Africa Department of Education

2009.

Newspapers:

Pretorious, Cornia. "Confessions of a Lapsed Obe Convert." Mail & Guardian

2008.

Keet, Jacque. "Matric Results a Wake-up Call for Sa." Mail & Guardian January 7
2010 2010, Daily

Secondary Sources: